The Role of Emotional Intelligence in Leadership Styles and Workplace Dynamics among University Students
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.47205/jdss.2025(6-IV)02Keywords:
Emotional Intelligence, Transformational Leadership, University Students, Workplace Dynamics, Pakistan, Team Cohesion, CollectivismAbstract
Emotional intelligence (EI) has gained increasing scholarly attention as a core factor shaping leadership effectiveness and organizational interactions. While substantial research has been conducted in Western contexts, its significance among university students in Pakistan has yet to be adequately examined. This study explores the influence of EI on leadership styles—specifically transformational, transactional, and laissez-faire—and on workplace-like dynamics such as collaboration, conflict management, and team satisfaction. Employing a mixed-methods design, data were collected from 350 university students active in student organizations. Quantitative findings, based on the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT) and the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ-5X), indicated strong associations between EI and transformational leadership (r = .52, p < .001) as well as between EI and group satisfaction (r = .45, p < .001). Complementary interviews with 20 student leaders underscored the role of empathy, cultural awareness, and adaptability in fostering inclusive and cooperative dynamics. The results highlight the potential of EI to strengthen leadership capacities within Pakistan’s collectivist educational context, suggesting that targeted EI development should be integrated into university leadership and professional training programs.
Downloads
Published
Details
-
Abstract Views: 4
PDF Downloads: 0
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Journal of Development and Social Sciences

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
ORIENTS SOCIAL RESEARCH CONSULTANCY (OSRC) & Journal of Development and Social Sciences (JDSS) adheres to Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International License. The authors submitting and publishing in JDSS agree to the copyright policy under creative common license 4.0 (Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International license). Under this license, the authors published in JDSS retain the copyright including publishing rights of their scholarly work and agree to let others remix, tweak, and build upon their work non-commercially. All other authors using the content of JDSS are required to cite author(s) and publisher in their work. Therefore, ORIENTS SOCIAL RESEARCH CONSULTANCY (OSRC) & Journal of Development and Social Sciences (JDSS) follow an Open Access Policy for copyright and licensing.