The Relationship between Emotional Intelligence of School Principals, Psychological Climate, and Teacher Motivation

Abstract

Psychometrically sound and practical measures of emotional intelligence of school principals, psychological climate, and teacher motivation were developed. The aim of this study was to explore the relationships and effects among these variables and to compare the differences between high school and vocational high school, as well as public and private school teachers. A sample of 336 teachers was recruited from different high and vocational high schools in Taiwan. Through MANOVA and hierarchical multiple regression analyses, these measures of emotional intelligence of school principals, psychological climate, and teacher motivation were found to be reliable and valid instruments. Vocational high school teachers scored higher than high school teachers on perceived self-motivation of principals, psychological climate, and teacher motivation. Private school teachers showed higher perceived empathy and principals’ relationships, as well as pressure of psychological climate, whereas public school teachers exhibited higher levels of psychological climate and intrinsic motivation. Additionally, strong positive correlations were found among all three variables, particularly, emotional intelligence of principals and psychological climate, which were found to be significant predictors of teacher motivation. The implication for school principals is that they should focus on enhancing their emotional intelligence and creating a more positive psychological climate, which in turn, promotes teacher motivation.