The relationship of trait emotional intelligence with academic performance: A meta-analytic review

•We examine the trait EI–academic performance link through meta-analysis.•The meta-analysis yielded favorable, modest-to-moderate validity for trait EI.•The summary effect was moderated by age and academic level.

This article reports results of a meta-analysis that aimed to assess the validity of trait emotional intelligence (trait EI) for predicting academic performance. Seventy-four effect sizes were drawn from 48 independent samples with a cumulative sample size of 10,292. A meta-analysis with random-effects weights yielded a modest-to-moderate, favorable validity coefficient for trait EI (r = .20, 95% CI = .16–.24). Homogeneity analysis revealed substantial heterogeneity in the effects, indicating that within-study error alone could not sufficiently explain the variability in effect size estimates. Tests of moderation showed that the summary effect increased as a function of decreasing age and academic level. The finding of favorable validity for trait EI suggests that researchers should reconsider the theoretical bases on which extant postulations on the role of trait EI in academic performance are based. Possible explanations for moderator effects, limitations of this study, future directions and implications for education are discussed.