Relationship between Emotional Intelligence, Self-Esteem and Achievement Motivation

Abstract

Emotional intelligence is regarded as one of the most important topics addressed in scientific and public fields, and it is key to success and personality formation. The concept originated in the 20th century with the publication of Goleman’s book, Emotional Intelligence; in the book, the educational process is stated to not be limited to academic success but also to be necessary to achieve the psychological, academic and social balance that is characteristic of a good personality, for which cognitive and emotional development is extremely important. Consequently, the current study was applied to a sample of 490 college students to identify the relationship between emotional intelligence, self-esteem and achievement motivation. The results showed a statistically significant correlation between emotional intelligence and self-esteem as well as achievement motivation (0.57 and 0.45, respectively). The results also showed that self-esteem and achievement motivation could predict emotional intelligence among the respondents.