Teaching emotional intelligence and emotional self-efficacy in higher education

Abstract

Emotional Intelligence is a widely researched topic with established associations between health, wellbeing and work-related outcomes. The concept of Emotional Self-Efficacy is a relatively recent, but potentially important, addition to the emotional intelligence literature. Despite the interest in this area there are very few empirical studies that demonstrate it is possible for people to increase their levels of emotional competence. The study discussed in this paper involved the design, delivery and evaluation of an undergraduate teaching intervention that aimed to do this. The findings show that it is possible to increase Emotional Self-Efficacy and some aspects of Emotional Intelligence ability. Providing students in Higher Education with opportunities to develop their competence in this area will be beneficial both for their experiences whilst at university and their future employability as graduates entering the workforce.