What is it about?
This article examines how we can help individuals build confidence in their ability to understand and manage emotions. Psychologists call this phenomenon emotional self-efficacy. Emotional self-efficacy is not just about being emotionally intelligent; it is about believing you can successfully use your emotional skills in real-life situations. Rather than relying on traditional lectures, the study tested two experiential activities: reflective writing to deepen emotional awareness and mindfulness-based perspective-taking to strengthen empathy. Students who completed these exercises showed significantly greater improvements in their confidence in handling their own emotions and responding to others compared to a control group. Many also reported reduced stress, improved emotional regulation, and stronger empathy.
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Why is it important?
This work is important because confidence in using emotional skills often matters more than emotional ability itself. People act on what they believe they can do. At a time when workplaces are increasingly complex, emotionally demanding, and shaped by rapid technological change, graduates need more than technical knowledge; they need the confidence to manage themselves and relate effectively to others. What is unique about this study is that it focuses specifically on emotional self-efficacy (a concept that is often overlooked in emotional intelligence research) and provides detailed, practical classroom exercises that educators can immediately apply.
Perspectives
This study is especially meaningful to me because I teach both evidence-based management and leadership theory and practice. Testing my pedagogical approaches to leadership education therefore allowed me to more rigorously assess the techniques I adopted in the classroom. The findings confirmed my observations that students were demonstrating genuine growth in their self-awareness, empathy, and leadership communication.
Dr. Paul T. Balwant
University of the West Indies
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: The confidence to feel: Teaching emotional self-efficacy through experiential learning, The International Journal of Management Education, July 2026, Elsevier,
DOI: 10.1016/j.ijme.2026.101385.
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