Correlation Between Emotional Intelligence and Work Engagement of Special Need School Teachers

Abstract

Background: Optimal job performance of special school teachers is marked by high work engagement because engaged teachers showed perseverance, enthusiasm, and absorption at work. Work engagement is influenced by several factors, one of them is personal resources. Personal resource that considered important in people’s success is emotional intelligence. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between emotional intelligence and work engagement of teachers at a Sekolah Luar Biasa Negeri, a public special school in Semarang. Method: Data from 60 teachers were collected using Work Engagement Scale (33 item; α = .93) and Emotional Intelligence Scale (32 item; α = .93) Results: Simple linear regression analysis showed that there was a positive correlation between emotional intelligence and work engagement, r = .87; (p < .001) Conclusion: Result indicated that higher emotional intelligence is likely to lead to higher work engagement. Emotional intelligence contributed to 74.8% of the variance in work engagement. Teachers are expected to manage emotion better in order to achieve high work engagement. Keywords: work engagement, emotional intelligence, teacher, special school