Abstract
Background
Nursing graduate education in Pakistan is increasingly recognized as pivotal for producing competent clinical leaders, educators, and researchers. However, the rigorous academic and clinical demands place immense psychological pressure on students, potentially compromising their academic performance and overall well-being. While emotional intelligence and perceived support have been independently linked to academic success in international contexts, their collective influence on nursing students in Pakistan remains underexplored.
Methods
This study employed a cross-sectional, descriptive-correlational design to evaluate the association between emotional intelligence, perceived institutional support, perceived supervisory support, and academic performance among nursing graduate students in Multan, Punjab, Pakistan. A sample of 180 nursing graduate students at two nursing institutions (Nishtar Medical College and Multan University of Science and Technology) in Multan was selected, using non-probability convenience sampling. Data were collected via validated self-administered questionnaires including the emotional intelligence scale, perceived institutional support scale, perceived supervisory support scale, and self-reported academic performance. All items were adapted for the Pakistani nursing education context. Descriptive statistics, Spearman’s rank-order correlation, and Mann-Whitney U tests were used for analysis, given the non-normal distribution of the study variables.
Results
The findings revealed that nursing graduate students demonstrated moderate levels of emotional intelligence (M = 3.73, SD = 0.43), perceived supervisory support (M = 3.79, SD = 0.67) and academic performance (M = 3.89, SD = 0.39), while perceived institutional support (M = 4.15, SD = 0.48), was at a high level. Spearman’s correlation analysis revealed statistically significant positive correlations among all study variables. Emotional intelligence demonstrated significant positive correlations with academic performance (rₛ = 0.515, p < 0.01), perceived institutional support (rₛ = 0.574, p < 0.01), and perceived supervisory support (rₛ = 0.426, p < 0.01). Perceived institutional support showed a significant positive correlation with academic performance (rₛ = 0.569, p < 0.01), while perceived supervisory support demonstrated a significant positive correlation with academic performance (rₛ = 0.514, p < 0.01). Perceived institutional support emerged as the strongest correlate of academic performance (rₛ² = 32.4%), followed by emotional intelligence (rₛ² = 26.5%) and perceived supervisory support (rₛ² = 26.4%). Graduate nursing students with higher emotional intelligence reported significantly greater perceived support and academic success compared to those with lower emotional intelligence graduate nursing students.
Conclusions
This study establishes that emotional intelligence, perceived institutional support, and perceived supervisory support are significant contributors to the academic success of nursing graduate students in Multan, Pakistan. These findings underscore the need of integrating emotional intelligence development into nursing curricula and strengthening the emotionally supportive academic environments and developing supervisor training programs within the higher education landscape of Pakistan. Such interventions are essential for fostering academic resilience, improving learning outcomes and capable of navigating the complex demands of Pakistan’s evolving healthcare landscape.
Keywords: Emotional intelligence, Perceived institutional support, Perceived supervisory support, Academic performance, Graduate nursing education, Higher education Pakistan
Introduction
Nursing education serves as the cornerstone of healthcare systems worldwide, shaping the knowledge, skills, and attitudes of the professional graduates who deliver patient care. In Pakistan, the nursing profession has undergone a significant transformation over the past two decades, evolving from a predominantly diploma-based training model to a degree-based educational framework. The Higher Education Commission (HEC) and the Pakistan Nursing & Midwifery Council (PNMC) have played pivotal roles in this transition, introducing programs such as master of science in nursing (MSN), post-graduate nursing programs along with 4-year generic bachelor of science in nursing (BScN) and Post-RN BScN. These advancements aim to produce competent, research-oriented, and clinically skilled nursing professionals capable of meeting the complex healthcare demands of the country. Graduate nursing education, in particular, holds immense significance in Pakistan’s healthcare system. MSN and MPhil Nursing programs are designed to prepare advanced practice nurses, educators, researchers, and leaders who can contribute to policy development, evidence-based practice, and the overall improvement of patient care outcomes [33]. However, the journey through graduate nursing education is fraught with challenges. Nursing graduate students in Pakistan face rigorous academic coursework, demanding clinical rotations, research requirements, and the pressure to maintain high academic standards—all while managing personal and professional responsibilities [42]. These multifaceted demands can lead to significant psychological stress, burnout, and compromised academic performance if not adequately addressed [33].
Academic performance among graduate nursing students depends not only on knowledge and effort but also on students’ capacity to regulate emotion and their perceptions of institutional and supervisory support. Graduate nursing education imposes demands that extend beyond the intellectual (Alqalah, & Alkubati et al., [3]). Alongside coursework, research, and comprehensive examinations, MPhil and PhD nursing students must manage the emotional weight of clinical responsibility, prolonged uncertainty, and often isolated research work — while sustaining the interpersonal composure their discipline expects of them even outside the classroom [5]. In this context, academic performance emerges not merely as a reflection of cognitive ability or diligence, but as a dynamic outcome influenced by how effectively students understand and regulate their emotions, sustain motivation under strain, and perceive the responsiveness of their academic and clinical environments [11].
Two constructs are central to this process. The first is emotional intelligence — the capacity to perceive, understand, regulate, and use emotion adaptively, in oneself and in interactions with others [13]. EI has been linked to more effective coping, better decision-making, and stronger overall well-being in academic settings [4, 35], and affective states more broadly have been shown to either support or undermine cognitive engagement during learning [7]. Positive affect is associated with persistence and academic satisfaction, while unmanaged stress and frustration are associated with disengagement and burnout [28, 41]— a risk that is arguably heightened in nursing graduate programs, where students carry clinical, ethical, and academic responsibilities concurrently.
The second construct is perceived support —the degree to which students believe their institution and supervisors genuinely value their contributions and care about their well-being, rather than simply provide structural resources [29]. Emotional capacity and perceived support are unlikely to act independently: a student’s ability to interpret a supervisor’s feedback as encouragement rather than criticism, or an institutional policy as evidence of care rather than bureaucracy, plausibly depends on their emotional intelligence [44]. Support is not merely what is offered, but what is felt. When graduate students perceive that they are valued, heard, and understood by their institutions and supervisors, it fosters a sense of safety, belonging, and purpose. Such environments do not simply facilitate learning rather they transform it [30]. Even highly emotionally intelligent graduate nursing students may struggle to sustain performance in an unsupported nursing academic environment. Despite the recognized importance of emotional intelligence and perceived support individually, their interconnection remains conspicuously under-examined, a gap that is particularly pronounced in Pakistani graduate nursing education, where hierarchical academic structures, institutional challenges and limited formal mentorship prevail [2]. Conducting in-depth research to these phenomena holds significant theoretical and practical value for developing effective strategies for safeguarding the emotional health of graduate nursing students that is associated with their academic performance.
Emotional intelligence and academic performance
Consistent with Goleman’s (1995) view of emotional intelligence as a learnable set of competencies rather than a fixed trait, empirical work across academic populations has generally found that students who regulate emotion and manage stress more effectively also perform better academically. For instance, Shengyao et al., [38] reported a significant positive correlation between trait EI and academic performance among undergraduate students, attributing this to emotionally intelligent students’ greater capacity to stay task-focused under pressure. Martínez-Rodríguez and Ferreira, [22] extended this finding to university students in emotionally demanding fields, where the link between EI and academic success was particularly pronounced, where academic work is inseparable from emotionally taxing clinical exposure— a pattern relevant to nursing education. MacCann et al., [21] similarly found EI positively associated with academic performance among university students, and identified emotional awareness and emotional regulation, rather than emotion recognition alone, as the components most closely tied to outcomes. Garg et al., [12] reported a comparable association with GPA, noting that emotionally intelligent students were better able to sustain academic focus during periods of high stress. Taken together, this literature is fairly consistent in one direction but says little about why the association holds beyond general references to stress management. Reading through the lens of Emotional Intelligence Theory, the more plausible explanation is that EI does not raise performance directly, but functions as a buffer: it determines how effectively a student converts academic pressure into sustained effort rather than disengagement. This buffering interpretation is important for the present study, because it implies EI’s effect on performance may be conditional on the demands of the environment — demands that, for graduate nursing students, are unusually high. Therefore, the study assumes a positive association between emotional intelligence and academic performance of graduate nursing students in Pakistani nursing institutions.
Perceived institutional support and academic performance
According to Eisenberger et al., perceived institutional support theory reflects students’ belief that their university values their academic contributions and is genuinely invested in their development and welfare [9]. Early work by Rhoades et al., [31] established that when students perceived this kind of institutional backing, their academic confidence and engagement increased correspondingly, and later syntheses reaffirmed institutional support as a moderate but consistent predictor of postgraduate academic performance in South Asian settings specifically [20]. San and Guo, [36], studying 410 international graduate students across five Chinese universities, found that institutional support did not act on academic performance directly; instead, its effect was fully mediated by academic adaptation that is, institutional support improved performance only in so far as it helped students adjust to their academic environment. A comparable mediated pattern was reported among first-year university students in Ethiopia, where perceived academic support predicted achievement indirectly, through gains in academic motivation and resilience rather than through a direct pathway [24]. These findings suggest institutional support functions as an enabling condition: it lowers barriers to adjustment and sustained effort, which in turn drives outcomes. Consistent with this, research on institutional commitment in higher education has found that when staff and students perceive their institution as genuinely invested in them through accessible resources, recognition, and developmental opportunities — the result is not only better performance but reduced attrition and stronger engagement with research and teaching.
What this literature does not resolve is how institutional support perceived among students who are juggling academic and professional/clinical identities simultaneously, as graduate nursing students do. If institutional support functions primarily perceived by signaling that a student’s contribution is valued, its effect may depend on whether nursing-specific accommodations (e.g., flexibility around clinical placements, recognition of applied research) are visible to students, rather than support being a generic, discipline-neutral construct. This is a gap the present study is positioned to speak to, given its focus on a nursing-specific graduate population. flexibility around concurrent clinical placements, recognition of applied or clinical research, and visible support during the transition between clinical practitioner and academic researcher roles. Because existing studies were conducted in general graduate or undergraduate populations, whether institutional support operates the same way, or through the same adaptation-based mechanism, for graduate nursing students in Pakistan remains untested. This is a gap the present study is positioned to address, assuming that there is a positive association between perceived institutional support and academic performance among graduate nursing students in Pakistan.
Perceived supervisory support and academic performance
In the matter of fact, institutional support reflects a broad, organization-level perception, supervisory support is a proximal, relational one and the literature suggests it carries particular weight for outcomes tied directly to research productivity. Jairam and Kahl, [17] found that supervisory support was positively associated with graduate students’ academic self-efficacy, timely thesis completion, and overall performance, while Ali and Kohun [1] reported a positive association between supervisory support and both satisfaction and retention, framing the supervisory relationship as a key protective factor against attrition. Ul Hadi and Muhammad, [43], using structural equation modeling with postgraduate research students, similarly identified supervisor behavior as one of the strongest structural predictors of student performance among the institutional factors tested.
More recent work has clarified the conditions under which supervisory support translates into performance, rather than simply confirming that the association exists. Khuram et al., [19], studying international doctoral students, found that supervisor support moderated the relationship between students’ knowledge-seeking intentions and their academic performance self-perceptions, meaning supervisory support mattered most for students already motivated to seek knowledge, rather than benefiting all students uniformly. This is directly relevant to the present study’s decision to compare high- and low-EI groups rather than treating support as uniformly beneficial regardless of the student’s own disposition. At the doctoral level more broadly, large-scale studies have linked variation in perceived supervisory and research-community support to variation in burnout, engagement, and drop-out intentions: a Spanish study of over 1,300 doctoral students across 56 universities found that students with a reduced-support profile were less engaged and satisfied, and more likely to report burnout and withdrawal intentions, than those with an adequate-support profile. Finnish research on doctoral supervision has similarly shown that the quality, not merely the frequency, of supervisory interaction functions as a buffer against burnout and a source of sustained research engagement [6]. Consistent with this, in a Pakistani graduate sample, Habib et al., [14] found that students who perceived their supervisors as supportive reported higher academic performance alongside better emotional well-being — a pairing that suggests supervisory support is perceived not purely instrumental but also emotional perspective.
Interconnectedness of emotional intelligence, perceived support, and academic performance
From theoretical perspective, Goleman’s framework is that emotional competencies are learned capabilities based on emotional intelligence that result in outstanding behavior. This distinguishes his model from personality trait theories, as these competencies can be developed through training and practice (Goleman, 1996). The capacity to handle emotions so they facilitate rather than interfere with goals; delaying gratification; recovering from emotional distress; and deploying preferences to take initiative, improve, and persevere (Goleman, 1998). Handling emotions in relationships well and accurately reading social situations; interacting smoothly; using these skills to persuade, lead, and negotiate. Likewise, the foundational work for understanding how students perceive and respond to institutional and supervisory support, Eisenberger et al., [9] found that when students feel supported, they develop emotional connections and invest greater effort in academic pursuits. Students with higher EI are better able to recognize when support is available and how to effectively access it. They perceive their institutional and supervisory environments more positively and can strategically mobilize support resources to address academic challenges.
The clearest demonstration comes from Shuo et al., [39], who surveyed 1,228 postgraduate students and modeled a chain running from emotional intelligence through social support to psychological resilience to well-being. Emotional intelligence did not act on well-being directly; rather, its effect passed sequentially through how much support students perceived and how resilient that perceived support helped them become. EI shapes whether support is perceived and used, and perceived support then shapes downstream functioning. Complementary evidence indicates in a structural equation model of 630 undergraduates, Ruiz-Ortega and Berrios-Martos , [32] found that emotional intelligence predicted academic performance both directly and indirectly, with the indirect path running through increased academic engagement and reduced burnout — the same engagement and burnout outcomes that the supervisory-support literature reviewed identifies as sensitive to perceived supervisory and institutional backing. A large structural study of 518 Chinese university students similarly found that EI’s effect on academic achievement was carried through self-efficacy, motivation, and resilience, and that this effect was measurably stronger among postgraduate students than undergraduates suggesting the interdependence between EI and support-linked resources [38].
In demanding academic contexts—such as graduate nursing education in Pakistan, characterized by hierarchical structures and limited formal mentorship—the interconnectedness of these factors may be especially consequential. When institutional and supervisory support is scarce, EI may play an even more critical role in navigating challenges and mobilizing available resources. Perceived support from institutions and supervisors reinforces these self-regulatory capacities by providing resources, encouragement, and modeling of effective academic behaviors.
Rather than treating academic performance as a purely cognitive outcome, a growing body of research has emphasizing to uncover the subtle yet powerful forces that shape performance of graduate nursing students who are navigating one of the most demanding phases of their nursing education. This study aimed to explore this triadic association, with a particular focus on a developing educational context. To achieve this aim, the following research objectives were formulated:
Research objectives
To assess the levels of emotional intelligence, perceived institutional support, perceived supervisory support, and self-reported academic performance among graduate nursing students.
To examine the relationships among emotional intelligence, perceived institutional support, perceived supervisory support, and academic performance among graduate nursing students.
To understand differences in perceived institutional support, perceived supervisory support and academic performance between high and low EI groups of graduate nursing students.
Methods and material
Study design and participants
The study employed a descriptive-correlational design to examine the relationships among emotional intelligence, perceived institutional support, perceived supervisory support, and self-reported academic performance among graduate nursing students. A descriptive-correlational design was selected because the objective was to describe the level of each construct and quantify the strength and direction of association between them, without manipulating any variable. The study was conducted in both private and public institutes of Multan, Pakistan, a major educational and healthcare hub for South Punjab. The inclusion criteria for the study were graduate nursing students who were currently enrolled in both Nishtar Medical University and Multan University of Science and Technology pursuing graduate level programs, and those who were willing to be part of the study; no students from other disciplines were included in either recruitment or in the final analytic sample. A total of 180 nursing graduate students were drawn as a final study sample, calculated using a population proportion calculator at a 95% confidence level and 5% margin of error. Data were collected using non-probability convenience sampling, in which students were approached based on their availability and accessibility, without adhering to specific criteria. Convenience sampling is commonly used in social and educational survey research for its practicality and low-cost data collection effort [46]. This approach, however, does not yield a representative sample of the wider graduate nursing student population in Pakistan, which limits the generalizability of the findings beyond the sampled institutions. This limitation, and its implications for interpreting and generalizing the results, is addressed further in the limitations section.
Measures
Participants completed a structured questionnaire, that was adapted from previously validated instruments. Emotional intelligence was measured using the 25-item scale developed by Mehta and Singh [23] and culturally validated for use in Pakistan by Iqbal et al., [15], grounded in Goleman’s (1995) model of emotional intelligence across five dimensions: emotional self-awareness, emotional self-regulation, self-motivation, empathy, and interpersonal skills, rated on a 5-point Likert scale (1 = strongly disagree, to 5 = strongly agree).
Perceived institutional support
was measured using an 8-item scale adapted from Eisenberger et al., [9] Survey of Perceived Organizational Support (SPOS), assessing students’ perceptions of institutional care, concern, and responsiveness to their academic and emotional needs (e.g., My institution really cares about my academic goals and mental wellbeing).
Perceived supervisory support
was measured using a 3-item scale adapted from Eisenberger et al., [8], capturing perceived guidance, accessibility, and quality of feedback from academic supervisors (e.g., My supervisor genuinely admires my academic contributions).
Self reported academic performance
was measured using a 17-item scale adapted from Zhoc et al., [47] and Stadler et al., [40] studies, encompassing cognitive learning outcomes, social learning outcomes, self-growth outcomes, and satisfaction with academic standing. All constructs were rated on a 5-point Likert scale. Items were balanced in direction to reduce acquiescence bias, and responses were collected anonymously to reduce social desirability bias.
Reliability and validity of measures
The face and content validity of the questionnaires were reviewed and confirmed by three faculty members from related fields (nursing education) at Nishtar Medical College, Multan. Several revisions were made to the survey based on their feedback, until final agreement was reached among the professors. To establish the reliability of the instruments, the questionnaires were administered to 15 graduate nursing students outside the original sample. Reliability was assessed using the internal consistency method, yielding a Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of α = 0.90 for the emotional intelligence scale, α = 0.82 for the perceived institutional support scale, α = 0.78 for the perceived supervisory support scale, and α = 0.85 for the academic performance (Table 1).
Table 1.
Reliability statistics
| Scales | Cronbach’s Alpha (α) | No. of Items |
|---|---|---|
| Emotional Intelligence | 0.90 | 25 |
| 1- Emotional self-awareness | 0.76 | 4 |
| 2- Emotional self-regulation | 0.79 | 4 |
| 3- Self-motivation | 0.91 | 6 |
| 4- Empathy | 0.89 | 7 |
| 5- Interpersonal Skills | 0.75 | 4 |
| Perceived Institutional Support | 0.82 | 8 |
| Perceived Supervisory Support | 0.78 | 3 |
| Academic Performance | 0.85 | 17 |
| 1- Cognitive learning outcomes | 0.78 | 5 |
| 2- Self-growth outcomes | 0.82 | 5 |
| 3- Social learning outcomes | 0.76 | 5 |
| 4- Satisfaction with academic standing | 0.61 | 2 |
Data collection procedure
The study received ethical approval from the Institutional Review Board of the Division of Education, University of Education, Lahore, Pakistan, (Approval No. UE/DOE/IRB/2024/145) on June 10, 2024. All procedures complied with the ethical principles outlined in the Declaration of Helsinki. Ethical clearance and administrative permission were also obtained from both participating institutes, i.e. Nishtar Medical College and Multan University of Science and Technology in Multan prior to data collection. Eligible participants were nursing students registered in graduate nursing programs. Written informed consent was obtained from all participants; the consent form stated that participation was voluntary, responses would remain confidential, and participants could withdraw at any time without penalty. Data collection took place over six weeks using printed, self-administered Liker-scale questionnaires and later entered into SPSS for analysis, yielding a final response rate of 74.34%.
Data analysis
Data were analyzed using IBM SPSS version 21. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize participants’ demographic characteristics through frequency distributions and percentages, and to assess the level of each study variable among graduate students using means and standard deviations. Prior to inferential testing, the normality of the data distribution was assessed using skewness and kurtosis values, which indicated that the data were skewed and non-normally distributed. Based on this, Spearman’s rank-order correlation was used to examine relationships between the nonparametric continuous variables. Subsequently, the Mann-Whitney U test was employed to examine differences between high- and low-emotional-intelligence groups of graduate nursing students. All statistical analyses were conducted at an alpha level of 0.05.
Results
In the initial phase of the study, the demographic profile of the sample (N = 180) is calculated using descriptive statistics. The demographic profile of the 180 participants revealed a well-balanced distribution across institutions, with 58.2% from the public sector institute (Nishtar Medical College) and 41.8% from the private sector institute (Multan University of Science and Technology). The majority of students were enrolled in the MSN program (67.3%), while 32.7% were pursuing MPhil Nursing. The sample included slightly more first-year students (54.4%) than second-year students (45.6%). Consistent with the nursing profession in Pakistan, the sample was predominantly female (79.4%), with males comprising 20.6%. Regarding age distribution, the age group with 22–25 years with 52 participants (28.9%), 26–30 years 78 participants (43.3%), 31–35 years age group included 32 participants (17.8%), while above 36 years had 18 participants (10%). A slight imbalance in demographic is largely attributable to the institutional composition and enrollment patterns of the participating institutes. These compositional features should be considered when generalizing the findings to other demographic or disciplinary groups and also addressed further in the limitations section. Overall, the sample was diverse and representative of the nursing graduate student population in Multan.
Analysis of data distribution
Prior to conducting the main analyses, preliminary tests were performed to assess the assumptions underlying parametric procedures as shown in Table 2. The Shapiro-Wilk test of normality indicated that the distributions of EI, PIS, PSS, and academic performance scores deviated significantly from normality (all *p* < 0.05), which is not uncommon with Likert-type scale data in social science research. Additionally, the visual inspection of Q-Q plots and histograms in SPSS-version 21 revealed moderate skewness and kurtosis in several variables. Consequently, non-parametric statistical procedures were employed for all inferential analyses such as Spearman’s rank-order correlation to examine bivariate relationships, and the Mann-Whitney U test to compare high- and low-EI groups. These tests are distribution-free, robust to violations of normality, and appropriate for ordinal or non-normally distributed continuous data.
Table 2.
Normal distribution of data
| Constructs | N | Skewness | Kurtosis | Kolmogorov-Smirnov Statistics | Shapiro-Wilk Statistics | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EA | 180 | -2.426 | 6.721 | 0.301 | 0.000 | 0.713 | 0.000 |
| ER | 180 | -1.237 | 1.198 | 0.266 | 0.000 | 0.866 | 0.000 |
| ESM | 180 | -1.396 | 0.692 | 0.286 | 0.000 | 0.771 | 0.000 |
| EM | 180 | -2.113 | 3.799 | 0.304 | 0.000 | 0.697 | 0.000 |
| IS | 180 | -1.683 | 2.913 | 0.287 | 0.000 | 0.810 | 0.000 |
| Total_EI | 180 | -1.675 | 2.929 | 0.197 | 0.000 | 0.827 | 0.000 |
| CLO | 180 | -2.462 | 6.994 | 0.276 | 0.000 | 0.718 | 0.000 |
| SGO | 180 | -0.702 | 0.027 | 0.162 | 0.000 | 0.929 | 0.000 |
| SLO | 180 | -1.359 | 2.224 | 0.227 | 0.000 | 0.875 | 0.000 |
| SAS | 180 | -0.892 | 1.151 | 0.248 | 0.000 | 0.868 | 0.000 |
| Total_AP | 180 | -1.732 | 2.763 | 0.208 | 0.000 | 0.810 | 0.000 |
| PIS | 180 | -2.422 | 6.655 | 0.254 | 0.000 | 0.730 | 0.000 |
| PSS | 180 | -1.810 | 5.025 | 0.314 | 0.000 | 0.765 | 0.000 |
Note: p < 0.05 on Shapiro–Wilk test indicates significant deviation of data from normality
Descriptive statistics
Table 3 presents the descriptive statistics for emotional intelligence (EI), perceived institutional support (PIS), perceived supervisory support (PSS), and academic performance. To categorize the overall levels of these variables, cut-off criteria were established based on the theoretical midpoint of the measurement scales (i.e., 3.00 on a 5-point Likert scale) and standard deviation thresholds commonly applied in educational research: low (< 3.00), moderate (3.00–3.99), and high (4.00–5.00). These criteria are consistent with prior studies employing the same instruments in higher education contexts, ensuring comparability of interpretations. The results revealed that graduate students reported a moderate overall level of emotional intelligence (M = 3.73, SD = 0.43). Perceived institutional support was rated as high (M = 4.01, SD = 0.44), whereas both perceived supervisory support (M = 3.79, SD = 0.67) and self-reported academic performance (M = 3.89, SD = 0.39) fell within the moderate range. These findings suggest that while graduate nursing students perceive adequate institutional support, while emotional intelligence, supervisory support and academic outcomes represent areas warranting further attention.
Table 3.
Descriptive analysis of means and standard deviations
| Constructs | N | Minimum | Maximum | Mean | St. Deviation | Level |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Emotional Self-Awareness | 180 | 1 | 5 | 4.22 | 0.54 | High |
| Emotional Self-Regulation | 180 | 1 | 5 | 3.99 | 0.61 | Moderate |
| Emotional Self-Motivation | 180 | 1 | 5 | 3.79 | 0.83 | Moderate |
| Empathy | 180 | 1 | 5 | 3.77 | 0.58 | Moderate |
| Interpersonal Skills | 180 | 1 | 5 | 4.34 | 0.55 | High |
| Total_EI | 180 | 1 | 5 | 3.73 | 0.43 | Moderate |
| Total_PIS | 180 | 1 | 5 | 4.15 | 0.48 | High |
| Total_PSS | 180 | 1 | 5 | 3.79 | 0.67 | Moderate |
| Cognitive Learning Outcomes | 180 | 1 | 5 | 4.31 | 0.51 | High |
| Self-Growth Outcomes | 180 | 1 | 5 | 3.56 | 0.49 | Moderate |
| Social Learning Outcomes | 180 | 1 | 5 | 4.78 | 0.45 | High |
| Satisfaction with Academic Standing | 180 | 1 | 5 | 3.63 | 0.53 | High |
| Total_AP | 180 | 1 | 5 | 3.89 | 0.39 | Moderate |
Correlational statistics
In the next phase, Spearman’s rank-order correlations were conducted, examining the bi-variate relationships among the study variables at a significance level of α = 0.05, results are presented in Table 4. A statistically significant moderate positive correlation was found between emotional intelligence and academic performance at (rₛ = 0.515, p < 0.01). This indicates that as emotional intelligence increases, academic performance tends to increase. The coefficient of determination (rₛ² = 0.265) suggests that emotional intelligence explains approximately 26.5% of the variance in academic performance. A statistically significant moderate to strong positive correlation was found between perceived institutional support and academic performance (rₛ = 0.569, p < 0.01). This indicates that students who perceive higher levels of support from their institutions tend to demonstrate better academic outcomes. The coefficient of determination (rₛ² = 0.324) suggests that perceived institutional support explains approximately 32.4% of the variance in academic performance. A statistically significant moderate positive correlation was found between perceived supervisory support and academic performance (rₛ = 0.514, p < 0.01). This indicates that students who perceive higher levels of support from their faculty advisors and clinical preceptors tend to demonstrate better academic performance. The coefficient of determination (rₛ² = 0.264) suggests that perceived supervisory support explains approximately 26.4% of the variance in academic performance. Moreover, moderate to strong positive correlations between emotional intelligence and Perceived institutional support (rₛ = 0.574, p < 0.01) indicating that students with higher emotional intelligence also tend to perceive higher levels of institutional support, while, a moderate correlation between emotional intelligence and perceived supervisory support (rₛ = 0.426, p < 0.01), indicating that emotionally intelligent students are more likely to perceive and benefit from supervisory support. It is important to note that these correlations are associational in nature; the findings indicate that higher EI tends to co-occur with greater perceived institutional and supervisory support, as well as stronger academic performance, among graduate nursing students.
Table 4.
Spearman’s correlation matrix among understudy variable
| Construct | EI | PIS | PSS | AP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spearman’s rho | EI | 1 | |||
| PIS | 0.574** | 1 | |||
| PSS | 0.426** | 0.492** | 1 | ||
| AP | 0.515** | 0.569** | 0.514** | 1 |
Note: Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed)
To further examine the role of EI, participants were divided into high- and low-EI groups using the top and bottom 25% of total EI scores. As shown in Table 5, Mann-Whitney U tests revealed statistically significant differences across all three outcome variables. A statistically significant difference was found between high- and low-EI groups on perceived institutional support (U = 273.500, p < 0.001). The high-EI group had a significantly higher mean rank (64.42) compared to the low-EI group (29.08). Similarly, a statistically significant difference was found between high- and low-EI groups on perceived supervisory support with the high-EI group demonstrating significantly higher mean ranks (59.38) compared to the low-EI group (34.57), at (U = 520.500, Z = -4.703, p < 0.001), indicating that students with higher emotional intelligence perceived significantly higher levels of institutional support and supervisory support than those with lower emotional intelligence. Importantly, a statistically significant difference was found between high- and low-EI groups on academic performance (AP_Total), with the high-EI group demonstrating significantly higher mean ranks (63.62) compared to the low-EI group (29.94), U = 312.500, Z = -5.998, p < 0.001. This indicates that students with higher emotional intelligence demonstrated significantly better academic performance than those with lower emotional intelligence.
Table 5.
Differences in PIS, PSS, AP between High and Low EI groups of graduate nursing students
| Variables | EI Groups | N | Mean Rank | Sum of Rank | Mann-Whitney U | Asymp Sig (2-tailed) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PIS | Low-EI | 45 | 29.08 | 1308.50 | 273.500 | 0.001 |
| High -EI | 49 | 64.42 | 3156.50 | |||
| PSS | Low-EI | 45 | 34.57 | 1555.50 | 520.500 | 0.001 |
| High -EI | 49 | 59.38 | 2909.50 | |||
| AP | Low-EI | 45 | 29.94 | 1347.50 | 312.500 | 0.001 |
| High -EI | 49 | 63.62 | 3117.50 |
Discussions
The present study examined the bivariate and group-based associations among emotional intelligence, perceived institutional support, perceived supervisory support, and academic performance among graduate nursing students in Pakistani higher education institutions. The findings offer a nuanced understanding of the graduate nursing student experience, revealing a complex pattern of interrelationships among understudy variables that contribute to the growing body of literature on the psycho-social determinants of graduate nursing student success.
The descriptive analysis revealed a mixed results of graduate nursing students’ personal attributes and environmental perceptions. Graduate nursing students reported a moderate overall level of emotional intelligence, with particular strengths in emotional self-awareness and interpersonal skills. The findings, however, revealed relatively moderate scores in self-regulation and self-motivation in our sample compared to those reported in nursing studies from developed healthcare systems, such as Australia and the United Kingdom. This is consistent with the findings of Jaber et al., [16], who identified that nursing students in developing countries often struggle with emotional burnout due to high patient loads, there self-regulation and self-motivation are critical for managing the emotional demands of clinical practice, including patient suffering, ethical dilemmas, and interprofessional conflicts. These findings suggest that Pakistani nursing curricula should integrate emotional intelligence training, particularly in self-regulation strategies to prepare students for the emotional challenges of professional nursing practice. However, the high level of perceived institutional support reported by graduate nursing students is an encouraging finding that diverges from some earlier studies in South Asian nursing education, which have often documented lower levels of institutional support due to resource constraints, outdated facilities, and limited clinical placement opportunities [10, 45]. The positive perception in our sample may reflect recent policy reforms in Pakistani nursing education, including the Higher Education Commission’s initiatives to improve nursing infrastructure, clinical training facilities, and student support services. This finding aligns with international studies that associate strong institutional support with improved nursing student well-being, clinical competence, and academic retention [25–27]. In contrast, perceived supervisory support and academic performance the most critical finding of the study was reported at moderate levels, consistent in support of [17, 18, 34], who highlighted persistent gaps in clinical mentorship and academic development that are not fully addressed by institutional support alone.
Critically, Spearman’s rank-order correlation was conducted to examine the bivariate relationships among the study variables. The results revealed statistically significant positive correlations across all variable pairs. Emotional intelligence demonstrated significant positive correlations with academic performance (rₛ = 0.515, p < 0.01), perceived institutional support (rₛ = 0.574, p < 0.01), and perceived supervisory support (rₛ = 0.426, p < 0.01). Perceived institutional support showed a significant positive correlation with academic performance (rₛ = 0.569, p < 0.01), while perceived supervisory support demonstrated a significant positive correlation with academic performance (rₛ = 0.514, p < 0.01). Perceived institutional support emerged as the strongest correlate of academic performance, followed by emotional intelligence and perceived supervisory support. All correlations were significant at the p < 0.01 level. These findings indicate that graduate nursing students who reported higher emotional intelligence also tended to report greater perceived support and stronger academic outcomes as supported by [37]. Notably, the association between EI and PSS was relatively weak suggesting that supervisory support perceptions may be more strongly influenced by factors external to the student, such as supervisor characteristics and institutional expectations, rather than the student’s emotional competencies alone. Overall, this pattern of findings strongly suggests that, for this cohort of graduate nursing students, the perceived quality of the learning environment and the mentorship they receive show a stronger statistical association with their academic performance. This emphasizes that academic success, as reported, is not solely an individual endeavor but is closely tied to the perceived quality of the surrounding ecosystem.
Moreover, the Mann-Whitney U group comparison analysis powerfully illustrates the practical significance of EI as a differentiating factor. The statistically significant differences between the high- and low-EI groups across all three outcome variables underscore the meaningful association of this construct with student experiences. Students in the high-EI group did not only report better academic outcomes; they also perceived their environment differently, reporting significantly higher levels of support from both the institution and their supervisors. The findings underscore the value of a dual-pronged approach: one that considers empowering students with emotional skills and another that ensures the institutional and supervisory context is perceived as optimally supportive.
Theoretical implications
This study contributes to the growing body of theoretical literature on emotional intelligence and perceived support in higher education, particularly among graduate students within South Asian and Pakistani academic settings where such research remains limited. The findings provide empirical support for theoretical perspectives by demonstrating significant positive associations between EI and both perceived support and academic performance. These results are consistent with the proposition that emotionally intelligent students tend to report more positive interpretations of support structures and demonstrate stronger academic outcomes. Moreover, the study extends existing theoretical frameworks by integrating Goleman’s model of emotional intelligence with Eisenberger’s perceived organizational support theory, adapted here as perceived institutional support theory (PIST). The observed associations are consistent with the theoretical premise that when students perceive their institutions and supervisors as supportive, this perception co-occurs with a greater sense of belonging, motivation, and academic resilience. By examining Goleman’s and Eisenberger’s frameworks collectively, the study advances a dual-theoretical lens that associates personal emotional competence with structural support systems in higher education settings. The stronger correlations observed between academic performance and both PIS and PSS, compared to the EI-AP association, further refine theoretical understanding by suggesting that environmental support perceptions may share a closer statistical relationship with academic outcomes than does the student’s own emotional intelligence. This nuanced finding underscores the importance of contextual factors in theoretical models of graduate student success.
Practical implications
The findings offer several considerations for universities and policymakers, aiming to enhance student success through emotional and social development. Given the moderate levels of emotional intelligence reported and their observed associations with positive outcomes, institutions may consider integrating EI development into graduate nursing curricula or orientation programs through workshops on stress management, conflict resolution, empathy building, and self-motivation techniques. The moderate level of perceived supervisory support, particularly when contrasted with the higher perceived institutional support, suggests that institutional efforts may be beneficially directed at the micro-level of the supervisor-student relationship; universities may consider implementing formal training programs for supervisors that focus on mentorship skills, emotional support, and effective communication to standardize supportive behaviors. Rather than a uniform approach, institutions could develop targeted interventions for students with lower EI scores through mental health services, peer support groups, or academic advising that identifies and addresses emotional challenges associated with graduate study. Moreover, emotionally responsive student services can further strengthen students’ sense of belonging and academic integration. Counseling centers and student affairs offices should proactively offer emotional intelligence assessments and provide individualized guidance to students with lower EI scores. Targeted interventions may help prevent burnout, improve academic self-efficacy, and encourage healthier coping strategies. At the policy level, higher education authorities may encourage universities to adopt emotionally intelligent campus culture models—prioritizing empathy, well-being, feedback, and holistic development as part of quality assurance frameworks.
Limitations and future prospects
While the current study offers valuable insights into the associations among emotional intelligence, perceived support, and academic performance among graduate students, several limitations must be acknowledged. First, the cross-sectional design limits the interpretation of the findings to associational relationships, as data were collected at a single point in time. Second, the reliance on self-reported measures for all constructs, including emotional intelligence, perceived support, and academic performance, introduces the potential for self-report bias and common method bias, as participants may have overestimated or underestimated their responses due to social desirability or shared variance attributable to the measurement method itself. Third, the use of a convenience sampling strategy, with participants drawn exclusively from graduate nursing programs (MSN and MPhil) within Pakistani medical institutes, limits the generalizability of the findings to other educational levels, countries, or academic systems. Fourth, the sample was limited to a single city, further restricting the geographical representativeness of the results. Fifth, the categorization of students into high and low EI groups based on quartiles, while common, represents a methodological choice that may not capture the full distribution of emotional intelligence abilities across the population. Given these limitations, future research should employ longitudinal or experimental designs to examine the temporal ordering of these associations and establish causal relationships. Future work may also explore the mediating roles of perceived institutional and supervisory support in the relationship between EI and academic performance, and investigate moderating variables such as digital fatigue, gender, or academic discipline. To gain deeper insights into students lived experiences, future research may incorporate qualitative methods such as interviews or focus groups to explore how emotional intelligence is associated with academic resilience, supervisor-student dynamics, and engagement with institutional services. Expanding the sample to include undergraduate, postdoctoral, and international students, or conducting comparative studies across public and private universities, could improve the generalizability and contextual relevance of the findings. Given the rise of online and hybrid learning environments, future studies could examine how emotional intelligence is associated with digital fatigue or virtual supervisory support in relation to learning outcomes.
Conclusion
This study examined the associations among emotional intelligence, perceived institutional support, perceived supervisory support, and academic performance among graduate nursing students. The findings revealed that higher emotional intelligence was associated with greater perceived support and better academic performance. Perceived institutional support was generally high, while moderate levels of supervisory support and academic performance highlight areas warranting attention. The strongest correlations were observed between academic performance and both perceived institutional and supervisory support, suggesting that environmental factors share a closer statistical relationship with academic outcomes than does emotional intelligence alone. These findings offer considerations for higher education policymakers, student development professionals, and academic supervisors seeking to support graduate student success. However, as this study employed a correlational design, all findings indicate associations rather than causal relationships, and future longitudinal or experimental research is necessary to establish the directional nature of these relationships.
Acknowledgements
Not applicable.
Abbreviations
- EI
Emotional Intelligence
- PIS
Perceived Institutional Support
- PSS
Perceived Supervisory Support
- AP
Academic Performance
- HEIs
Higher education institutions
Author contributions
Sidra Sarwer: Conceived and designed the study, conducted fieldwork, analyzed data, and drafted the manuscript. Tariq Mehmood Bhuttah: Recheck the manuscript, assisted in revision throughout the manuscript and revised the proofreading. Muhammad Naseem Abid: Managed the project, interpreted data, supervised statistical analysis. Suad Dukhaykh: Analyzed geological records, assisted in methodology development, and contributed to manuscript writing.
Funding
The research is supported by Ongoing Research Funding program, (ORF-2026-1023), King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Data availability
The data and materials used in this study are available upon reason able request from the corresponding author. [tmbhuttah@usx.edu.cn].
Declarations
Ethics approval and consent to participate
The study received ethical approval from the Institutional Review Board of the Division of Education, University of Education, Lahore, Pakistan, (Approval No. UE/DOE/IRB/2024/145) on June 10, 2024. All procedures complied with the ethical principles outlined in the Declaration of Helsinki. Permission for data collection was granted by the administrations of two participating medical institute in Multan, South Punjab. Written informed consent was also obtained from all participants, with the consent form integrated into the questionnaire. The form clearly stated that participation was voluntary, responses would remain confidential, and participants could withdraw from the study at any time if they had any ethical concerns.
Consent for publication
Not applicable.
Competing interests
The authors declare no competing interests.
Footnotes
Publisher’s note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
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Associated Data
This section collects any data citations, data availability statements, or supplementary materials included in this article.
Data Availability Statement
The data and materials used in this study are available upon reason able request from the corresponding author. [tmbhuttah@usx.edu.cn].