IOSR Journal Of Humanities And Social Science (IOSR-JHSS) Volume 20, Issue 2, Ver. II (Feb. 2015), PP 74-76 e-ISSN: 2279-0837, p-ISSN: 2279-0845. www.iosrjournals.org DOI: 10.9790/0837-20227476 www.iosrjournals.org 74 | Page Social Intelligence and Academic Achievement of College Students – A Study of District Srinagar Asma Nazir, Dr. Tasleema, Dr. Muhammad Yousuf Ganai Department Of Education, University Of Kashmir, 190006, J&K India Abstract: The purpose of the study was to compare rural and urban college students on various dimensions of social intelligence and academic achievement. The study was conducted on a sample of 390 college students of third year from district Srinagar. The sample comprised of 187 rural-203 urban college students. The tools used in the study were N.K.Chaddha and Usha Ganesan Social Intelligence Scale (1986) and the average marks percentage obtained by the sample subjects in their first and second year examinations was used as the measure of academic achievement. The data was analyzed by applying mean, S.D, t-test and percentage. The analysis of the data revealed that urban college students when compared with rural college students were found to have high social intelligence and urban college students have been found to have better academic achievement as compared to rural college students. Keywords: Social Intelligence, Academic Achievement, Rural and Urban College Students. I. Introduction The history of the rise, progress and development of advanced countries shows that they have given due consideration and importance to higher education and all their progress owes a lot to the advancement and priority given to higher education. Each person has an individual profile of characteristics and abilities that result from predispositions, learning and development. These manifest as individual differences in intelligence, creativity and many more. Research on the concept of social intelligence began when Thorndike (1920) put forth the idea that intelligence could be separated into three facets. These facets included social, mechanical and abstract intelligences, whereas social intelligence as per Thorndike is the ability to act wisely in a social relationships. Marlowe (1986) suggested that individuals who are socially intelligent appear to experience a rich, meaningful life, as opposed to truncated affective experiences. Furthermore, aspects of social intelligence have been found to be associated with enhanced social problem solving abilities. Social intelligence refers to the ability to read other people and understand their intentions and motivations. People with this intelligence are usually clued into the differences between what others say and what they really mean. As a result, socially intelligent types may sometimes be accused of being mind readers. People who successfully use this type of intelligence can be masterful conversationalists. This can be due to a combination of excellent listening skills and the ability to meaningfully engage others. Weis and Sub (2007) showed that social understanding and social knowledge were separate constructs of social intelligence. Additionally, their model showed support for existence of an underlying general social intelligence and possibly a hierarchical model of social intelligence. Academic achievement occupies a very important place in education as well as in the learning process. It has become an index of child’s future in this highly compet itive world. Busari (2000) states that academic achievement is generally regarded as the display of knowledge attained or skills developed in the school subject. It is a key mechanism through which adolescents learn about their talents, abilities and competencies which are an important part of developing career aspiration. Osokoya (1998) also stated that achievement is the end product of a learning experience. Attaining a high level of academic performance is what every parent or guardian as well as teacher wishes for their children, wards and students. Schools and teachers are generally graded qualitatively by achievement based on the performance of their students. The aim of the present study is to come up to the expectations of the adolescent students so that they will have better social intelligence and academic achievement, as adolescence is the age when the individual becomes integrated into the society of psychologically adults, the age when the child not feels that he is below the level of his elders but equal, at least in rights. This integration into adult society has many affective aspects, more or less linked with puberty. It also includes very profound intellectual changes. These intellectual transformations typical of the adolescent’s thinking enable him not only to achieve his integration into the social relationships of adults, which is, infact, the most general characteristic of this period of development. While all periods in the life span are important, some are more important than others because of their immediate effects on attitudes and behaviour, whereas others are significant because of their long-term effects. From child classification to college students, in all situations where people live and work together, intelligence and academic achievement are constantly under scrutiny and being evaluated and IQ alone is no more the only measure for success; emotional intelligence and