Developing Culturally-Responsive Emotional Intelligence Programs for UAE Students: Examining Impacts on Self-Motivation, Empathetic Understanding, and Skills

Abstract

The higher education landscape of the United Arab Emirates offers distinctive opportunities to examine how culturally responsive emotional intelligence (EI) interventions can improve student outcomes within Islamic and Emirati cultural frameworks. This study aims to examine the effectiveness of classroom-based EI programs adapted for UAE undergraduate students, focusing on three critical dimensions: self-motivation, empathy, and social skills. Addressing a major gap in cross-cultural EI education, the research examines how traditional EI frameworks can be modified to reflect Islamic values, Emirati cultural norms, and the multicultural nature of UAE classrooms. Using a quasi-experimental design with both qualitative and quantitative approaches, the study involved 200 undergraduate students from six universities in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Pre- and post-intervention assessments employed a culturally adapted EI test featuring three validated subscales—Self-Motivation,   Empathy,   and Social Skills—aligned with local communication patterns and Islamic principles. Independent t-test results showed significant improvements across all subscales for the experimental group, indicating that culturally tailored interventions effectively improve collaborative emotional competencies among UAE students. Overall, the findings highlight that integrating local cultural and religious values into EI programs significantly strengthens social-emotional learning outcomes  in higher education.