EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE AND LEADERSHIP EFFECTIVENESS OF PRINCIPALS IN PUBLIC SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN PORT HARCOURT LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF RIVERS STATE

Abstract

This study examined emotional intelligence in leadership effectiveness of principals in public senior secondary schools in Port Harcourt Local Government Area of Rivers State. The study adopts a cross sectional survey research design. The study was guided with three research questions and three hypotheses. 775 was the population of the study made up of 87 principals and 688 teachers in all public senior secondary schools in Port Harcourt Local Government Area of Rivers State. 264 was the sample size of the study and this was determined using the Taro Yamane’s formula. The instrument for data collection was a questionnaire which was selfstructured titled; “Emotional Intelligence in Leadership Effectiveness of Principals Questionnaire (MILEPQ)”. The Cronbach Alpha coefficient was used to test for instrument reliability as coefficient recorded 0.90. Mean and standard deviation were used to answer the research questions while the Spearman Correlation Coefficient (r) was used to test the hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance with the support of Statistical Package for Social Science version 2021 (SPSS). The results of this research indicated that emotional intelligence has a positive effect on principals’ leadership performance. It is recommended that principals should be able to align their self-image which gives them sense of purpose so that they can be more decisive when they set a course of actions as leaders, they should be able to control impulsive feelings, take initiative and adapt to changing circumstances as effective leaders. Effective leadership requires a wide range of skills which emotional intelligence is one skill that may assist principals as they strive to effectively meet the needs of teachers and students.