Abstract
The present study was conducted to examine social intelligence among college students in the Jorhat district of Assam with two major objectives: (a) to study the level of social intelligence among college students in Jorhat district, Assam and (b) to explore the problems and challenges associated with social intelligence among these students. In the first phase of the study, the researchers assessed the level of social intelligence by selecting a sample of 404 college students from 16 general degree colleges of Jorhat district. The results revealed that most college students fell within the average level of social intelligence. In the second phase, out of the total sample, eight students who obtained poor social intelligence scores were selected to conduct in-depth case studies. The findings from the case studies highlighted several problems and challenges among students with low social intelligence, such as difficulty in understanding others’ emotions, low emotional sensitivity, poor attentive listening, misinterpretation of social cues, limited selfpresentation skills, low confidence in influencing others, avoidance of formal and public social situations and difficulty in providing emotional support during crisis situations. The study underscores the need for targeted institutional support and steps to strengthen their social intelligence, particularly during the critical transition to higher education and contributes context-specific insights from an underrepresented region of India.
Keywords: Assam, College Students, Jorhat, Social Adjustment, Social Intelligence.