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An investigation of the relationship between emotional intelligence and job satisfaction of primary school teachers in Singapore
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Type
Thesis
Author
Koh, Audrey Chouk Eng
Supervisor
Goh, Jonathan
Abstract
Over the last two decades, a highly debatable construct which has generated a lot of interest amongst behavioural researchers is none other than Emotional intelligence. One of the key reasons for the strong interest shown in Emotional intelligence is closely linked to its merits espoused. In this respect, researchers (e.g., Vakola, Tsausis, & Nikolaou, 2004; Rosete & Ciarrochi, 2005) have asserted that a person's ability to perceive, identify and manage his/her emotions is an important job success factor while others (e.g., Bar-On, Handley & Fund, 2006; Druskat, Sala, & Mount, 2006) have gone further to assert that individuals with high levels of Emotional intelligence could process affective information better, respond more appropriately to workplace stress and to the emotional behaviour of fellow co-workers and form more productive relationships with their colleagues, clients and supervisors, enhance their performance outcomes as well as job satisfaction. In sum, it meant that Emotional intelligence is an important personal resource which wields significant influence over employees’ behaviour and performance at the workplace.
Whilst researchers such as Mayer & Salovey (1993) and Goleman (1995) have acknowledged the importance of Emotional intelligence, several contentious issues such as how it should be defined, what are its constituents and how best it could be measured have nonetheless persisted to divide them as well as other researchers studying it. These disagreements, together with lack of empirical studies, have somewhat limited conclusions which the researchers could otherwise draw. The sum of these brings to the intent of this study, which is to determine how Emotional intelligence could be better understood and then using it to determine if a relationship existed between the perceived Emotional intelligence of a sample of primary school teachers and their Overall job satisfaction. The choice of studying the relationships between Emotional intelligence and Overall job satisfaction is premised on the mentioned advocacies that possession of Emotional intelligence will induce positive affective states in employees and therefore heighten their job satisfaction.
To put this study into context, literature pertaining to Emotional intelligence as well as job satisfaction were reviewed, examined and analyzed. A total of five keys Emotional intelligence dimensions, namely; Self awareness, Social awareness, Emotions regulation and management, Relations management and Decision making were identified as possible constituents of how a person's Emotional intelligence could be profiled. At the same time, extensive reviews of literature related to job satisfaction also identified four teaching-related job satisfaction dispositions namely, Self-efficacy, Locus of control, Self esteem and Neuroticism as critical in supporting teachers in their evaluation of their Overall job satisfaction. Therefore, in the conduct of this study, six variables, namely; Emotional intelligence, Overall job satisfaction, Self-efficacy, Locus of control, Self esteem and Neuroticism were investigated.
Following the identification of the variables to be investigated in this study, it is conceivable that the raw scores to be collected from teachers' responses to the survey items might be possibly contaminated by scaling and nonlinearity problems. In other words, the data collated might not provide comparable and meaningful insights unless they are calibrated on the same scale of measure. To achieve a common scale measurement, this study proposes the use of Rasch analysis, which will convert the raw scores of the teachers' responses to logits (or measures) and thereafter puts all raw scores onto one common, linear scale of measure. After the data have been cleaned and put on a common ruler, classical statistical procedures such as Pearson Product Moment Correlations test, Stepwise multiple regression analysis, independent sample t-tests and ANOVA (with Tamhane or Tukey HSD Post-hoc tests) were carried out to further examine the respective relationships between different variables.
Through a survey design, both quantitative and qualitative data were collected from a convenient sample of 358 teachers teaching in five different government and government-aided primary schools. Results showed that teachers have high Emotional intelligence abilities in Self awareness, Social awareness, Emotions regulation and management, Relations management and Decision making abilities. Amongst the five Emotional intelligence abilities, they have stronger Relations management and Social awareness abilities as compared to the remaining abilities. Teachers also have high Overall job satisfaction, which is significantly predicted by their Self awareness and Relations management abilities. Notwithstanding, teachers were also found to be high in Self-efficacy, Locus of control, Self esteem and low in Neuroticism, with each respective variable being significantly predicted by varying combinations of the Emotional intelligence dimensions and demographic variables. An example would be teachers’ Locus of control. It was found to be significantly predicted by teachers' Self awareness, Relations management and Emotions regulation and management abilities and years of teaching experiences.
When comparisons of Emotional intelligence perceptions were carried out between male and female teachers as well as across groups with different ages, years of teaching experiences and academic qualifications, there were no evidences to suggest that there were significant differences in perceptions between male and female teachers as well as among teachers with different age groups. There were, however, evidences which suggested that there were some differences in Emotional intelligence perceptions among teachers with different years of teaching experiences and academic qualifications.
Besides contributing to a better understanding of the teaching professionals through the findings, strengths of this study also included contributions to the theoretical paradigm, the methodological paradigm and also how the findings could possibly be translated into an actionable plan. Under theoretical contributions, this research offers an unprecedented insight into the Emotional intelligence of Singapore teachers, supported by empirical evidences. In terms of contributions to existing theoretical understanding, it underscores the importance on why teachers need to have high Emotional intelligence abilities as well as creates a knowledge base on how Emotional intelligence can impact teachers' Overall job satisfaction and how teachers could possibly be supported in their emotional intelligence development. Lastly, under the methodological contributions, this study has developed suitable Emotional intelligence, Overall job satisfaction, Self-efficacy, Locus of control, Self esteem and Neuroticism rating scales suitable for use to measure the respective aspects of the teaching profession. In other words, a shorter 44-item Emotional intelligence scale (as opposed to some of the longer item Emotional intelligence instruments such as Baron’s 133 items EQ-i instrument, Goleman’s 110 items Emotional Competence Inventory (ECI)) may also be a viable alternate instrument for use in future studies to assess the Emotional intelligence of respondents. Importantly the findings of this study pointed to the imperative that teachers need to be cognizant of their emotions and to consciously regulate and express those feelings appropriately in order to use their positive emotions to influence the students in their care. To maintain the desired emotions and to reduce or modify unwanted emotions in themselves and their students, teachers need to be equipped with a large repertoire of emotions related strategies as suggested by Gross & John (2002) and Sutton & Harper (2009).
While the significant findings have contributed to a better understanding of teachers' Emotional intelligence, it is equally important to recognise that the findings could be limited by three considerations. The first limitation lies with the selection of respondents. As this study was to study the Emotional intelligence perceptions of primary school teachers, it would be ideal if the sample of respondents could be randomly pick from all primary schools in Singapore, However, in reality, this is not possible as access to all the schools is not available. As such, data collection was limited to a convenient sample of teachers from five primary schools. The second limitation is related to the duration of the data collection. The work schedules of teachers are highly intense during the school term, when school is in session. With many duties and responsibilities which teachers hold, there were challenges when it came to identification of suitable time-slots to conduct surveys and focus groups discussions. The duration of each focus group discussion had to be capped within the time interval given, to allow teachers to continue with their other duties and responsibilities. To mitigate this, special care was taken to ensure that the major scope of discussion topics which have to be covered were discussed If the duration for focus groups discussions could be extended, such that more focus groups discussions could be planned, the quality of conversations in terms of breadth and depth of discussions may likely be further enhanced. The last limitation pertains to generalizability of findings. The Singapore primary school system is made up of different types of schools, namely Government and Government-aided, and Special Assistance Plan (SAP) schools. While the sample is representative of the intended population for the study (that is, primary school teachers), it would be difficult to make any generalization. As such the discussions of the findings are only pertinent to the data collected from a sample of teachers from primary schools in Singapore, and at this point in time.
Whilst researchers such as Mayer & Salovey (1993) and Goleman (1995) have acknowledged the importance of Emotional intelligence, several contentious issues such as how it should be defined, what are its constituents and how best it could be measured have nonetheless persisted to divide them as well as other researchers studying it. These disagreements, together with lack of empirical studies, have somewhat limited conclusions which the researchers could otherwise draw. The sum of these brings to the intent of this study, which is to determine how Emotional intelligence could be better understood and then using it to determine if a relationship existed between the perceived Emotional intelligence of a sample of primary school teachers and their Overall job satisfaction. The choice of studying the relationships between Emotional intelligence and Overall job satisfaction is premised on the mentioned advocacies that possession of Emotional intelligence will induce positive affective states in employees and therefore heighten their job satisfaction.
To put this study into context, literature pertaining to Emotional intelligence as well as job satisfaction were reviewed, examined and analyzed. A total of five keys Emotional intelligence dimensions, namely; Self awareness, Social awareness, Emotions regulation and management, Relations management and Decision making were identified as possible constituents of how a person's Emotional intelligence could be profiled. At the same time, extensive reviews of literature related to job satisfaction also identified four teaching-related job satisfaction dispositions namely, Self-efficacy, Locus of control, Self esteem and Neuroticism as critical in supporting teachers in their evaluation of their Overall job satisfaction. Therefore, in the conduct of this study, six variables, namely; Emotional intelligence, Overall job satisfaction, Self-efficacy, Locus of control, Self esteem and Neuroticism were investigated.
Following the identification of the variables to be investigated in this study, it is conceivable that the raw scores to be collected from teachers' responses to the survey items might be possibly contaminated by scaling and nonlinearity problems. In other words, the data collated might not provide comparable and meaningful insights unless they are calibrated on the same scale of measure. To achieve a common scale measurement, this study proposes the use of Rasch analysis, which will convert the raw scores of the teachers' responses to logits (or measures) and thereafter puts all raw scores onto one common, linear scale of measure. After the data have been cleaned and put on a common ruler, classical statistical procedures such as Pearson Product Moment Correlations test, Stepwise multiple regression analysis, independent sample t-tests and ANOVA (with Tamhane or Tukey HSD Post-hoc tests) were carried out to further examine the respective relationships between different variables.
Through a survey design, both quantitative and qualitative data were collected from a convenient sample of 358 teachers teaching in five different government and government-aided primary schools. Results showed that teachers have high Emotional intelligence abilities in Self awareness, Social awareness, Emotions regulation and management, Relations management and Decision making abilities. Amongst the five Emotional intelligence abilities, they have stronger Relations management and Social awareness abilities as compared to the remaining abilities. Teachers also have high Overall job satisfaction, which is significantly predicted by their Self awareness and Relations management abilities. Notwithstanding, teachers were also found to be high in Self-efficacy, Locus of control, Self esteem and low in Neuroticism, with each respective variable being significantly predicted by varying combinations of the Emotional intelligence dimensions and demographic variables. An example would be teachers’ Locus of control. It was found to be significantly predicted by teachers' Self awareness, Relations management and Emotions regulation and management abilities and years of teaching experiences.
When comparisons of Emotional intelligence perceptions were carried out between male and female teachers as well as across groups with different ages, years of teaching experiences and academic qualifications, there were no evidences to suggest that there were significant differences in perceptions between male and female teachers as well as among teachers with different age groups. There were, however, evidences which suggested that there were some differences in Emotional intelligence perceptions among teachers with different years of teaching experiences and academic qualifications.
Besides contributing to a better understanding of the teaching professionals through the findings, strengths of this study also included contributions to the theoretical paradigm, the methodological paradigm and also how the findings could possibly be translated into an actionable plan. Under theoretical contributions, this research offers an unprecedented insight into the Emotional intelligence of Singapore teachers, supported by empirical evidences. In terms of contributions to existing theoretical understanding, it underscores the importance on why teachers need to have high Emotional intelligence abilities as well as creates a knowledge base on how Emotional intelligence can impact teachers' Overall job satisfaction and how teachers could possibly be supported in their emotional intelligence development. Lastly, under the methodological contributions, this study has developed suitable Emotional intelligence, Overall job satisfaction, Self-efficacy, Locus of control, Self esteem and Neuroticism rating scales suitable for use to measure the respective aspects of the teaching profession. In other words, a shorter 44-item Emotional intelligence scale (as opposed to some of the longer item Emotional intelligence instruments such as Baron’s 133 items EQ-i instrument, Goleman’s 110 items Emotional Competence Inventory (ECI)) may also be a viable alternate instrument for use in future studies to assess the Emotional intelligence of respondents. Importantly the findings of this study pointed to the imperative that teachers need to be cognizant of their emotions and to consciously regulate and express those feelings appropriately in order to use their positive emotions to influence the students in their care. To maintain the desired emotions and to reduce or modify unwanted emotions in themselves and their students, teachers need to be equipped with a large repertoire of emotions related strategies as suggested by Gross & John (2002) and Sutton & Harper (2009).
While the significant findings have contributed to a better understanding of teachers' Emotional intelligence, it is equally important to recognise that the findings could be limited by three considerations. The first limitation lies with the selection of respondents. As this study was to study the Emotional intelligence perceptions of primary school teachers, it would be ideal if the sample of respondents could be randomly pick from all primary schools in Singapore, However, in reality, this is not possible as access to all the schools is not available. As such, data collection was limited to a convenient sample of teachers from five primary schools. The second limitation is related to the duration of the data collection. The work schedules of teachers are highly intense during the school term, when school is in session. With many duties and responsibilities which teachers hold, there were challenges when it came to identification of suitable time-slots to conduct surveys and focus groups discussions. The duration of each focus group discussion had to be capped within the time interval given, to allow teachers to continue with their other duties and responsibilities. To mitigate this, special care was taken to ensure that the major scope of discussion topics which have to be covered were discussed If the duration for focus groups discussions could be extended, such that more focus groups discussions could be planned, the quality of conversations in terms of breadth and depth of discussions may likely be further enhanced. The last limitation pertains to generalizability of findings. The Singapore primary school system is made up of different types of schools, namely Government and Government-aided, and Special Assistance Plan (SAP) schools. While the sample is representative of the intended population for the study (that is, primary school teachers), it would be difficult to make any generalization. As such the discussions of the findings are only pertinent to the data collected from a sample of teachers from primary schools in Singapore, and at this point in time.
Date Issued
2016
Call Number
BF576 Koh
Date Submitted
2016