Published Paper Details:

Emotional intelligence has emerged as an important psychological construct that influences individuals' personal, social and professional effectiveness. In the teaching profession, emotional competencies such as self-awareness, empathy, emotional regulation and interpersonal skills play a vital part in managing classroom situations, maintaining positive relationships and fostering a supportive learning environment. The present study aimed to investigate the influence of emotional intelligence on the attitude of secondary school teachers toward the teaching profession. The study adopted a descriptive survey method. The population comprised secondary school teachers working in government, private aided and private unaided schools in Bangalore Urban and Rural districts. A sample of 132 teachers (66 male and 66 female) was selected using stratified random sampling. Standardized tools, namely the Attitude towards Teaching Profession Scale developed by Dr. Umme Kulsum and the Emotional Intelligence Scale developed by Hyde, Dethe and Dhar, were used for data collection. Statistical techniques such as mean, standard deviation, independent samples 't' test and Pearson's coefficient of correlation were employed for analysis. The findings revealed that gender and type of school management did not significantly influence teachers' attitudes toward the teaching profession. However, significant differences were observed among teachers with different levels of emotional intelligence. A significant positive correlation (r = 0.500, p < 0.01) was found between emotional intelligence and attitude towards teaching, indicating that teachers with higher emotional intelligence tend to possess more favorable professional attitudes. The study highlights the importance of developing emotional intelligence among teachers to enhance professional commitment, effectiveness and educational outcomes.