A STUDY OF EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE COMPETENCIES POSSESSED BY THE YOUTH

Emotional Intelligence Competencies amongst undergraduate university youth at a HigherEducation Institution is one of the areas less ventured upon. Gardner (1983; 1991) reportedthat business-related graduate programmes focused primarily on indicators of individualcompetence such as logical and linguistic intelligence, with less attention being given tospatial, interpersonal and naturalist forms of intelligence. Later research reported increasedcalls from industry to make curricula more relevant to `today's global workplace' throughimproved instruction in communication, leadership, as well as intrapersonal and interpersonalskills (Cherniss 1999; Doria, Rozanski and Cohen, 2003; Jaeger 2003; Myers and Tucker2005). Lately, Daniel Goleman's research on emotional intelligence as a predictor of workperformance has emerged (Goleman 1998, 2000; Weisinger, 1998) and continues to be highlyinfluential. The traditional approach by educationists, however, has been to focus on logicaland linguistic intelligence. This view have been challenged by many studies recently whereresearchers are beginning to argue that interpersonal and intrapersonal competencies andEmotional Intelligence (EQ) may be more important for success. Educational institutionshave traditionally focussed primarily on logical and linguistic intelligence, with less attentiongiven to other types of intelligence. Yet many researchers are beginning to argue thatintrapersonal and interpersonal competencies, or emotional intelligence, may be moreimportant for success in life than logical or linguistic intelligence (Tucker, Sojka, Barone &McCarthy, 2000). Though the concept of emotional intelligence was first introduced inorganizations, its relevance made the concept an inevitable concept of consideration in theeducational sector too. Developing emotional intelligence skills amongst youth is veryimportant because it can positively affect academic achievement not only during the sessionthey are taught, but in subsequent years as well (Elias, Brune, Butler, Blum & Schumler,1997). According to Caruso, Mayer and Salovey (2002), emotional intelligence skills andknowledge can be developed and learned and it matters most in times of change. Emotionalintelligence is an ability to recognize one„s own feeling and those of others, for motivatingself as well as one„s relationship with others. Studies (e.g. Ediger, 1997; Parker,Summerfeldt, Hogan & Majeski 2004)) have shown that the acquisition of emotionalintelligence skills can significantly contribute to positive thinking in students and increasetheir ability to concentrate for a long time. The present research was thereby undertaken withthe main aim of investigating the emotional intelligence competencies by the youth.Descriptive research design was taken up with questionnaire as a tool for the present