DOI: 10.36347/sjams.2020.v08i02.006

Pages: 391-395

Background: During medical education students need various psychological constructs to sail through the course successfully. Emotional Intelligence is known for its influence on various aspects of life, especially in a trainee doctor, including claimed influence on academic performance. Very few studies have been done on medical students with these factors; in this background present study was planned. Method: Medical students who had cleared their final medical exam were included in the study. After consenting self-designed sociodemographic and academic performance scales were given along with EQ test by Chadha & Singh. Statistical analysis was done using IBM’s SPSS software. Results: Sample consisted of 167 participants with mean age of 23 years. On EQ assessment students had high Total EQ, Sensitivity and Competency scores but low maturity. EQ didn’t show any association with academic performance (r = -0.03, p>0.05). Males had lower academic performance than the female students (t = -2.89, p<0.01). Psychoactive substance users performed poorly in academics than non-users (t = 3.74, p<0.01). Multiple regression analysis predicted that substance use influences the academic performance significantly. Conclusion: EQ doesn’t mediate academic performance especially in group with above average intelligence. Gender and psychoactive substance use can influence academic scores.