Emotional Intelligence, Environment, and Teacher Self-Efficacy: A Look into the Effects of Teacher Emotional Intelligence and Socioeconomic Status of School on Teacher Self-Efficacy in K-12 Public Schools

Abstract

This study sought to uncover the relationship among emotional intelligence, teacher self-efficacy, and socioeconomic status of schools amongst K-12 public school teachers. Correlations were analyzed between overall emotional intelligence and overall teacher self-efficacy, as well as between the subscales of both constructs. Furthermore, regression analysis was used to determine the predictability of teacher self-efficacy based on emotional intelligence, school socioeconomic status, and the subscales of emotional intelligence. Weak correlations were found between emotional intelligence of teachers and teacher self-efficacy levels. Emotional intelligence and school socioeconomic status were not found to be strong predictors of teacher self-efficacy. Subscales of emotional intelligence did not predict levels of teacher self-efficacy well. The current study calls into question the validity of the Reactions to Teaching Situations measure of emotional intelligence and suggests further research be conducted to determine the reason for the inconsistent findings as compared to prior studies on the relationship between emotional intelligence and teacher self-efficacy in field of education