INVESTIGATION OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE LEVELS AND ACTUAL RELATIONS IN PRE-SCHOOL CHILDREN

Büşra ŞEN¹ , Saide ÖZBEY ²

The research aims at examining the relationship between the emotional intelligence levels and peer relations of 60-to-72-month children attending at a pre-school educational institution. The research was conducted in the relational survey model. A ‘General Information Form’; the ‘Sullivan Emotional Intelligence Scale for Children’, and the ‘Ladd and Profilet Child Behavior’ were used in the research. The population of the research was composed of the children attending at the kindergartens of state elementary schools, independent kindergartens and private kindergartens in Ereğli, Zonguldak in the academic year of 2015-2016. The sample comprised of 298 children. According to the research result, children's positive relations with their peers were enhanced as their scores of the emotional intelligence scale increased. A significant difference was found in terms of gender between children's scores in the “Stories” test of the “Sullivan Emotional Intelligence Scale for Children” in favor of the girls. A significant difference was found in terms of children's place of residence in their total scores of “Emotional Intelligence Scales” in favor of those who live in the district (p<0.05).

Keywords
Pre-school Education, Peer Relations, Emotional Intelligence, Empath, Emotions,