image

ISSN: 1935-1232 (P)

ISSN: 1941-2010 (E)

image
image

Research Article - Clinical Schizophrenia & Related Psychoses ( 2023) Volume 0, Issue 0

The Effect of Emotional Intelligence on Stress in Students at King Khalid University, Saudi Arabia
Mesfer Ahmad Mesfer Awadai1*, Mohammad Nayef Ayasrah2, Samar Abdulwahab Jaradat3, Mohammad Mahmoud Al-Gaseem4 and Yaser Numan Al Sabi5
 
1College of Education, King Khalid University, Saudi Arabia
2Associate Professor of Special Education, Al-Balqa Applied University / Department of Education Scie, Jordan
3Department of Educational Studies, University Sains Malaysia, Malaysia
4Department of Teaching and Curriculum Faculty of Educational sciences. The Hashemite University, P.O, Jordan
5CCC-SLP Speech-Language and Hearing Sciences Program, Hekma School of Health, Behavioral Sciences an, Dar Al Hekma University Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
 
*Corresponding Author:
Mesfer Ahmad Mesfer Awadai, College of Education, King Khalid University, Saudi Arabia, Email: malwadai@kku.edu.sa

Received: 01-Jan-2023, Manuscript No. CSRP-23-85253; Accepted Date: Jan 16, 2023 ; Editor assigned: 03-Jan-2023, Pre QC No. CSRP- 23-85253 (PQ); Reviewed: 12-Jan-2023, QC No. CSRP- 23- 85253 (Q); Revised: 15-Jan-2023, Manuscript No. CSRP-23-85253 (R); Published: 17-Jan-2023, DOI: 10.3371/CSRP.MMWY.100142

Abstract

It's possible that the ability to keep one's emotions under check is a big influence in reducing overall levels of stress. The goal of this study is to evaluate the connection that exists between emotional intelligence and the amounts of stress that are experienced by working students who are enrolled in King Khalid University in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. One hundred different students from King Khalid University, which is located in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, took part in the research. A technique known as purposive sampling was used to choose these specific people to participate in the research. In this specific inquiry, a technique called as simple regression analysis was used in order to make sense of the collected data. Emotional intelligence was demonstrated to have an effect on the levels of stress experienced by students at King Khalid University in Saudi Arabia, as evidenced by the outcomes of the study, which gave a value of P = 0.000 < 0.05. The research was conducted at King Khalid University in Saudi Arabia. Given that the direction of the relationship between the two variables is a negative one, we are able to draw the conclusion that the degree to which students' emotional intelligence is developed corresponds negatively with the amount of stress that they experience.

Keywords

Emotional Intelligence • Stress • Students

Introduction

People engage in activities in order to make money, gratify their desires, and improve the quality of their lives as a whole. This kind of activity may be referred to as labor. The students have a broad range of requirements that have to be fulfilled in order to guarantee that the educational process will go without any hitches. The ability to meet lecture needs, such as paying tuition fees, purchasing study support needs, and covering living expenses, is one of the needs that must be met in order to ensure that educational pursuits of students are not hampered. This is one of the needs that must be met in order to ensure that educational pursuits of students are not hampered. The need to fill idle time, the desire to live freely, the hunt for experience and connection needs, and the drive to self-actualize or develop oneself are some of the other motives.

Students who are also employed must face a variety of various ramifications as a result of their situation [1]. The consequences can include having to complete additional assignments, being good at time management and managing oneself, being able to divide one's attention and energy in order to successfully complete assignments for both work and school, and being able to adjust to the differences between the two settings. The consequences can come in the form of having to complete additional assignments. Students who adopt these ways of living are more likely to experience high levels of stress than their peers as a direct result of the many expectations and duties that are put on them [2].

It is a feeling of pressure that is experienced by an individual as a result of a discrepancy between the reality that occurs and individual expectations, where there is a gap between environmental demands and the individual's ability to fulfill them, which is considered to be harmful, threatening, and disturbing to the individual. Stress is a feeling of pressure that is experienced by an individual as a result of a discrepancy between the reality that occurs and individual expectations [3]. When there is a disparity between the reality that takes place and the expectations that a person has, or when there is a gap between the demands of the environment and the individual's ability to meet those needs, an individual may suffer stress.

An individual develops the condition of stress when they interact with something that is known to be a source of stress (stressor), and this interaction causes the individual to perceive a discrepancy between the conditions of the individual's biological, psychological, and social resources. Stress is a condition that develops when an individual who is experiencing stress interacts with something that is known to be a source of stress (stressor) [4]. This disparity is what gives the person a stressed-out feeling in the first place.

The many academic responsibilities that students are required to do, such as completing their homework and performing well on exams, are a significant cause of stress among students [5]. Long working hours, challenges, difficult jobs, and high workloads are all elements that lead to boredom and anxiety in students [6]. These variables may also contribute to stress in the workplace, which may be the outcome of workplace stress.

Students often find it difficult to concentrate during classroom activities because of the demands of their academic and professional lives [7]. As a result, students have a tendency to put off finishing their assignments, miss classes, and even choose to forego further academic pursuits because of these challenges [8]. This illustrates that there is a disconnect between the activities that one participates in at work and those that one participates in at college.

Students who are able to keep their emotional calm in the face of hard or unfavorable conditions are more prepared to deal with the repercussions of stress than their peers who are unable to do so. People will find it much simpler to find answers to their challenges, even when they are in stressful circumstances, if they are able to control their emotions and use that control to examine the source of the problem and find solutions to that problem. This will make it much easier for people to find answers to their challenges. The ability to keep one's emotions in check is another name for emotional intelligence, which is another term for the same thing [9].

Those that are equipped with emotional intelligence are able to find solutions to problems, take control of themselves as well as the situations in which they operate, and exhibit leadership qualities. Emotional intelligence can be broken down into its component parts, which include the following: the ability to control one's mood, self-discipline, excitement, tenacity, selfmotivation, the capacity to regulate one's emotions, surviving in challenging situations, empathizing with others, and maintaining positive interpersonal connections.

Methods

The inquiry makes use of a quantitative methodology, which is a kind of research strategy that examines a certain population or sample. This methodology relates to the form of research approach that is used. The method of data collection that will be employed in this inquiry will be a measuring tool or instrument of the Likert type. This decision was made in advance. A stress scale including 32 items and an emotional intelligence scale containing 40 items were both used in this research project as the respective scales. These two different measurements were combined to form the research scale. The value of emotional intelligence was found to have a dependability of 0.934, but the value of stress was found to have a reliability of 0.858. The analysis of the data in this specific piece of research is a standard linear regression, and it starts out with an assumption test. The assumption test investigates whether or not the data are typical and whether or not they are linear.

Results and Discussion

Both the assumption test for the stress variable and the assumption test for the emotional intelligence variable have a p value that is greater than 0.05, which indicates that they both conform to the norms of normalcy. The p value for the assumption test for the relationship between stress and emotional intelligence is also greater than 0.05. This suggests that a normal distribution may be applied to each and every set of data for every variable. Data that has been judged to be normal will be submitted to parametric analysis because it meets the requirements for the assumption of normality of the distribution of research data. This assumption states that the distribution of research data should be assumed to be normal (Table 1).

Table 1. Normality Test

Variable Kolmogorov-Smirn ‘qov P Description
Stress 0.08 0.127 Normal
Emotional Intelligence 0.084 0.084 Normal

The relationship between the stress variable and the emotional intelligence variable is shown by a linear relationship in (Table 1). According to the idea of linearity, the connection between the two variables is considered to be linear if the computed F value is greater than or equal to the F table and the p value is greater than or equal to 0.05. In other words, if both of these conditions are met, then the relationship between the two variables is linear (Table 2).

Table 2. Linearity Test

Variable F Count F Table P Description
Stress-Emotional Intelligence 1.098 3.94 0.369 Linear

The results of the easy hypothesis test that made use of the fundamental regression analysis that was described before make it very evident that the p value is lower than 0.05. This suggests that the major hypothesis that was evaluated in this inquiry is accurate, which implies that emotional intelligence does in fact have an influence on the levels of stress that are experienced by students. It is general known that there is a negative link between knowing one's own sentiments and self-motivation on the side of a person and emotional components. This connection may be found to exist in both positive and negative forms (Table 3). This suggests that a student's ability to recognize and name the emotions they are experiencing, as well as their level of self-motivation, both have a role in the degree to which they experience negative sentiments as a direct consequence of being exposed to pressure.

Table 3. Simple Regression Test Result

Variable T Count Beta T Table P R2
Stress-Emotional Intelligence -13.268 -0.801 1.661 0 0.642

The results of the easy hypothesis test that made use of the fundamental regression analysis that was described before make it very evident that the p value is lower than 0.05. This suggests that the major hypothesis that was evaluated in this inquiry is accurate, which implies that emotional intelligence does in fact have an influence on the levels of stress that are experienced by students. It is general known that there is a negative link between knowing one's own sentiments and self-motivation on the side of a person and emotional components. This connection may be found to exist in both positive and negative forms. This suggests that a student's ability to recognize and name the emotions they are experiencing, as well as their level of self-motivation, both have a role in the degree to which they experience negative sentiments as a direct consequence of being exposed to pressure.

As a direct result of the outcomes of the hypothesis test that was carried out via the use of an uncomplicated analysis of regression data, it is known that the value is lower than 0.05. This demonstrates that the primary hypothesis that was tested in this investigation is validated, which indicates that there is a relationship between emotional intelligence and stress levels among working students. The validation of this hypothesis demonstrates that there is a relationship between emotional intelligence and stress levels among working students.

It is possible to draw the conclusion that the direction of the connection has a negative sign based on the fact that the beta value is -0.801. This is due to the fact that the value of beta is -0.801. This suggests that the emotional intelligence of working students is inversely proportional to the amount of stress that working students experience; on the other hand, the stress that working students experience is inversely proportional to the degree to which they have a high emotional intelligence. The result is that emotional intelligence is responsible for 64.2% of the stress, and the coefficient interval that is related with that number suggests that this value belongs to the very high or strong group.

One of the things that is very necessary to have in order to be able to manage with stress is a high level of emotional intelligence. People who are emotionally intelligent will be able to exert control over their own feelings, which will enable them to think more rationally about the challenges they are confronted with and find effective solutions to those challenges. Individuals who are emotionally intelligent will be able to find effective solutions to the problems they face.

Students who have emotional intelligence are better able to keep their cool in the face of problems, such as balancing their time and efforts between their employment and their studies. This ability is one of the many benefits of having emotional intelligence [10]. They are also better able to modify their attitudes to guarantee that they are able to accomplish both of their obligations in a way that is suitable and comfortable for them. This is because they have gained more experience. In addition to this, they have a stronger ability to differentiate between the obstacles that are presented by their work and those that are presented in their courses.

Students who have a high score on the emotional intelligence test have a stronger ability to connect or interact with other people, which leads to these students having a larger social network than their peers who have a lower emotional intelligence score. It is essential to understand the role that emotional intelligence plays in the formation of a student's psychological responses to different types of difficulties. Students who are emotionally intelligent also have good coping skills for dealing with the sources of stress, which helps students to adapt to the sources of stress, which in turn makes students more driven to discover solutions to their issues. [Case in point:]

One of the elements of stress is referred to as emotions, which are different feelings that a person feels as a response to the factors that contribute to stress, such as rage and despair. Emotions are considered to be one of the components of stress. Therefore, having good emotional abilities, also known as emotional intelligence, will make individuals better able to understand their own feelings and appropriately express those feelings, which will allow them to manage their own emotions. This is because having good emotional abilities will make individuals more emotionally intelligent. Self-awareness refers to a person's capacity to comprehend and articulate their own experiences in an effective manner [11].

The outcomes of the descriptive test indicate that there is a general trend toward a high score when describing the distribution of the emotional intelligence variable data for working students. This conclusion is supported by the description of the distribution of the data for the variable. While this is going on, the degree of stress experienced by students who simultaneously have jobs is rather modest. This suggests that working students have a high emotional intelligence and a low stress level, both of which are beneficial signals for the student population as a whole. Additionally, this shows that working students have a low degree of anxiety.

Because of this, those who have a high emotional intelligence will feel lower levels of stress in their jobs than those who do not have as much. This is because people lack self-awareness in terms of comprehending and coping with their own emotions, and they also suffer from an excessive amount of stress, both of which will have a negative effect on their activities or employment. The reason for this is due to the fact that people lack selfawareness in terms of comprehending and coping with their own emotions.

People who have a high emotional intelligence are believed to have a greater degree of flexibility when it comes to selecting solutions to apply in the process of resolving issues that are the cause of stress. This is because people with a high emotional intelligence are more attuned to their feelings and abler to identify and manage their emotions. People who have a high emotional intelligence are able to comprehend the situation and draw the appropriate conclusions. As a consequence of this, they are in a better position to adapt the approach that is taken to the problem-solving activities that need to be carried out, which in turn enables other people to deal with stress in a healthy manner. Individuals that have a high emotional intelligence are also able to understand or be aware of the emotional states of other people [12]. This ability allows them to understand and empathize with others. As a consequence of this, they are capable of understanding difficulties from a range of perspectives and coming to decisions that are in keeping with their best judgment.

If one were to evaluate the number of people who took part in this research based on the gender of the participants, they would notice that the majority of the responses came from female students (71 in total), while there were only 29 male students. This finding suggests that the majority of the participants were female students. The reason for this is that there were only 29 male students that participated in the activity. This may be deduced from the gender distribution of the individuals who filled out the survey and participated in it. The academic pressure that is put on female students is far less intense than the pressure that is put on male students [13, 14]. This is because women are better equipped to deal with issues both within and outside of lectures, while males have a tendency to be more emotionally invested in the process of problem-solving. Women are better prepared to cope with challenges both inside and outside of lectures [15]. It is generally accepted that women are better equipped to handle difficult situations, both within and outside of the classroom.

This link remains even when the characteristics in question are present, which include acknowledging one's own emotions and being able to motivate oneself. Emotional aspects have a negative correlation with characteristics that include acknowledging one's own emotions and being able to motivate oneself. It is possible for a person's level of motivation to have an effect on the amount of zealousness that they feel about the career path that they have selected. When a someone is enthusiastic about the work that they do, it is a strong indication that they are highly motivated. When a person is enthusiastic about the work that they do, they will approach their tasks with a positive attitude and will be able to overcome the challenges that are brought about by the nature of the work that they do. On the other side, if a person has a low level of motivation, they will have even less thrill while they are at work. This, in turn, will lead to emotions of anxiousness, indiscipline, and even a decline in performance. When an individual's motivation is low, they will have even less thrill when they are working, since they are already experiencing less excitement than normal.

Conclusion

The results of the research that has been carried out so far suggest that there is a significant inverse connection between a student's degree of emotional intelligence and the amount of stress that they experience. The outcomes of the study that has been carried out provide the foundation for this conclusion. Students experience higher levels of stress as a direct consequence of the greater amount of work that is required of them as a direct result of the fact that they are juggling the obligations of two separate occupations at the same time. When students have a better understanding of their feelings, it will be much simpler for them to devise methods for overcoming feelings of depression and other unpleasant emotions that may surface as a result of their participation in a variety of activities. These feelings may surface as a result of the students' participation in various activities. In addition, in order for students to achieve the goals that have been established for them, it is necessary for them to motivate themselves and keep their sense of optimism by maintaining their own sense of selfmotivation. This is an essential step toward achieving the goals that have been set for them. Students also need to cultivate strong connections with everyone they interact with, including their classmates, lecturers, coworkers, and even their bosses, in order for them to feel at ease in the environments in which they find themselves. This is necessary for students to feel comfortable in the environments in which they find themselves.

Acknowledgement

The authors extend their appreciation to the Deanship of Scientific Research at King Khalid University for funding this work through Small Research Groups under grant number (RGP.1 /140/43).

References

Citation: Mesfer Awadai MA, Ayasrah MN, Al-Gaseem MM, et al. "The Effect of Emotional Intelligence on Stress in Students at King Khalid University, Saudi Arabia". Clin Schizophr Relat Psychoses 16S2 (2023) doi: 10.3371/CSRP.MMWY.100142

Copyright: © 2023 Mesfer Awadai MA et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the creative commons attribution license which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.