Emotional intelligence and academic performance in undergraduate nutrition students

Abstract

Abstract: The concept of emotional intelligence (EI) developed in 1990 by Salovey and Mayer and Goleman in 1995, invites us to consider a new vision of the study of human intelligence beyond the cognitive and intellectual aspects. Social-emotional learning in education and in the training of health professionals is of great importance because of the relationship between emotional competencies and generic competences and their supposed association with academic performance. A cross-sectional study was carried out by applying the TMMS-24 test to a sample of 131 students from the first to fifth year of the Nutrition and Food Career in a public University from Chile, with the aim of establishing the relationship between the components of emotional intelligence with academic performance and curriculum advancement. The data were analyzed by descriptive statistics and statistical tests of ANOVA were applied for association between levels of emotional intelligence and academic performance and Chi square test for association with curricular advance. The results indicate that there are no significant differences between the level of attention and grade point average (p = 0.829), the level of comprehension and grade point average (p =0.963) and the level of regulation and grade point average (p. = 0.501), applying ANOVA. No association was found between emotional intelligence levels and curricular advancement, applying the chi square test. The results of research that associates Emotional Intelligence are controversial. This study is a contribution to the results published in this line. Despite the results, it is considered relevant, the consideration of socio-emotional competences in the training of health professionals as part of the comprehensive education to face the orld of work.