Contextual problems, emotional intelligence and social skills in Secondary Education students. Gender differences

Abstract

Contextual problems (with family, school and classmates) affect not only our students’ academic results, but also their social functioning. These problems can be related with people who lack social skills and poorly handle their emotions. This study assessed 485 Secondary Education students (12–17 years) to analyze the relationship that links contextual problems, emotional intelligence and social skills. The results showed how these constructs were related, and how students’ contextual problems varied according to their emotional intelligence and social skills. The results also indicated that just over one in every two males, and one in every four females, obtained high scores in contextual problems. The model showed a good fit: χ2(51)=93.864 P<0.001; χ2/gl=1.840; CFI=0.930; NFI=0.862; TLI=0.909; RMSEA=0.059, 95%CI (0.040–0.077). Finally, gender influenced the way that contextual problems, emotional intelligence and social skills were related, and an inverse relation was presented between contextual problems and emotional intelligence (r=−.63) and social skills (r=−.38) for females, while this relationship was poorer for males. By way of conclusion, we state that contextual problems are related with emotional intelligence and social skills in Secondary Education students, but this relationship differs according to gender.