The correlation between emotional intelligence and school anxiety among high school students in South Khorasan

Today, emotional intelligence has gained a particular importance. Various studies have been conducted in this field that reveal the role and importance of emotional intelligence in people’s various aspects of life such as education, employment, and living conditions. Therefore, the present study was performed aiming at surveying the correlation between emotional intelligence and school anxiety among high school students of south Khorasan. This research is a descriptive study of correlation type in which the correlation between emotional intelligence and school anxiety among second and third grade high school students majoring in humanities, practical science, and mathematics was surveyed. The study covered 670 cases that had been selected through multi-stage random sampling from Birjand, Qaen, Darmian, Khoosf, Nehbandan, and Sarbisheh. Data collecting were made by using prevalent standardized questionnaires including Sheering emotional intelligence standardized questionnaire and Phillips school anxiety questionnaire. Analyzing the data were performed by SPSS, using Pearson’s correlation coefficient and statistical regression tests at the significant level of P≤0.05. The findings of the study showed that there was a significant correlation between emotional intelligence and school anxiety at P<0.01 level. Among all components of emotional intelligence (self-awareness, self control, social alertness, communication skill) there was significant correlation at P<0.01 level. Also, all components of emotional intelligence have a significant effect in predicting the variable of criterion. The mean scores of the subjects showed that there was significant differences only in components of social skills (P=0.001) and social alertness (P=0.007) regarding the gender of the subjects. Regarding the findings of the study particularly the significant correlation between emotional intelligence and school anxiety, it seems that paying attention to emotional intelligence is very effective and valuable in improving mental health and eventually improving students’ educational performance. Therefore, in addition to including relevant lessons, it is suggested that teachers also take required trainings in this field.