The relationship between Emotional Intelligence and Thinking Styles in Male and Female Students in Tehran, Iran

Abstract

The present study attempts to examine the relationship between emotional intelligence and students’ thinking styles in school district 13 of Tehran. The target population included all the high school students in this area 200 of which were selected for the purpose of this study. The method of this study was descriptive and correlational. The data were collected by field study and questionnaire. A questionnaire was used to measure the participants’ emotional intelligence which had 19 questions. In order to investigate the participants’ thinking styles, Sternberg and Wagner’s thinking styles inventory was used which has 40 questions and measures five thinking styles (legislative, judicial, executive, outward, inward). The collected data were analyzed by SPSS software using descriptive (frequency, mean and standard deviation) and inferential statistics (Pearson correlation coefficient, chi2, dependent-samples t-test). Reliability of the emotional intelligence questionnaire was found to be 0.78.The results showed that there was a meaningful relationship between emotional intelligence and thinking styles of boy and girl students; there was a difference between boys and girls in thinking style; there was also a significant difference between the two groups in emotional intelligence. The results pointed to the conclusion that emotional intelligence can highly influence thinking style. Therefore, authorities are recommended to arrange for proper training and educational programs in this regard for students to help them control their emotional intelligence and take appropriate measures for selecting the right thinking style.

Key words: Emotional Intelligence, Thinking Style, Students