Emotional intelligence: the less explored influential factor on the academic performance of a dental student

Dentistry is one among the most challenging and stressful fields. Research evidence that a person's emotional intelligence (EI) influences their educational and occupational performance is increasing. Hence, our aim was to assess the influence of trait emotional intelligence on the academic performance of dental undergraduates. A cross sectional study was done on 462 students of 2nd, 3rd, 4th years and interns from five dental colleges using simple random sampling. Trait emotional intelligence was measured using the shorter version of Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire (TEIQUE-SF), and academic performance was assessed using score obtained in the university examination. The mean EI was found to be 101.01. Majority of them agreed that in-spite of finding it difficult to regulate emotions; they could deal effectively with people. Almost 59% of them agreed that they could deal with stress and 66% were able to control their emotions. There was also a significant difference between EI and age (p=0.000). Emotional Intelligence had a significant association with the academic performance of the students.