Abstract
When Covid-19 hit the globe, Malaysia was specifically affected by the implementation of MCO which restricted its citizens from having their normal daily activities. Malaysian students are especially distressed by the implementation of online learning, whereby they need to cope with the burden of learning without having physical consultation with their lecturers while indulging the ‘nuisance’ of the home environment. This cross-sectional study was conducted to examine the relationship and impact of emotional intelligence which comprised self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and relationship management components toward optimism among public university students in Perak, Malaysia. Convenience sampling was applied as the sampling technique in selecting the required sample size of 441 respondents. A set of questionnaires comprised of three sections was used as the instrument and was virtually distributed to the respondents via Google form through their acquaintances. Descriptive analysis findings have demonstrated male students have greater levels of emotional intelligence and optimism as compared to female students. Meanwhile, results from correlation analysis projected each component of emotional intelligence has a large relationship with optimism except for social awareness with a medium relationship. Subsequently, the multiple regression analysis revealed that self-awareness was the strongest predictor of the dependent variable. This study has achieved all research objectives and the hypotheses were supported by the findings. Therefore, a few recommendations for educational institutions as well as future researchers were suggested accordingly.
Keywords
- Emotional Intelligence Search this journal for Emotional Intelligence (opens in a new tab)
- Self-Awareness Search this journal for Self-Awareness (opens in a new tab)
- Self-Management Search this journal for Self-Management (opens in a new tab)
- Social Awareness Search this journal for Social Awareness (opens in a new tab)
- Relationship Management Search this journal for Relationship Management (opens in a new tab)
- Optimism Search this journal for Optimism (opens in a new tab)
References
- Aghazade, S., Moheb, N. & Dolati, A. (2021). Investigating the Relationship between Optimism and Emotional Intelligence with Academic Self-Efficacy in Orumia High School Students. Turkish Journal of Computer and Mathematics Education (TURCOMAT), 12(13), 7775–77485-77775–77485.
- Ali, A., Saleem, N. & Rahman, N. (2021). Emotional Intelligence of University Students: Gender Based Comparison. Bulletin of Education and Research, 43(1), 255-265.
- Bahar Moni, A. S., Abdullah, S., Bin Abdullah, M. F. I. L., Kabir, M. S., Alif, S. M., Sultana, F., Salehin, M., Islam, S. M. S., Cross, W. & Rahman, M. A. (2021). Psychological distress, fear and coping among Malaysians during the COVID-19 pandemic. PloS one, 16(9), e0257304. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0257304 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0257304
- Bjuggren, C. M. & Elert, N. (2019). Gender differences in optimism. Applied Economics, 51(47), 5160-5173. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00036846.2019.1610714
- Che Rahimi, A., Bakar, R. S. & Mohd Yasin, M. A. (2021, Nov 10). Psychological Well-Being of Malaysian University Students during COVID-19 Pandemic: Do Religiosity and Religious Coping Matter? Healthcare (Basel), 9(11). https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare9111535 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare9111535
- Checa-Domene, L., Luque de la Rosa, A., Gavín-Chocano, Ó. & Torrado, J. J. (2022). Students at Risk: Self-Esteem, Optimism and Emotional Intelligence in Post-Pandemic Times? International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(19), 12499. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph191912499
- Coelho, G. L. H., Vilar, R., Hanel, P. H. P., Monteiro, R. P., Ribeiro, M. G. C. & Gouveia, V. V. (2018). Optimism scale: Evidence of psychometric validity in two countries and correlations with personality. Personality and Individual Differences, 134, 245-251. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2018.06.030 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2018.06.030
- Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences (2nd Ed.). Lawrence Earlbaum
- Dawson, C. (2017). The upside of pessimism ? Biased beliefs and the paradox of the contented female worker. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 135, 215-228. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jebo.2017.02.004 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jebo.2017.02.004
- Dawson, C. (2023). Gender differences in optimism, loss aversion, and attitudes towards risk. British Journal of Psychology, n/a(n/a). https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1111/bjop.12668 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/bjop.12668
- Donatelle, R. (2017). Access to Health (15th ed.). Pearson Education.
- Eberle, J. & Hobrecht, J. (2021). The lonely struggle with autonomy: A case study of first-year university students’ experiences during emergency online teaching. Computers in Human Behavior, 121, 106804. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2021.106804
- El-Sakran, A., Salman, R. & Alzaatreh, A. (2022). Impacts of emergency remote teaching on college students amid COVID-19 in the UAE. International journal of environmental research and public health, 19(5), 2979. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19052979
- Faez, M., Hadi, J., Abdalqader, M., Assem, H., Ads, H. O. & Ghazi, H. F. (2020). Impact of lockdown due to COVID-19 on mental health among students in a private university at Selangor. European Journal of Molecular and Clinical Medicine, 508-517.
- Fida, A., Ghaffar, A., Zaman, A. & Satti, A. N. (2018). Gender comparison of emotional intelligence of university students. Journal of Education and Educational Development, 5(1), 172-188. DOI: https://doi.org/10.22555/joeed.v5i1.2046
- Geßler, S., Nezlek, J. B. & Schütz, A. (2021, 2021/07/04). Training emotional intelligence: Does training in basic emotional abilities help people to improve higher emotional abilities? The Journal of Positive Psychology, 16(4), 455-464. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2020.1738537 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2020.1738537
- Gilar-Corbi, R., Pozo-Rico, T., Sánchez, B. & Castejón, J. L. (2019). Can emotional intelligence be improved? A randomized experimental study of a business-oriented EI training program for senior managers. PloS one, 14(10), e0224254. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0224254 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0224254
- Goleman, D. (1998). Working with emotional intelligence. Bantam Books. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/ltl.40619981008
- Goleman, D., Boyatzis, R. & McKee, A. (2002). Primal Leadership: Realizing the Importance of Emotional Intelligence. Harvard Business School Press.
- Gómez Molinero, R., Zayas García, A., Ruiz González, P. & Guil, R. (2018). Optimism and resilience among university students. DOI: https://doi.org/10.17060/ijodaep.2018.n1.v1.1179
- Hair, J. F., Black, W. C., Babin, B. J. & Anderson, R. E. (2018). Multivariate Data Analysis (8th ed.). Cengage Learning.
- Hamdzah, N. L. A., Hassan, S. N. S. & Hassan, R. (2016). Examining the level of emotional intelligence among semester one students in Universiti Teknologi Mara Pahang. Journal of Human Capital Development (JHCD), 9(1), 33-46.
- Jacobsen, B., Lee, J. B., Marquering, W. & Zhang, C. Y. (2014). Gender differences in optimism and asset allocation. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 107, 630-651. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jebo.2014.03.007
- Jenaabadi, H. (2014, 2014/02/21/). The Effect of Training Skills of Optimism on Fostering Emotional Intelligence of Males in Education & Improvement Center in Zahedan. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 114, 191-196. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2013.12.683 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2013.12.683
- Kamaludin, K. & Sundarasen, S. (2023). COVID-19 and online distance learning in Malaysia: A blessing or a curse? Frontiers in Education, 8, 1062219. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2023.1062219
- Kant, R. (2019). Emotional intelligence: A study on university students. Journal of Education and Learning (EduLearn), 13(4), 441-446. DOI: https://doi.org/10.11591/edulearn.v13i4.13592
- Kumcagiz, H., Celik, S. B., Yilmaz, M. & Eren, Z. (2011). The effects of emotional intelligence on optimism of university students. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 30, 973-977. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2011.10.189
- Mayer, J. D., Caruso, D. R. & Salovey, P. (2016). The ability model of emotional intelligence: Principles and updates. Emotion review, 8(4), 290-300. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1754073916639667
- McShane, S. L. & Von Glinow, M. A. Y. (2021). Organizational Behavior. McGraw-Hill Education. https://books.google.com.my/books?id=B6lCzQEACAAJ
- Mohamed, N. F., Govindasamy, P., Rahmatullah, B. & Purnama, S. (2022). Emotional Intelligence Online Learning and its Impact on University Students' Mental Health: A Quasi-Experimental Investigation. Pertanika Journal of Social Sciences & Humanities, 30(2). https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.47836/pjssh.30.2.13 DOI: https://doi.org/10.47836/pjssh.30.2.13
- Molero, D., Gavín-Chocano, Ó., Vargas-Cuevas, E. & García-Martínez, I. (2022). Relationship between Emotional Intelligence and Optimism According to Gender and Social Context (Urban vs. Rural). Social Sciences, 11(7), 268. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci11070268
- Mustafa, M. Z. B., Nordin, M. B., Razzaq, A. R. B. A. & bin Ibrahim, B. (2020). Vocational College Teachers in Malaysia: Emotional Intelligence. PalArch's Journal of Archaeology of Egypt/Egyptology, 17(9), 5099-5106.
- Newman, M., & Smith, K. H. (2014). Emotional intelligence and emotional labor: A comparison study using the emotional capital report (ECR). Education and Society, 32(1), 41-62. DOI: https://doi.org/10.7459/es/32.1.04
- Patel, S. K. (2017). Emotional intelligence of college-level students about their gender. The International Journal of Indian Psychology, 4(2), 2349-3429. DOI: https://doi.org/10.25215/0402.056
- Pedrosa, I., Celis-Atenas, K., Suárez-Álvarez, J., García-Cueto, E. & Muñiz, J. (2015). Cuestionario para la evaluación del optimismo: Fiabilidad y evidencias de validez. Terapia psicológica, 33(2), 127-138. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4067/S0718-48082015000200007
- Scheier, M. F. & Carver, C. S. (1985). Optimism, coping, and health: assessment and implications of generalized outcome expectancies. Health psychology, 4(3), 219. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/0278-6133.4.3.219
- Serrat, O. (2017). Understanding and Developing Emotional Intelligence. In Knowledge Solutions: Tools, Methods, and Approaches to Drive Organizational Performance (pp. 329-339). Springer Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-0983-9_37 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-0983-9_37
- Stratton, S. J. (2021, Aug). Population Research: Convenience Sampling Strategies. Prehosp Disaster Med, 36(4), 373-374. https://doi.org/10.1017/s1049023x21000649 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S1049023X21000649
- Tang, Y. & He, W. (2023). Relationship between emotional intelligence and learning motivation among college students during the COVID-19 pandemic: A serial mediation model. Front Psychol, 14, 1109569. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1109569 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1109569
- Tejada-Gallardo, C., Blasco-Belled, A., Torrelles-Nadal, C. & Alsinet, C. (2022). How does emotional intelligence predict happiness, optimism, and pessimism in adolescence? Investigating the relationship from the bifactor model. Current Psychology, 41(8), 5470-5480. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-020-01061-z
- Thaoprom, P. (2004). Relationship Between Quality of Work Life and Job Performance for Police Office-Crime Prevention and Suppression Division: Case Study Thonglor Metropolitan Mahidol University].
- Tripathi, M. (2016). Emotional Intelligence and Gender Differences. Journal Global Values, 7(2), 1-5.
- Usán, P., Salavera, C., & Quílez-Robres, A. (2022). Self-Efficacy, Optimism, and Academic Performance as Psychoeducational Variables: Mediation Approach in Students. Children (Basel), 9(3). https://doi.org/10.3390/children9030420 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/children9030420
- Wang, X. & Cheng, Z. (2020). Cross-sectional studies: strengths, weaknesses, and recommendations. CHEST, 158(1), S65-S71. https://doi.org/doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chest.2020.03.012 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chest.2020.03.012
- Wang, X., Lu, X., Hu, T., Xue, S., Xu, W. & Tang, W. (2022). Optimism and friendship quality as mediators between trait emotional intelligence and life satisfaction in Chinese adolescents: A two-wave longitudinal study. Current Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-022-03931-0 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-022-03931-0
- Wong, S. S., Wong, C. C., Ng, K. W., Bostanudin, M. F. & Tan, S. F. (2023). Depression, anxiety, and stress among university students in Selangor, Malaysia during COVID-19 pandemics and their associated factors. PloS one, 18(1), e0280680. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0280680 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0280680
- Yang, R., Díaz, V. G. & Hsu, C. H. (2021). Use of emotional intelligence to promote innovation among employees in the work environment through qualitative and quantitative analysis. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 101589. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.avb.2021.101589
- Zhihao, D. & Mustapha, S. M. (2021). The Relationship between Online Teacher-Student Interaction and Online Academic Performance: The Mediating Effect of Academic Optimism. International Journal of Infrastructure Research and Management, 9(2), 1-10. DOI: https://doi.org/10.63646/j.ijirm.2021.090201
Downloads
Full-text downloads recorded for this article, by month.
No downloads have been recorded for this article yet. Figures appear here once readers begin downloading the full text.
How to Cite
Sumardi, N. A., Hassan, N., Mat Halif, M., & Dzulkalnine, N. (2023). The Roles of Emotional Intelligence in Developing Optimism among Public University Students in Perak, Malaysia. Information Management and Business Review, 15(3(SI), 50-58. https://doi.org/10.22610/imbr.v15i3(SI).3457
Share this article
License
Copyright (c) 2023 Nur Athirah Sumardi, Narehan Hassan, Mazuin Mat Halif, Natasha Dzulkalnine (Author)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Author (s) should affirm that the material has not been published previously. It has not been submitted and it is not under consideration by any other journal. At the same time author (s) need to execute a publication permission agreement to assume the responsibility of the submitted content and any omissions and errors therein. After submission of revised paper in the light of suggestions of the reviewers, the editorial team edits and formats manuscripts to bring uniformity and standardization in published material.
This work will be licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) and under condition of the license, users are free to read, copy, remix, transform, redistribute, download, print, search or link to the full texts of articles and even build upon their work as long as they credit the author for the original work. Moreover, as per journal policy author (s) hold and retain copyrights without any restrictions.
Keywords
- Emotional Intelligence Search this journal for Emotional Intelligence (opens in a new tab)
- Self-Awareness Search this journal for Self-Awareness (opens in a new tab)
- Self-Management Search this journal for Self-Management (opens in a new tab)
- Social Awareness Search this journal for Social Awareness (opens in a new tab)
- Relationship Management Search this journal for Relationship Management (opens in a new tab)
- Optimism Search this journal for Optimism (opens in a new tab)
Section
Research Paper
Published
2023-09-17
Submissions
Have research to publish? Information Management and Business Review welcomes submissions.
Make a Submission