The Impact of Principal Emotional Intelligence on Teacher Perceptions of School Climate

The purpose of this research study was to analyze the impact of principals’ emotional intelligence on the perceptions that teachers have of their school’s climate. The Organizational Health Inventory for Middle Schools (OHI-M) served as the assessment for teachers’ perceptions of the school climate, or the overall health of the organization. Principals’ emotional intelligence competencies were assessed using the Mayer Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test version 2, hereinafter referred to as the MSCEIT. Participants of the study included 22 middle school principals in Mississippi. There were an average of 45 teachers employed at each middle school. A Pearson product-moment correlation analysis was conducted in order to assess the relationship between principals’ emotional intelligence competencies and teachers’ perceptions of the schools’ climate, as evidenced by responses to the OHI-M. A statistically significant positive relationship was found between the principals’ ability to understand emotions and the teachers’ perceptions of school climate.