Celebrating self-actualization: Improving emotional intelligence through a cognitive-based English reading curriculum

The purpose of this study was to explore how a cognitive-based English reading curriculum affected emotional intelligence (EI). The curriculum was based on the concepts of Salovey and Mayer's (1990) emotional intelligence and Maslow's self-actualization. The research used a battery of self-report tests that included emotional intelligence, affective response to literature, self-actualization, and the Big Five personality traits. In addition, the researcher developed a behavioral measure to evaluate students' responses to a short story.; This research was based on a quasi-experimental non-equivalent design and was conducted in southern part of Taiwan. Thirty-two female college students in the control group and thirty female college students in the experimental group completed the aforementioned self-report measures twice as their pre-test and post-test scores at an interval of six weeks.; According to the pair-sample t test, the mean score of self-actualization and the mean score of extroversion, conscientiousness, and openness were significantly increased from the pre- to post-test. The mean score of emotional intelligence, affective response to literature, and the behavioral measure according to ANOVA analyses also revealed significant increases from the pre- to post-test.; Significant correlations were evidenced between the behavioral measure and openness of the Big Five and between the behavioral measure and self-actualization in the experimental group's post-tests. Besides, many significant correlations were found in both groups among the following variables: emotional intelligence, affective response to literature, self-actualization, and personality traits.; According to the hierarchical regression analyses, affective response to literature and self-actualization, one at a time, significantly predicted emotional intelligence after controlling the Big Five personality traits.; Taken together, these findings suggested that Schutte Self-Report Inventory designed in accordance with Salovey and Mayer's (1990) emotional intelligence framework was associated with affective reading and self-actualization, indicating that emotional intelligence can be inculcated through a cognitive-based English reading curriculum which was designed to train students to think better and help them understand and perceive emotional information better.