Influence of Dance Engagement and Emotional Intelligence on Psychological Well-being among Junior High School Students in Davao City

Students' psychological well-being is problematic. Using a diagnostic research design, this study aimed to determine the significance of the contributions of dance engagement and emotional intelligence on the psychological well-being of students. A total of 350 junior high school students were selected through proportionate stratified random sampling. The descriptive results revealed that students demonstrated high levels across all three variables. Emotional intelligence and psychological well-being included indicators rated very high, suggesting stronger dimensions in these areas compared to dance engagement. Correlation analysis showed that both dance engagement and emotional intelligence had significant but low correlations with psychological well-being, indicating comparable levels of association across the two variables. Regression analysis further revealed that dance engagement and emotional intelligence both significantly predicted psychological well-being, with dance engagement exerting a stronger influence. Together, these predictors formed a significant model that explained 4.7% of the variance in psychological well-being, partly affirming Self-Determination Theory. Future research may investigate the concept of relatedness or employ qualitative methods to account for the remaining 95.3% of the criterion variance. The Department of Education may prioritize structured dance programs and activities focused on emotional intelligence to promote psychological well-being.