The effectiveness of emotional competence development programs in higher education. Impact evaluation of a Self-Leadership Program on the emotional competencies of master’s students in Management in the City of Barcelona

The purpose of this doctoral thesis is to disclose which emotional competence development is achieved by university students who attend an optional Self-Leadership Program, discovering the explanatory power of personality traits too. From a mixed DEXPLIS design and by using the Bisquerra & Pérez-Escoda Model of Emotional Competencies, three questions are raised; firstly, what emotional competence development do students have; secondly, how is emotional competence related to personality traits at university; thirdly, if there is a greater benefit of the program based on personality traits when doing the program. Besides that, qualitative interviews are also conducted with the students in order to complement the quantitative data. The results indicate emotional competence development in intrapersonal competences; however, the program is insufficient to make progress in a differentiated way in interpersonal competences. Also, the CE-RP Model created for the university environment is intense, although having different nuances when compared with the Trait Emotional Intelligence. Additionally, four out of the five extremes in personality traits: introversion, closed to experience, neuroticism and antagonism, present a differentiated benefit when participating the program. The qualitative interviews result in a generally favorable opinion, and allow for verification of the experience from the perspective of the participating students and protagonists of this doctoral thesis. Finally, the benefits of emotional competence development are shared to help improve curricula in the European Higher Education Area, which results in a more comprehensive professionalization of students, as well as in their greater balance and well-being.