**Pablo Usán Supervía 1,\*, Carlos Salavera Bordás <sup>2</sup> and Víctor Murillo Lorente <sup>3</sup>**


Received: 14 September 2020; Accepted: 22 October 2020; Published: 4 November 2020

**Abstract:** During schooling, students can undergo, for more or less long periods of time, different contextual settings that can negatively affect their personal and academic development, leading them not to meet their academic goals. The main objective of this research responds to examine the relationships between the constructs of goal orientations, emotional intelligence, and burnout in students. **Method:** This research comprised 2896 students from 15 Spanish high schools with ages between 12 and 18 years distributed across male (N = 1614; 55.73%) and female (N = 1282; 44.26%) genders. The measurements were made through Perception of Success Questionnaire (POSQ), the Trait Meta Mood Scale (TMMS-24) and the Maslach Burnout Inventory Student Survey (MBI-SS). **Results:** Results showed links between task orientation, high emotional intelligence levels, and adaptive behaviors and between ego orientation, academic burnout and less adaptive behavior. Similarly, it was shown that emotional intelligence can be used to predict goal-oriented behaviors. **Conclusion:** It is argued that the promotion of task orientation among secondary school students can lead to the adoption of adaptive behaviors and this, in turn, improve the development of students toward academic and personal settings.

**Keywords:** adolescents; students; goal orientation; emotional intelligence; burnout

### **1. Introduction**

During their school stage, students are affected by contextual, situational, and personal circumstances that can have a strong effect on their learning processes, especially at the secondary school level, during adolescence, a vital stage in the life of the individual about to enter adulthood [1].

For more or less prolonged periods of time, some students do not possess, or do not use, the necessary strategies, tools, and skills to meet their academic demands. This triggers feelings and perceptions that undermine their motivation and their wish to continue studying [2], physical and psychic exhaustion [3], negative and unsatisfactory behavior and loss of interest in school [4]. All these circumstances can lead to poor academic performance and even failure and premature school dropouts [5].
