The relationship between emotional intelligence, social intelligence and self-efficacy among preservice English teachers

Due to the awareness of the significance of emotional intelligence and social intelligence in educational context, several studies have been conducted on these two constructs. Research findings have revealed that they greatly contribute to teaching and learning processes in many aspects. The aim of to current study is to investigate the relationship between social intelligence, emotional intelligence, and self-efficacy beliefs among Turkish EFL preservice teachers. The present study was carried on 200 preservice teachers majoring in ELT department at Hacettepe University. To determine the emotional intelligence of preservice teachers, Turkish version of The Schutte Self-Report Emotional Intelligence Test which is a scale created by Schutte, Malouff, Hall, Haggerty, Cooper, Golden and Dornheim (1998) was employed. Simultaneously, a questionnaire entitled Teachers' Sense of Efficacy Scale which is created by Tschannen-Moran and Woolfolk-Hoy (2001) was used with the aim of evaluating self-efficacy beliefs of preservice teachers. Finally, to determine their social intelligence, Tromso Social Intelligence Scale created by Silvera, Martinussen, & Dahl (2001) was used. All the scales were translated into Turkish. For data analysis process, statistical techniques such as mean, standard deviation, percentage, and frequency were employed in the study. Findings revealed that there is a strong positive relationship between their EQ and SQ levels (R=,624, p<,05), a moderate level positive correlation between the total level of teacher efficacy and SQ ( R=,413, P<,005), and a moderate level positive relationship between their EQ and teacher efficacy of preservice English teachers (R=,624, p<,05).