Achievement Motivation of Secondary Students in Relation to their Emotional Intelligence

Abstract

Abstract: The present study investigates relationship between achievement motivation and emotional intelligence among secondary students in Shahjahanpur District, Uttar Pradesh. The study employed the descriptive survey method, and a sample of 1,948 students studying in Classes IX and X was selected from 60 secondary schools through a two-stage stratified random sampling technique. Achievement motivation was assessed using the Achievement Motivation Scale (Deo and Mohan), while emotional intelligence was measured using the Emotional Intelligence Scale (Singh and Narain). Percentage analysis, the Mann–Whitney U test, Kruskal–Wallis H test, Chi-square test, and Pearson’s coefficient of correlation were employed for data analysis. The findings indicate that the majority of secondary students possessed average or below-average achievement motivation, while emotional intelligence was predominantly average, followed by low and high levels. Significant differences in achievement motivation were observed with respect to educational board and residential status, whereas gender and social category differences were statistically non-significant. Furthermore, achievement motivation did not differ significantly across high, average, and low levels of emotional intelligence. The Chi-square analysis revealed no statistically significant association between the two variables. Similarly, the correlation analysis indicated a negligible and statistically non-significant relationship between overall emotional intelligence and achievement motivation. None of the emotional intelligence dimensions exhibited a significant relationship with achievement motivation. The findings suggest that emotional intelligence was not significantly associated with achievement motivation among secondary students in the present sample.