Introduction
The definition of intelligence has been discussed regularly and it has
been studied a lot in all societies. The studies conducted so far
indicated that weaknesses have been experienced in human relationships
and unhappiness have appeared accordingly. In other words, IQ is not
solely adequate for achieving success and happiness. After the multiple
intelligence theory developed by Gardner, the subject that has recently
been studied most is emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence
serves as a key for us to exist in society, to have a thinking style and
personal relationships. The concept of emotional intelligence was
defined for the first time by psychologists Peter Salovey and John Mayer
(1990) as the individuals’ skill of coping with their feelings (Wong and
Law, 2002). According to Goleman (2000), emotional intelligence
indicates individuals’ ability to know the feelings of themselves and
others, motivating themselves, and managing their feelings in
relationships well. In other words, the concept of emotional
intelligence is an important and indispensable part of intelligence.
Emotional intelligence is a concept consisting of skills that can be
learned and improved (Yılmaz-Karabulutlu, Yılmaz andYurttaş, 2011, 78).
Intelligence is improvable, and experiences and some other external
factors affect the development of intelligence. According to Yavuz
(2004), emotional intelligence is not an innate property, but it is a
skill that can be developed with experiences and emotional training
during childhood. In this regard, it can be said that emotional
intelligence is a continuous skill in human life. In addition to this,
it can be also said that emotional intelligence is a skill that can be
developed with emotional management skills. In this regard, Weisinger
(1998) mentioned the followings: ”Emotional intelligence can be improved
and developed, but it is not a property that is innately present or not.
Individuals can develop their intelligence, abilities, and skills
through learning and practicing on these. Sense of self, emotional
management, and motivating the self are also among these skills.” Mayer
and Salovey (1997) defined emotional intelligence as ”auto-control,
effort, persistence, and ability necessary for motivating the
individuals.” In other words, emotional intelligence is an umbrella term
including several concepts inside. Emotional intelligence of individuals
will continuously renew through developing these skills.
On the other hand, the concept of self-efficacy suggested by Bandura
(1997) continues to be a concept that reveals its effect on all areas.
Whether individuals can fulfill a task assigned for them successfully or
not can be determined through the self-efficacy perception (Bong, 1995).
Because self-efficacy perception related to the possibility of
fulfilling a task should be high to fulfill that specific task. Schuzlt
and Schulz (2007) mentioned that individuals with high self-efficacy
could manage the events better because their belief in their success was
higher. Planning the events and management power are correlated directly
with the perception of self-efficacy.
Several factors play a role on the development of self-efficacy, and
experiences of individuals have the biggest effect according to the
studies (Akbasli, 2010; Bandura, 1997; Miller, 2010; Wuebbels, 2006;
Zimmerman, 2000). Individuals develop or decrease their self-efficacy
perception levels due to the results they obtain from their own
experiences. On the other hand, the perspectives of individuals towards
their own skills should also be considered in order to increase the
quality of education (Yılmaz, Gürçay and Ekici, 2007). According to
Fırat Durdukoca (2010), individuals’ beliefs on their self-efficacy
perceptions influence their mood. In this regard, the experiences and
the mutual interactions encountered in the concepts of emotional
intelligence and self-efficacy brought about the question of whether
there is a relationship between these two concepts or not. When the
related literature was reviewed, it was seen that the concept of
emotional intelligence was discussed within the framework of many
variables such as socio demographical properties, critical thinking
tendencies, leadership properties and scientific attitude (Dutoğlu and
Tuncel, 2008; Erdoğdu, 2008; Erkuş and Günlü, 2008; Ergin and Özgürol,
2011; Uredi and Akbasli, 2015). However, it was also seen that the
number of studies conducted for determining the relationship between
self-efficacy level and emotional intelligence was not adequate.
Therefore, self-efficacy level of secondary education students, though
not applicable for all grades, was investigated academically, and the
relationship between emotional intelligence and academic self-efficacy
level was discussed within the scope of this specific study.
Through the results to be obtained from this study, the factors
affecting the self-efficacy levels of secondary education students and
the level of these effects will be investigated more comprehensively. In
addition to this, it is thought that the investigation of the academic
dimension of emotional intelligence concept will contribute to the
literature and the studies to be conducted on intelligence.
The main purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship
between emotional intelligence and academic self-efficacy levels of
secondary education students. In line with this general purpose, the
following questions were investigated:
- Is there a significant difference between emotional intelligence
levels of the secondary education students and their ages?
- Is there a significant difference between the academic self-efficacy
perceptions of secondary education students and their ages?
- Is there a significant difference between the emotional intelligence
levels of the secondary education students and their genders?
- Is there a significant difference between the academic self-efficacy
perceptions of the secondary education students and their genders?
- Is there a relationship between academic self-efficacy perceptions and
the emotional intelligence levels of secondary education students?
Relational screening model from quantitative research methods was used
in this study. Screening model is a research model in which both
qualitative and quantitative research approaches can be used together.
Literature was reviewed for the conceptual basis of the study. The
literature review is the investigation, synthesis, and summary of the
literature related to the research problems (Balcı, 2013). Literature
review plays a significant role in terms of providing a contribution to
the literature.