INFLUENCE OF EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE ON PSYCHOLOGICAL WELL-BEING: AMONG SPECIAL NEEDS EDUCATION TEACHERS IN ABUJA NIGERIA

Abstract

The significance of well-being among educators is paramount, as it directlyinfluences their effectiveness in teaching and their overall quality of life. It is against thisbackground that this study examined the influence of emotional intelligence on the psychologicalwell-being of special needs education teachers in the FCT. Abuja – Nigeria. The study employeda cross-sectional survey design using a Proportionate sampling technique to select 159 participantsfrom the following four schools: Centre for Children with Special Needs (CCSN), Hope Houseinitiative, Sunset Speech and Language Resource Centre, and Blooming Heritage School. RyffBrief Psychological Well-being (1989) Scale, Emotional Intelligence Wong and Law (2002)Scales were employed. Descriptive and inferential statistics of Linear Regression were used to testthe hypothesis. The results show that emotional intelligence significantly influences psychologicalwell-being (F(1,157) = 7.882; p < 0.01) with R = 0.219, R² = 0.048. The hypothesis was acceptedin the study. It was concluded that emotional intelligence (EI) significantly influencedpsychological well-being among special needs education, and it was recommended that there is anurgent need for the development of intervention programmes aimed at increasing the emotionalintelligence level of special education needs teachers.