Relation between perceived emotional intelligence and social factors in the educational context of Brazilian adolescents

BACKGROUND: The study of emotional intelligence (EI), demographics, and family factors of adolescent high school students allows us to appraise adolescents’ skills for their academic and vocational training. The objectives of the study focus on whether there is any relationship between context variables such as gender, age of parents, or work activity, and self-perception of emotional intelligence. METHODOLOGY: This study sampled 11.370 participants, aged between 12 and 17 years, in the 7th and 9th years of fundamental education, and the 3rd year of upper secondary education. Data from this study comes from students enrolled in the SESI schools of the City of Sao Paulo. To examine the data, we applied the TMMS-24 test to statistical analysis where gender relates to the three dimensions of perceived emotional intelligence (PEI): attention, clarity, and emotional repair. RESULTS: The results obtained allow us to show how teenagers are perceived with respect to three dimensions: attention, clarity and emotional repair, and thereby extrapolating the need to continue the promotion of emotional education in schools. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that the application of the Brazilian version of the TMMS-24 in training programs in PEI must consider a whole series of sociocultural aspects. These aspects should start with a series of initial measures that allow for the perceptions of participants to be observed, and to extend onward to influence the willingness of the beneficiaries to participate in this type of intervention. Provided the intervention is anchored in a solid theoretical base, and executed under a rigorous study, its efficacy can be verified.