Students’ life at university is very chaotic and challenging in the situation of COVID-19. Thus, investigating the stress-protective factors can potentially benefit the students and their academic life. Hence, considering Emotional intelligence (EI) may play a vital role in understanding students’ stress. The present study is very crucial as a lack of emotional intelligence in such an unstable situation of COVID-19 may lead to possible failure that can negatively impact students’ well-being and future. The main objective of the present study was to examine the link between EI and perceived stress among university students. This was done through a quantitative study of the relationship between EI and stress. A cross-sectional research design to recruit a convenience sample of students from a few public university campuses in Malaysia, with a total respondent of 213 students was used. These students were invited to complete a voluntary and anonymous 38-item online questionnaire. Self-report questionnaires, consisting of the short 16-item measure of emotional intelligence (WLEIS), and the 10-item Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) were distributed to these students. Correlation analyses were performed to examine the link between EI and perceived stress (PS). Major findings have shown that there were significant correlations between EI constructs (Self-emotions appraisal, Use of emotion, and Others-emotion appraisal) and PS. Subsequently, independent-sample t-tests showed a not statistically significant difference in mean EI and PS scores between male and female students. In conclusion, the constructs of trait, EI could be of vital importance in understanding stress among university students. The present study suggests that universities may offer EI as among measurements in the selection of their prospective students, and the management should offer a few interventions to enhance students' emotional intelligence. Future research may address controlling other personality traits associated with the Perceived Stress Scale such as anxiety and neuroticism which may be confounded with reports of perceived stress.
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