Impact of Students’ Emotional Intelligence on Their Motivation towards Learning at Secondary School Level: Locality wise comparison

Abstract

The current study studied the impact of students’ emotional intelligence on their motivation towards studying at secondary school level by comparing localities. The research approach was quantitative and data were obtained from 434 pupils of public secondary schools (229 urban and 205 rural) using multistage random sampling. Data were collected using Likert-type questionnaires to assess emotional intelligence and four characteristics of learning motivation (intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, self-efficacy for learning and goal orientation). In all of the four characteristics of learning motivation, statistically significant locality-wise differences were found. Urban students were much more intrinsically motivated, extrinsically motivated, efficacious, and goal-oriented than rural pupils. The study has found favourable impact of emotional intelligence on students’ desire towards learning and the impact is more for students from localities. The results suggest the necessity to include emotional intelligence development, counselling services and a positive learning environment especially in rural secondary schools for students’ motivation and overall academic growth.

Keywords: Emotional intelligence, motivation, secondary school students, Locality