Abstract
Emotional intelligence (EI) is considered to be one of the factors
predicting academic success in Doctor of Medicine (MD) programs.
However, previous literature on the topic has shown contradictory
findings. While some research suggests that there is a positive
association between EI and academic success in MD programs, other
research reports no such association, or even a negative correlation,
between these two variables. The main objective of the current study was
to resolve these contradictory findings by synthesizing the research
between 2005 and 2022. Data were analyzed using the multilevel modeling
approach to (a) estimate the overall relationship between EI and
academic success in MD programs, and (b) determine whether the mean
effect size varies by country (US vs. non-US counties), age, EI test, EI
task nature (ability-based vs. trait-based), EIsubscales, and academic
performance criteria (GPA vs. unit exams). Results from 20 studies
(k = 105; N = 4,227) indicated that, overall, there is a
positive correlation between EI and academic success, r = 0.13,
95% CI [0.08–0.27], p < .01. Moderator analyses
indicated that the mean effect size significantly varied by EI tests and
EI subscales. Moreover, three-level multiple regression analyses showed
that Level 3 (between-studies) variance explained 29.5% of variability
in the mean effect size, while Level 2 (within -studies) variance
explained 33.5% of variability in the mean effect. Overall, the current
findings show that EI is significantly, butweakly, related to academic
success in MD programs.