The Contribution of Emotional Intelligence to Shyness on Papuan Overseas Students in Makassar City

Abstract

Universities are higher education institutions that are in demand by most students, so students who are registered as students at a university tend to have different regional backgrounds. Students who study outside their hometowns are called overseas students. Facing different environmental situations, overseas students experience unfavorable psychological conditions, one of which is shyness. Based on several research results, Papuan students are a handful of overseas students who feel "shy" because they consider themselves minorities and have many shortcomings. Overseas students who experience shyness will evaluate themselves negatively, feel unaccepted, and eventually be isolated from the surrounding environment. One of the things that play a role in eliminating the adverse effects of shyness is optimizing emotional intelligence, an ability that can facilitate individuals to build interpersonal relationships, empathy, and intimacy with others. This study aims to determine the contribution of emotional intelligence to shyness in Papuan overseas students in Makassar City. This research conducted a quantitative study with a survey design involving 200 overseas students from Papua. Data were collected using the emotional intelligence scale and shyness scale, then analyzed using simple linear regression analysis. The results show that emotional intelligence contributes negatively by 18% to shyness, with a significance of 0.00 (p<0.05). Therefore, increasing the emotional intelligence level will decrease the shyness level. Based on the results of this study, overseas students need to develop their emotional intelligence skills to build positive relationships with their new environment and minimize the negative impact of shyness.