Relationship between Emotional Intelligence, Generativity and Self-Efficacy in Secondary School Teachers

David Aparisi,María Carmen Martínez-Monteagudo,Ricardo Sanmartín,José Manuel García-Fernández,Lucía Granados

doi:10.3390/su12103950

David Aparisi, María Carmen Martínez-Monteagudo + Show 3 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/su12103950

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Abstract

The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between emotional intelligence (EI), generativity and self-efficacy, identifying different profiles of emotional intelligence. 834 secondary school teachers participated in the study by completing the Trait Meta-Mood Scale–24 (TMMS–24), the Loyola Generativity Scale and the General Self-Efficacy Scale. Cluster analysis identified four EI profiles: the first with high scores in attention and low scores in repair, the second with high scores in all dimensions of EI, the third with low scores in all EI dimensions and a fourth profile with low scores in attention and high scores in repair. Results showed significant statistical differences between the EI profiles found and the different dimensions of generativity and self-efficacy. Logistic regression analysis showed that EI was a statistically significant predictor of generativity, since teachers with high EI scores were more likely to present high scores in positive generativity and self-efficacy and lower probability of presenting high scores in generative doubts.

Highlights

Students spend most of the time in the classroom during their school years, and it is in this period of time that their emotional development is produced
The cluster analysis allowed us to identify four emotional intelligence (EI) profiles: a first profile with high scores in attention and low scores in repair (HALR), a second profile with high scores in all the EI dimensions (and, as a result, with the individuals presenting a high level of general EI (HGEI)), a third profile with low scores in all the EI dimensions (and, with the individuals presenting low levels of general EI (LGEI)) and a fourth profile with low scores in attention and high scores in emotional repair (LAHR)
It was shown that EI was a statistically significant predictor variable of self-efficacy, because teachers with high scores in the emotional clarity and repair dimensions of EI presented a higher probability of obtaining high scores in self-efficacy, confirming the fourth hypothesis. These findings reveal the synergy between EI, which is very necessary in the school environment, and generativity, which focuses on contributing to others’ well-being, in this case students [49]. This piece of research confirms the existence of different EI profiles according to the different dimensions of the construct

Summary

Introduction

Students spend most of the time in the classroom during their school years, and it is in this period of time that their emotional development is produced. There is no doubt about the role that teachers as educational agents play in supporting the cognitive and emotional needs of children in their learning process [2]. In addition to this emotional aspect, teachers have the duty of guiding and taking care of new generations, and this worry is the central component of generativity. In this sense, the basic assumption of generative ethics consists in performing actions that will promote both other people’s and one’s own development [3]. There are personal traits of teachers, such as trust, support and emotional intelligence, that are key to facilitating the generativity of knowledge for students [4]

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