Emotional Intelligence and Academic Performance: The Mediating Role of Academic Engagement

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the impact of emotional intelligence (EI) on academic performance (AP) through the mediation effect of academic engagement (AE). The research was conducted as a pilot study of the researchers’ main project among students in the Bangladeshi higher educational institutions. The pilot data were collected from 62 Master’s level students selected from the Faculty of Business Studies and Faculty of Science of Mawlana Bhashani Science and Technology University. A self-administered questionnaire was used for gathering data, and SPSS 25 and SmartPLS 4.0 software were employed to analyze the data. To test the hypothesized relationships, the study employed Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Model (PLS-SEM) approach. The results revealed that EI does not have a direct effect on AP (β=0.062); however, it exerts an indirect influence through AE (β=0.176), indicating a full mediation effect of AE. The variance (R2) of EI and AE on AP is 33.5%. Furthermore, the findings confirmed that EI significantly influences AE (β=0.316) with a variance (R2) of 10%, and AE significantly predicts AP (β=0.556). The implications of these findings suggest that enhancing students’ EI and AE can meaningfully improve their academic outcomes. The study contributes to the growing body of literature on EI, AE, and AP. Although the results may not be fully generalizable due to the pilot nature and limited sample size, they provide valuable insights and directions for future research in the context of Bangladeshi higher education.