INFLUENCE OF LOCUS OF CONTROL AND EDUCATIONAL LEVEL ON EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE AMONG STUDENTS

Abstract

This research examined the effect of Locus of Control and Educational Level on Emotional Intelligence among young students. Three hypotheses were tested. 200 participants were selected using convenience sampling technique from Queens College Enugu; Union Secondary School Awkunanaw and Caritas University Enugu all in Enugu South East, Nigeria. The participants comprised 100 females and 100 males with age ranging from 15 – 30years with a mean age of 20.46 years and a standard deviation of 4.7. The participants were administered with Locus of Control Scale developed by Nowicki and Strickland (1973) and Emotional Intelligence Scale developed by Schutte et al (1998). Cross sectional design was adopted and two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to analyze data collected. Results showed that locus of control significantly influenced emotional intelligence F(1, 196) = 103.50, P<.05; educational level did not significantly influence emotional intelligence F(1,196) = 6.76, P>.05; while locus of control and educational level did not significantly have an interaction influence on emotional intelligence F(1,196) = 3.65, P>.05, among students. Recommendation and suggestions were made based on the implications of the finding.