University Students’ Perceptions of Artificial Intelligence as a Tool for Enhancing Emotional Intelligence Skills: A Descriptive Survey at Yarmouk University

This study employed a descriptive survey to investigate Yarmouk University students’ perceptions of AI as a tool for enhancing five specific EI skills. A self-administered questionnaire comprising 25 items was completed by a convenience sample of 384 students across five domains: AI’s role in stimulating motivation, developing social skills, developing self-awareness, developing empathy, and developing self-regulation. Both validity and reliability were established. Findings indicate that students perceived AI as moderately useful across all domains (overall M = 2.83, SD = 0.63). Statistically significant differences at α = 0.05 were found in all five domains based on gender, favoring males, though effect sizes were small (partial η² = 0.01-0.03). No statistically significant differences were found by college type. Although a significant multivariate effect emerged for academic level, none of the individual EI domains showed a statistically significant univariate difference. The results suggest that AI has emerged as a supplementary tool for developing aspects of EI among students, though its perceived effectiveness remains moderate. Implications for integrating AI into higher education to support emotional development.