EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE AND ACADEMIC SUCCESS

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.