Key Importance of Emotional Intelligence for Effective Communication: A Critical Component of Personal and Professional Success

Abstract

The study investigated into the significant role and expression of emotional intelligence (EI) as a baseline determinant of effective administrative communication of public-school managers in the Imelda District, Schools Division of Zamboanga Sibugay. A quantitative descriptive-survey research design was used to collect empirical data from a purposively sampled cohort of 19 school administrators and 149 classroom teachers with at least three years of active tenure. A validated 4-point Likert scale questionnaire was developed based on the four dimensions of the Mayer-Salovey ability model of perceiving, managing, using, and understanding emotions to enable the collection of data. Statistical analysis was done using weighted means, composite means and independent-samples t test. The descriptive statistics revealed that school administrators “Always Manifested” all the four emotional intelligence behaviors with overall weighted means ranging from 3.77 to 3.92. Nevertheless, the inferential analysis showed a statistically significant difference between the self-evaluations provided by the school administrators and the objective evaluations provided by their respective teaching staff (p < 0.05), taking the definitive rejection of the null hypothesis. Both groups rated administrative emotional intelligence (EI) positively, but the administrators consistently rated their EI and communicative empathy higher than their teachers did. This discrepancy highlights a critical perceptual gap that, if left uncorrected, can produce subtle communication barriers and organizational friction. Therefore, it is recommended that structured leadership interventions and regular multi-source feedback mechanisms be implemented to align administrative perceptions with faculty needs.