Emotional Intelligence and Psychological Well-Being among College Students

Abstract

The psychological burden is mounting on college students in India, with recent pan-Indian surveys indicating a significant level of moderate to severe anxiety was prevalent among almost seven out of ten participants. With this background, the concept of emotional intelligence (EI) which is the ability to perceive, understand, regulate and use emotions appropriately has received increasing research interest as a modifiable psychological resource that is associated with students' psychological well-being (PWB). The present paper aims to review and synthesize the secondary data that has been published in the related field of EI and PWB between the year 2018 and 2025 which is specifically taken from the higher education system in India. The study employs a descriptive, secondary data based design to include five tables of comparative data drawn from empirical Indian investigations on EI–PWB relationship, national prevalence data on psychological distress among students, gender differences in EI and PWB, indicators for accessing mental health services and a timeline of research and policy developments relevant to the EI–PWB relationship.

A positive and statistically significant relationship with EI and PWB has been consistently reported and trait EI has been seen to buffer against psychological distress and to predict flourishing among students from the Indian higher education system. There is also inconsistent research on gender differences, with some studies indicating that female students perform better on the EI overall, while others indicate that female students perform worse; gender differences with PWB are generally small or insignificant. The paper is conclusive that making EI more effective with structured, curriculum-based interventions is a promising, low-cost opportunity to enhance student mental health, but this should go hand-in-hand with greater institutional counselling capacity because of the high treatment gap for mental health in India.