Developing psychological capital and emotional intelligence in higher education: A field experiment with economics and management students

This study examines the effectiveness of an educational intervention built upon the experiential learning model and positive psychology aimed at increasing management students' psychological capital (PsyCap) and emotional intelligence (EI) during higher education (HE). It also analyses how EI influences PsyCap and how both affect students' academic performance measured by self-reported grade point average (GPA). A field experiment was used employing a quasi-experimental design with a pre-test-post-test and a control group. Results confirm the effectiveness of the educational intervention in increasing management students' PsyCap and further influencing academic performance; however, the intervention was less effective in increasing students' overall EI. The findings of this paper contribute to the literature by examining the role of management education to develop students' psychological resources, which have key implications for graduates' academic success and future employability and institutions' engagement in responsible management education.