Affective profiles, emotional intelligence, and time management in university students
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.70478/apuntes.psi.2026.44.19Keywords:
Positive affect, Negative affect, University students, Psychoeducational interventions, Emotional intelligenceAbstract
Introduction. Positive affect (PA) and negative affect (NA) form individual patterns that may be associated in specific ways with resources relevant to academic adjustment, such as emotional intelligence and time management.
Method. To examine these relationships, a study was conducted with 233 university students completed the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS), the Trait Meta-Mood Scale (TMMS-24), and the Time Management Behavior Questionnaire for University Students (TMBQ). A hierarchical cluster analysis using Ward’s method identified four affective profiles: lower PA–lower NA, lower PA–higher NA, higher PA–higher NA, and higher PA–lower NA.
Results. The results revealed distinct patterns across profiles in affect regulation and time managemet. The lower PA–higher NA profile
showed the greatest emotional and time-management difficulties, whereas the higher PA–lower NA profile displayed the most adaptive pattern.
Discussion. These findings support the usefulness of examining PA and NA jointly to better understand emotional and self-regulatory heterogeneity among university students and to inform psychoeducational interventions tailored to different affective profiles.
Downloads
References
Acebes-Sánchez, Jorge; García-Naveira, Alejo; Conners, Ryan T. y García-Merino, Sonia (2025). Emotional intelligence as a predictor of mental health in undergraduate students. BMC Psychology, 13, 1130. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-025-03241-7
Almulla, Mazen. O. (2024). Academic resilience and its relationships with academic achievement among students of King Faisal University in Saudi Arabia. Revista de Gestão Social e Ambiental, 18(9), e07391.https://doi.org/10.24857/rgsa.v18n9-134
Asikainen, Hrnna; Hailikari, Telle y Katajavuori, Nina (2024). Explaining the changes in procrastination in an ACT-based course - Psychological flexibility and time and effort management as mediators. Frontiers in Psychology, 15, 1331205. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1331205
Bahadir, Ziya (2018). Reviewing emotional intelligence levels and time management skills among students of school of physical education and sports. Journal of Education and Learning, 7(4), 114–121. https://doi.org/10.5539/jel.v7n4p114
Barker, Erin T.; Howard, Andrea L.; Galambos, Nancy L. y Wrosch, Carsten (2016). Tracking affect and academic success across university: Happy students benefit from bouts of negative mood. Developmental Psychology, 52(12), 2022–2030. https://doi.org/10.1037/dev0000231
CRUE Universidades Españolas. (2024). La universidad española en cifras 2023–2024. CRUE Universidades Españolas. https://www.crue.org/publicacion/espanola-en-cifras/
Dawson, Anna F.; Brown, William W.; Anderson, Joana., Datta, Bella; Donald, James N.; Hong, Karen; Allan, Sophie; Mole, Tom B.; Jones, Peter B. y Galante, Julieta (2020). Mindfulness-based interventions for university students: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials. Applied Psychology. Health and Well-Being, 12(2), 384–410. https://doi.org/10.1111/aphw.12188
Faure-Carvallo, Adrien; Nieto-Fernández, Sergio; Calderon, Caterina y Gustems, Josep (2025). Relationship between procrastination, time management, personality, and psychological distress in higher education. Journal of Further and Higher Education, 49(4), 417–429. https://doi.org/10.1080/0309877X.2025.2459852
Fernández-Berrocal, Pablo y Extremera, Natalio (2016). Ability emotional intelligence, depression, and well-being. Emotion Review, 8(4), 311-315. https://doi.org/10.1177/1754073916650494
Fernández-Berrocal, Pablo; Extremera, Natalio y Ramos, Natalia (2004). Validity and reliability of the Spanish modified version of the Trait Meta-Mood Scale. Psychological Reports, 94(3), 751–755. https://doi.org/10.2466/pr0.94.3.751-755
García-Ros, Rafael y Pérez-González, Francisco (2012). Spanish version of the Time Management Behavior Questionnaire for university students. The Spanish Journal of Psychology, 15(3), 1485–1494. https://doi.org/10.5209/rev_sjop.2012.v15.n3.39432
Geschwind, Nicole; Peeters, Frenk; Drukker, Marjan; van Os, Jim y Wichers, Marieke (2011). Mindfulness training increases momentary positive emotions and reward experience in adults vulnerable to depression: A randomized controlled trial. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 79(5), 618–628. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0024595
González-Arias, Mauricio; Dibona, Paula; Soto-Flores, Benjamín; Rojas-Puelles, Andrés; Amato, Massimo; Álvarez-Trigo, Diego y Castillo, Rodrigo (2025). Academic performance, self-reported motivation, and affect in higher education: The role of basic psychological need satisfaction. Frontiers in Psychology, 16, 1519454. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1519454
Gordillo-León, Fernando; De-Juanas, Ángel y Mestas-Hernández, Lilia (2026a). Positive and negative affect as predictors of university academic performance: Systematic review and meta-analysis. Psychology, Society & Education, 18(1), 75–87. https://doi.org/10.21071/pse.v18i1.18634
Gordillo-León, Fernando; De-Juanas, Ángel; Mestas-Hernández, Lilia y Barea-Vera, Alberto (2026b). Perceived emotional intelligence and affective well-being amongst university students: A nonlinear CHAID approach. International Journal of Emotional Education, 18(2). https://doi.org/10.82599/k27w-3d56
Lagos, Nelly; Anabalón, Yasna; Concha, Marcela C. yLópez-López, Carmen V. (2025). Emotional competences in higher education: A systematic review. Revista Digital de Investigación en Docencia Universitaria, 19(1), e1828. https://doi.org/10.19083/ridu.2025.1828
Luceño-Moreno, Lourdes; Talavera-Velasco, Beatriz; Esteban-Gonzalo, Sara y Vázquez-Estévez, Daniel (2025). Impact of a strategic time management programme on burnout, anxiety, depression, and emotional regulation in university students. Ansiedad y Estrés, 31(1), 1–7. https://doi.org/10.5093/anyes2025a1
Macan, Therese H.; Shahani, Comila; Dipboye, Robert L. y Phillips, Amanda P. (1990). College students’ time management: Correlations with academic performance and stress. Journal of Educational Psychology, 82(4), 760–768. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0663.82.4.760
MacCann, Carolyn; Jiang, Yixin.; Brown, Luke E. R.; Double, Kit S.; Bucich, Mi y Minbashian, Amirali (2020). Emotional intelligence predicts academic performance: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 146(2), 150–186. https://doi.org/10.1037/bul0000219
Mayer, John D.; Caruso, David R. y Salovey, Peter (2016). The ability model of emotional intelligence: Principles and updates. Emotion Review, 8(4), 290-300. https://doi.org/10.1177/1754073916639667
Ministerio de Universidades. (2024). Datos y cifras del sistema universitario español. Publicación 2023–2024. Gobierno de España. https://www.universidades.gob.es/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Datos-y-Cifras-del-Sistema-Universitario-Espanol-2022-2023.pdf
Nieto-Carracedo, Ana; Gómez-Iñiguez, Consuelo; Tamayo, Leticia A. e Igartua, Juan J. (2024). Emotional intelligence and academic achievement relationship: Emotional well-being, motivation, and learning strategies as mediating factors. Psicología Educativa, 30(2), 67 - 74. https://doi.org/10.5093/psed2024a7
Orri, Massimiliano; Pingault, Jean-Baptiste; Rouquette, Alexandra; Lalanne, Christophe; Falissard, Bruno; Herba, Catherine; Côté, Sylvana M. y Berthoz, Sylvie (2017). Identifying affective personality profiles: A latent profile analysis of the Affective Neuroscience Personality Scales. Scientific Reports, 7, 4548 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-04738-x
Osin, Evgeny y Boniwell, Ilona (2024). Positive time use: A missing link between time perspective, time management, and well-being. Frontiers in Psychology, 26(15), 1087932. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1087932
Patzak, Alexandra; Zhang, Xiaorong y Vytasek, Jovita (2025). Boosting productivity and wellbeing through time management: Evidencebased strategies for higher education and workforce development. Frontiers in Education, 10, 1623228. https://www.doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2025.1623228
Peistaraite, Ugne y Clark, Terry (2020). Emotion regulation processes can benefit self-regulated learning in classical musicians. Frontiers in Psychology, 11, 568760. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.568760
Rodríguez-Muñoz, Alfredo; Antino, Mirko; Ruiz-Zorrilla, Paula y Ortega, Eric (2021). Positive emotions, engagement, and objective academic performance: A weekly diary study. Learning and Individual Differences, 92, 102087. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2021.102087
Ruiz-Ortega, Ana M. y Berrios-Martos, M. Pilar (2025). The role of emotional intelligence and frustration intolerance in the academic performance of university students: A structural equation model. Journal of Intelligence, 13(8), 101. https://doi.org/10.3390/jintelligence13080101
Salguero-Pazos, María Rosa y Reyes-de-Cózar, Salvador (2023). Interventions to reduce academic procrastination: A systematic review. International Journal of Educational Research, 121, 102228. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijer.2023.102228
Salovey, Peter; Mayer, John D.; Goldman, Susan L.; Turvey, Carolyn y Palfai, Tibor P. (1995). Emotional attention, clarity, and repair: Exploring emotional intelligence using the Trait Meta-Mood Scale. En James W. Pennebaker (Ed.), Emotion, disclosure, and health (pp. 125–154). American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/10182-006
Sandín, Bonifacio; Chorot, Paloma; Lostao, Lourdes; Joiner, Thomas E.; Santed, Miguel A. y Valiente, Rosa M. (1999). Escalas PANAS de afecto positivo y negativo: Validación factorial y convergencia transcultural. Psicothema, 11(1), 37–51. https://reunido.uniovi.es/index.php/PST/article/view/7556
Ubago-Jimenez, José L.; Zurita-Ortega, Félix; Ortega-Martin, José L. y Melguizo-Ibáñez, Eduardo (2024). Impact of emotional intelligence and academic self-concept on the academic performance of educational sciences undergraduates. Heliyon, 10(8), e29476. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e29476
Watson, David; Clark, Lee Anna y Tellegen, Auke (1988). Development and validation of brief measures of positive and negative affect: The PANAS scales. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54(6), 1063–1070. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.54.6.1063
Wei, Guo; Xinyue, Xi; Xiran, Zhao; Yue, Zhao y Liang, Ke (2026). Relationship between time management disposition and academic procrastination among Chinese students: Systematic review and meta analysis. Acta Psychologica, 266, 106914. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actpsy.2026.106914
Weytens, Fanny; Luminet, Olivier ; Verhofstadt, Lesley L. y Mikolajczak, Moïra (2014). An integrative theory-driven positive emotion regulation intervention. PloS One, 9(4), e95677. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0095677
Wong, Yi Kai y Lai, Wing H. (2025). Association between time management practices and perceived stress levels in preclinical chiropractic students. The Journal of Chiropractic Education, 39, eJCE-24-14. https://doi.org/10.7899/JCE-24-14
Xie, Jianling; Cho, Kit W.; Wei, Tianlan; Xu, Jiangzhong y Fan, Min (2025). The effects of academic emotions on learning outcomes: A three-level meta-analysis of research conducted between 2000 and 2024. Learning and Motivation, 90, 102109. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lmot.2025.102109
Young, Anna N.; Bourke, Aoife; Foley, Sarah y Di Blasi, Zelda (2024). Effects of time management interventions on mental health and wellbeing factors: A protocol for a systematic review. PLoS OneE 19(3), e0288887. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal. pone.0288887
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Fernando Gordillo León, Ángel De Juanas Oliva

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.























