Developing the Emotional Intelligence of Millennial Students: A Teaching Strategy

Abstract

The contemporary world is facing a real crisis due to the depletion of basic resources, consumerism and the unprecedented proliferation of physical and mental diseases that are caused by unhealthy nutrition and eating habits. The training of future specialists in the food industry with a high level of emotional intelligence, responsible both for themselves and for others, can be a useful strategy for getting out of the crisis. This was the general objective of the present research, whose statistical hypotheses aimed at increasing the level of empathy of students enrolled in two academic programs of study in the food industry by introducing four consumer psychology modules targeting emotional awareness and moral identity. The applied experimental treatment consisted of the students going through the activities of the four modules, with each module having a triarchic structure: teaching–self-testing–reflective writing. The design used was quasi-experimental, with a single group taking a pretest–posttest measurement. The results obtained support previous research efforts that had the same objective—to contribute to increasing millennial students’ levels of empathy and awareness of their own emotions. Additionally, using the pedagogical techniques of self-testing and reflective writing proved useful in achieving the set objective.