Emotional Intelligence and Achievement of Students in Mathematics: A Case Study

Emotional intelligence is a cross-section of integrated emotional, social capabilities and skills that regulate how successfully people recognize and express their emotions, recognize others feelings and relate with them, and handle daily stresses or pressures, effectively. In this study of survey research, the relationship between emotional intelligence, as measured by Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT) and mathematics achievement were examined in a sample of secondary school students, numbering 312. The study was conducted in Jalingo Education Zone of Taraba State, Nigeria. Four specified domains of emotional intelligence domains namely: self-awareness, self-management, social-awareness and relationship management separately as well as totally was found to correlate with achievement in mathematics of the selected respondents. The study evidently showed that emotional intelligence and its four domains have weak correlations with academic achievement and account for less than 1 % of students achievement in mathematics. The study concludes that that there is a close connection between emotional intelligence and academic achievement, even though the correlation is not significant. The study recommends that attentions need to be directed to the development of the affective domain of the students, as a way of finding solutions to the poor academic achievement of students in mathematics.