EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE AND GENDER AS PREDICTORS OF ACADEMIC STRESS AMONG UNDERGRADUATES IN OWERRI, IMO STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

The study examined emotional intelligence and gender as predictors of academic stress among undergraduates in Owerri, Imo State. Five hundred and thirty-five participants, comprising of 286 males and 249 females between the ages of 17 to 36 years with a mean of 22.35years and standard deviation of 3.30, were selected through the convenience sampling technique. They were administered with two instruments; Emotional Intelligence Scale (EIS) and Students Academic Stress Scale (SASS). Cross sectional survey design was employed while Multiple Regression Statistics on SPSS Version 20.0 was used for data analysis. Three hypotheses were tested. Results indicated that: emotional intelligence significantly predicted academic stress; gender did not significantly predict academic stress and emotional intelligence and gender jointly predicted academic stress among undergraduates in Owerri, Imo State. The study recommends that higher institution authorities from time to time should organize variety of programs, seminars and conferences focusing on students’ emotional intelligence development, and academic stress management training.