ASSOCIATION BETWEEN DENTAL GRADUATE’S EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE AND ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE IN PATNA, BIHAR

*Dr. Sanstuti, Dr. Veeranna Ramesh, Dr. Sadananda L. D. and Dr. Suma B. S.

ABSTRACT

Aim: was to assess students’ Emotional intelligence (EI) and its associated factors and to determine if there is an association between their Emotional intelligence and Academic achievement. Material and method: It was a descriptive Cross- Sectional study conducted among the dental students from Dental Institutes in Patna city. All the students were pre informed about the survey. The data is collected using a close-ended questionnaire. The first part included demographic variables were age, gender, marital status, and educational institution. The second part included 30 structured EI questions, five each to assess self-awareness, empathy, self-confidence, motivation, social control, and self-competence. Response options to each question ranged from 1=virtually never to 5=virtually always. Chi-Square test was used for estimation of statistical significance. Results: Overall mean of the self-awareness domain was 18.34±2.83, self-confidence mean was 18.71± 2.16, self-control mean was 18.64±2.55, empathy mean was 19.51±2.12, motivation mean was 19.33±2.03 and social competency mean was 18.88±2.81. Among males 29% had low EI and 5% had high EI whereas among females 21% had low EI and 45% had high EI. The association between life style factors and emotional intelligence was found to be statistically significant with p value <0.01. Conclusion: The result of this study provides an insight into individuals EI and its relationship with professional, interpersonal and life style factors in dental students. Gender and lifestyle habits were associated with emotional intelligence, which in turn showed significant association with high academic performance.

Keywords: Emotional intelligence, Questionnaire, Dentist, Students.