A Study of Academic Achievement, Spiritual Intelligence, and Emotional Intelligence Across Demographic and Educational Variables

Abstract

Background Contemporary educational paradigms increasingly emphasize holistic adolescent development, recognizing that academic achievement alone is insufficient for overall well-being and success. Emotional intelligence (EI) and spiritual intelligence (SI) play a vital role in shaping students’ emotional regulation, ethical orientation, resilience and meaning-making abilities. However, disparities in these competencies across socio-demographic variables such as gender, area of residence, family type and academic stream remain underexplored, particularly within Hindi-medium senior secondary school contexts in India.

Purpose This study examine the levels and inter-group differences in emotional intelligence, spiritual intelligence and academic achievement among senior secondary students. Specifically, the study aimed to investigate variations in EI, SI and academic achievement across socio-demographic variables including area, gender, family type and academic stream.

Method A quantitative survey research design was employed for the study. The sample comprised 580 senior secondary students aged 16-20 years, drawn from Hindi-medium schools affiliated with the Uttar Pradesh Board. Standardized instruments-the Emotional Intelligence Inventory by Mangal & Mangal and the Spiritual Intelligence Scale by Singh and Sinha-were used to collect data. Academic achievement was measured using students’ examinations scores. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, independent sample t-tests, one-way ANOVA and post-hoc tukey HSD tests to identify significant differences among groups.

Results The findings revealed statistically significant differences in emotional intelligence, spiritual intelligence and academic achievement across gender, area and academic stream. Urban students demonstrated higher EI, SI and academic achievement than their rural counterparts. Female students scored significantly higher than male students in emotional and spiritual intelligence as well as academic achievement. Family type did not show a significant influence on any of the studied variables. Students from the Science stream outperformed Arts and Commerce students in academic achievement and emotional intelligence; however, no significant differences were observed in spiritual intelligence across academic streams.

Conclusion The study concludes that emotional and spiritual intelligence, along with academic achievement are significantly shaped by socio-demographic factors such as gender, area and academic stream. The absence difference based on family type suggests that school-based and socio-educational factors may play a more critical role in adolescents’ holistic development. The findings highlight the need for inclusive educational interventions and policies that foster emotional and spiritual competencies, particularly among rural students and male learners, to promote balanced cognitive, emotional and spiritual growth in adolescents.