Emotional intelligence in the development of problem solving styles in future teachers

Abstract

The objective of this work is to know the influence that emotional intelligence has on the development of different conflict resolution management styles. For this purpose, 155 students from the Early Childhood Education and Primary Education degrees responded to the Spanish adaptations of the Wong-Law Emotional Intelligence Scale (WLEIS), as well as the ROCI-II scale, that measures conflict resolution styles. The results showed how the most used conflict resolution style was Integration, characterized by high self- and others interest, and the least used style was Domination, characterized by high self-interest and low other people's interest. Likewise, it was observed how the dimension of Evaluation of the emotions of others contributed to developing resolution styles based on a high interest of others, and how the Regulation of emotions, paradoxically, contributed to developing positively styles focused on low self-interest, such as servility and avoidance, and contributed to reducing the Integration style, characterized by a high self-interest. The results reveal the necessity to introduce emotional intelligence in teaching planning in order to develop conflict resolution styles based on active listening, common interest, and assertive values, necessary conditions for the workplace of future teachers.