Impact of Emotional Intelligence on Academic Adjustment of First-Year Management Undergraduates of State Universities in Sri Lanka

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of emotional intelligence on academic adjustment of first-year Management undergraduates of State Universities in Sri Lanka. To achieve this purpose, the researcher established three basic questions. Those are to explore the existing level of Emotional Intelligence on Academic Adjustment, relationships between Emotional Intelligence and Academic Adjustment, and the impact of Emotional Intelligence on Academic Adjustment of first-year Management undergraduates of State Universities in Sri Lanka. A structured questionnaire was used as the method of data collection and a sample of 347 first-year management undergraduates in state universities were selected using a stratified sampling method, through Morgan Table. The researcher considered three state universities in Western Province, Sri Lanka: University of Kalaniya, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, and University of Colombo. Quantitative research approach was used for this study. The data were analyzed using reliability analysis, validity analysis, descriptive statistics, correlation, and regression analysis. The result indicated that Appraisal and Expression of Emotions, Regulation of Emotions, and Utilization of Emotion are in high level among selected respondents. Also, results indicated that emotional intelligence has a strong positive relationship with academic adjustment among first-year undergraduates of state universities in Western Province, Sri Lanka. Further, regression results reveal that Appraisal and Expression of Emotions (0.330), Regulation of Emotions (0.117), and Utilization of Emotion (0.146) significantly impact on Academic Adjustment among first-year management undergraduates of state universities in the western province, of Sri Lanka.