Development of Emotional Competences in Higher Education: The Effects of a Self-Leadership Program from a Dexplis Design

Abstract

Research on emotional competence development (ECD) in university students is scarce and shows mixed results. This research establishes what is possible to expect from an optional self-leadership program (SLP) consisting of eight workshops of three hours each, and with a student-centered and experiential approach. The research method was a mixed DEXPLIS design (n=126), which is quasi-experimental ex-post-facto for the first quantitative phase, with experimental and control groups where the CDE A35 self-informed instrument of Bisquerra and Pérez-Escoda was administered, and with participation in qualitative interviews in the second phase. The results indicate global progress in ECD, more evident in intrapersonal emotional competence (EC), although the SLP has not been effective in interpersonal EC. The students perceive their ECD as being very important. In the European Higher Education Area (EHEA), ECD is part of the acquisition of generic or transversal competences, which contribute to more effective and integral training, as well as to a better preparation for the world of work.