Intrinsic Motivation Mediated Between Emotional Intelligence And Academic Performance Of Secondary School Students

Abstract

Academic achievement of students at the high school level is very important, not just for students or schools but also for future generations and the overall development of our nation. Scholars are working hard to assess the essence of intrinsic motivation, which influences the relationship between emotional intelligence and academic performance. Keeping this in view, the present study is a step toward ascertaining the mediating effect of intrinsic motivation between emotional intelligence and academic performance. This study was conducted on a sample of 173 students studying in classes X to XII at different public schools in Darbhanga town. Schutte’s Emotional Intelligence Scale and Tremblay et al.’s (2009) Motivation Scale were used for data collection. Data obtained on these measures were statistically analysed using SPSS 20 software. Academic performance was correlated with all components of emotional intelligence, such as perception of emotion, managing own and other emotions, utilisation of emotion, etc. Similarly, intrinsic motivation was also correlated with academic performance. Mediational analysis reveals the fact that the mediating effect of intrinsic motivation on academic performance is higher than that of emotional intelligence on academic performance. The findings were discussed in the light of previous research.