The Relationship between Stress and Emotional Intelligence among Postgraduate Students: The Case Study at Perdana School, University Technology Malaysia

Students facing one stress typically face multiple risky educational circumstances that threaten an array of their study outcomes. Experiencing multiple academic stress can intensify the negative effects that such disorders has on the whole person’s physical, psychological, emotional, and cognitive development. This paper is a survey study, and it discusses the effect of academic stress and emotional intelligence on students’ psychological and emotional well-being. The purpose is to understand the relationship between stress and emotional intelligence among postgraduate students. The data has been collected through online survey that was sent through emails and links on WhatsApp and social networking sites. The accumulated data were then analyzed, and descriptive statistics as well as correlation study were used to interpret and evaluate the respondents’ background, academic stress, and emotional intelligence. The key finding of this research is that stress and emotional intelligence are important; both have effects on the physical and mental wellbeing of postgraduate students. Indeed, there is academic stress among postgraduate students of Perdana School caused by academic workload, performance pressure, self- esteem, time management skills, and study-personal life balancing. Consequently students use emotional intelligence as a coping mechanism to manage stress. Hence, it is highly advisable for the dean of the school, lecturers, and supervisors to look comprehensively at this matter and tackle the consequences of this issue by emphasizing more on students’ wellbeing so they can graduate on time and enjoy the study life.

کلیدواژه ها:

psychological wellbeing ، Stress ، Emotional intelligence ، postgraduate students