EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE OF BUSINESS UNDERGRADUATES: A DESCRIPTIVE STUDY

Abstract

In recent years, emotional intelligence has gained popularity as a prominent factor and a vital skill required for success in life and wok. This study aims to assess the level of emotional intelligence of business undergraduates in Sri Lanka. Emotional intelligence is a vital soft skill for student success while coping with the competitive environment in the university. There is an empirical knowledge gap in the Sri Lankan context of undergraduate emotional intelligence, hence this research addresses the question of whether Sri Lankan undergraduates possess adequate level of emotional intelligence. The data was collected from a university in the Colombo district and only from one business faculty. The sample consisted of 120 undergraduates (60 males and 60 females) and stratified sampling method was used to categorized the population according to the departments and then the simple random sampling procedure was used for the select sample from the departments. A structured questionnaire which consisted of Singh’s (2006) 22 items scenario based EI quotient was administered. Descriptive statistics such as mean, mode, variance etc were used to derive conclusions regarding the level of emotional intelligence among undergraduates in the present context. The study found that most of the undergraduates have high level of emotional intelligence. This is an indication that the undergraduates have the ability to identify, assess and control the emotions of self and others and in turn they have greater chances of being successful in their future careers.