GENDER AND SOCIO-CULTURAL DIFFERENCES IN EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE AMONG PRE-SERVICE TEACHERS IN IMPHAL

DOI: https://doi.org/10.56815/IRJAHS/2025.V(2025)I2.45-55

Abstract

The current paper examines gender and socio-cultural differences in the Emotional Intelligence (EI) of pre-service teachers in Imphal, Manipur. The study will use a descriptive survey design, which will be based on a proportionate random sample of 300 pre-service teachers (150 D.El.Ed and 150 B.Ed.) pursuing teacher education in institutions within the Imphal East and the Imphal West districts. Emotional Intelligence Scale developed by Hyde, Pethe, and Dhar (2002) was used as a measure of emotion competence of ten dimensions to collect data. The analysis of the data was performed using descriptive statistics, independent samples t-tests, and one-way ANOVA. The results show that there are no significant dissimilarities between district and caste categories on Emotional Intelligence, and in fact, it can be asserted that emotional competence is relatively homogenous across the socio-cultural groups. Nevertheless, there was a statistically significant gender difference, where male pre-service teachers had a higher EI score as compared to their female counterparts. Such findings indicate that there are contextualized gender relations affecting emotional skills in teacher education in Manipur. The paper emphasizes the importance of socio-emotional learning that is gender responsive to be incorporated into teacher education programmes to support comprehensive professional growth of the future teachers.