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:
MethodResearch Design
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.