Exploring Indonesian Primary School Teachers’ Emotional Intelligence: Comparisons by Gender and Teaching Experience

Abstract

This study examined the level of emotional intelligence among private primary school teachers in selected Indonesian schools and differences in teachers’ EI by gender and teaching experience. Using a census survey, the study obtained emotional intelligence data from 107 Indonesian teachers—65 female and 42 male—from 19 private primary schools in Surabaya. The survey was administered using a Google Form containing 25 items on emotional intelligence adapted from Goleman (2011). The emotional intelligence items were divided into five subscales measuring self-awareness (four items), self-regulation (four items), motivation (six items), empathy (five items), and relationship management (six items). The EI data were analyzed using descriptive statistics to establish teachers’ EI levels and the Wilcoxon signed-rank test to determine teacher differences in EI by gender and teaching experience. The results indicated that private primary school teachers in Surabaya reported high levels of EI in all five of its dimensions. Both male and female teachers demonstrated a consistent distribution of emotional intelligence scores and no statistically significant differences by gender and teaching experience were found among the sample in terms of emotional intelligence.