FOSTERING EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE IN EMERGING ADULTHOOD: EDUCATIONAL, CLINICAL AND ORGANIZATIONAL APPLICATIONS

Abstract

Emerging adulthood represents a formative life stage in which young people encounter rapid transitions across educational, relational, and occupational domains. These transitions require not only cognitive flexibility but also the emotional and social competencies necessary to navigate uncertainty, manage stress, and build sustaining interpersonal relationships. Emotional intelligence, understood as the ability to perceive, understand, and regulate emotions in oneself and others, has therefore become a central construct for explaining why some emerging adults adapt successfully to these challenges while others struggle. Research demonstrates that higher levels of emotional intelligence support academic engagement, psychological wellbeing and social adjustment, particularly during critical transitions such as the move from high school to university and the entry into the workforce. Educational institutions have increasingly incorporated emotional intelligence training to enhance students’ resilience, decision-making and interpersonal functioning. In clinical contexts, emotionally focused interventions and mindfulness-based programmes help young adults reinterpret emotional experience as meaningful information, reducing anxiety, depression, and identity-related rumination. Emotional intelligence also plays a significant role in early career development, where it supports teamwork, conflict resolution, and the formation of a coherent professional identity. At the societal level, emotionally intelligent individuals contribute to more cooperative communities and healthier social climates by fostering empathy, perspectivetaking, and constructive communication. This article argues that fostering emotional intelligence across educational, clinical and occupational settings enhances emerging adults’ ability to meet developmental tasks with confidence and coherence. By cultivating emotional awareness, interpretive insight and regulation skills, emotional intelligence provides the foundation for adaptive functioning and long-term well-being in the transition to adulthood.