Social and Emotional Skills in Adapting Students to the Academic Environment

Abstract

The paper presents the results of a research that aims to identify emotional and social skills manifested in first-year students with a technical profile and its positive effects on their adaptation to the academic life. An important developmental task of young students is their increased participation at formal and informal peer groups, along with their interest to gain independence and assertion of their own beliefs in the context of professional development. Students who develop their emotional and social skills have more chances to be accepted and better integrated into peer groups and experiencing the well-being in psychological functioning and social relationships. We used a multidimensional instrument which allows the assessment of a wide range of social and emotional competencies that students may possess at various levels. Using the multidimensional Profile of Social and Emotional Competences, (Tufeanu & Robu, 2013) we tested the impact of emotional regulation competencies over the association between responsibility in social relationships and engagement. The research results allow us to identify training and personal development needs of students as well as social and emotional skills that support their effective adaptation and reduce academic dropout.