Research Paper The International Journal of Indian Psychology ISSN 2348-5396 (Online) | ISSN: 2349-3429 (Print) Volume 9, Issue 2, April- June, 2021 DIP: 18.01.118.20210902, DOI: 10.25215/0902.118 http://www.ijip.in © 2021, Neethu E. & Lokesh L.; licensee IJIP. This is an Open Access Research distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any Medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Emotional Intelligence and Perceived Stress among Young Adults during COVID-19 Neethu E. 1 *, Lokesh L. 2 ABSTRACT The study intends to explore the relationship of emotional intelligence and perceived stress among young adults during covid-19. Through online survey two questionnaires were distributed to group of young adults aged between 18 and 25 years (N=65 females and N=60 males). A total of 125 samples were selected from various colleges and working sectors of Kerala for the study. Quantitative approach was used along with Cross-sectional descriptive research design was adopted and the sampling technique was purposive. Emotional Intelligence Self-Administered Tool (Sterrett, 2000) was used to assess the emotional intelligence among young adults and Perceived Stress Scale (Cohen et al., 1994) was used to determine the perceived stress levels among young adults. Pearson Correlation and Independent sample t-test was incorporated to reach the findings. According to Pearson Correlation the results indicated a significant negative low correlation between emotional intelligence and perceived stress levels. Independent sample t-test was computed on gender and results were found to be rejecting the null hypothesis, females were found to be higher in perceived stress than males and it was found that emotional intelligence has no significant difference based on gender, therefore the hypothesis was accepted. Hence there is a need to take measures by the authorities to reduce the stress among female adult population. Keywords: Emotional Intelligence; Perceived Stress; COVID-19 andemics are life experiences associated with confusion, ambiguity, and lack of control, each of which is known to cause stress, emotional distress, and internalising symptoms (anxiety and depression) from a psychological perspective. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has spread to 216 nations, regions, or territories since December 2019. On July 20th, the number of confirmed cases had risen to 14,348,858 and the death toll had risen to 603,691. The Covid- 19 pandemic has posed multiple challenges to the world; everybody, from organisations to governments, societies, and individuals, must deal with a new and urgent danger, as well as a set of rules that restrict their daily operations and routine (WHO, 2020). 1 First year, MSc. Psychology, Kristu Jayanti College Autonomous, Bangalore, India 2 Assistant Professor, Department of psychology, Kristu Jayanti College Autonomous, Bangalore, India *Corresponding Author Received: April 14, 2021; Revision Received: May 09, 2021; Accepted: May 25, 2021 P