Examining Young Adults’ Emotional Intelligence at Selected Malaysian College: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Transition to university is one of the major development challenges among young adults. The transition process requires them to adjust to new academic circumstances, adopt different learning styles, establish healthy social network, and to be more independent in handling tasks. The adaptation is determined, to a large extent, by the level of emotional competency and autonomy young adults develop to help them cope with the stressors in life. Surprisingly, emotions perhaps the “critical component” to predict the dynamics of youth adults’ behaviour. A critical and so far rather neglected component of “emotional intelligence (EI)” can be the protective factor for young adults in the transition process. Despite EI brings adaptive outcomes on young adults’ development, yet a review demonstrated that a limited investigation was dedicated to examining Malaysian young adults’ EI in Jitra, Malaysia. For the methodology, the current study utilized the cross-sectional survey method to assess the effects of gender and fields of study on young adults’ EI using the Schutte Self-Report Emotional Intelligence Scale (SSREI). Data analysis indicated that there was no significant difference among gender in the EI. While a significant difference was discovered in the aspect of EI among students from diverse certificate programmes. The results presented that there is still room for Malaysian students to improve their EI, especially in the domain of perception of emotion. Malaysian young adults might need further guidance and improvement in EI skills to become more emotional competence. The researchers also recommended that further study could focus more on developing EI modules, assess the impacts of gender, as well as fields of study on the development of young adults.