Positive emotions, emotional intelligence, and successful experiential learning

This study explored the role that positive emotions and emotional intelligence play in experiential learning. Students’ field practicum journals were analyzed using the Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count Program (LIWC) and a measure of emotional intelligence was obtained using the Mayer–Salovey–Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT). Positive emotion words were robustly associated with almost all dimensions of supervisors’ ratings of students’ performance, but showed weak associations with students’ ratings of perceived benefits associated with their practicum experiences. Overall EI scores were correlated with several of the supervisor rating items and the Facilitating Thought and Managing Emotions subscales of the EI were robustly correlated with many of the student rating items. This study thus yielded a more differentiated view of the role of positive emotions and emotional intelligence in adaptive functioning and underscored the importance of using multiple informants to assess a complex construct such as successful experiential learning.

► This study examined the role of emotion variables in experiential learning.
► Positive emotion was assessed by analyzing students’ journals with the LIWC.
► Emotional intelligence (EI) was assessed using the MSCEIT.
► Positive emotion was associated with supervisors’ ratings of students’ performance.
► EI scores were correlated with students’ ratings of their internship experiences.