Can Emotional Intelligence Predict Individual Values?

Abstract

Emotional Intelligence (EI) refers to the mental abilities associated with processing and responding to emotions, including recognizing the expression of emotions in others, using emotions to enhance thinking, and regulating emotions to drive effective behaviors. Emotional intelligence works together with character/values education and moral development. It has skills such as self-confidence, sensitivity, self-awareness, self-control, empathy, optimism, and social skills which are also considered as personal values. The results revealed that emotional intelligence fosters teacher's individual and institutional skills. Teachers with Higher EI can better understand themselves that know what and how they want to achieve, the way of use their resources effectively, and provide suitable solution to the problem. This allow them to fulfil personal values and institutional values in the school. In this sense, we aimed to associations between emotional intelligence and personal values of early childhood teacher trainees. 412 undergraduate students attending early childhood department of universities took part in this study. Trait Emotional Intelligence Scale short form and Values Scale were used as research tools. Data were analyzed to interpret emotional intelligence on personal values. Finding indicated associations between emotional intelligence and personal values. It was suggested future researches focusing on early childhood teacher socialization of emotion, and discussing theoretical and practical benefits of such research.