Zungu, T.P.
(2022)
Effects of an emotional intelligence & mindsets intervention on preservice teachers’ organisational citizenship behaviour and work engagement.
PhD thesis, University of Nottingham.
Abstract
The constructs of emotional intelligence (EI) and mindsets have been independently studied. However, given the positive outcomes associated with these constructs, they could be employed in a complementary and pragmatic manner. Against this backdrop, this thesis developed and investigated an intervention based on EI and mindsets. The main objective was to test the effects of this intervention on preservice teachers’ (PSTs) EI, mindsets, organisational citizenship behaviour (OCB) and work engagement. A review of the literature demonstrated that even though EI and mindsets interventions are increasing in education contexts, there seems to be a lack of interventions focusing mainly on PSTs. PSTs are vulnerable, as they are still in the process of constructing their teaching identity whilst dealing with the academic demands. Consequently, there is a need for interventions aimed to provide PSTs with the necessary psychological tools needed to cope with the pressures of their field.
Four studies guided this inquiry. The first part consists of a pilot study that examined the impact of a pilot intervention. This study also investigated the intervention content and overall feasibility of the study. Although quantitative results did not yield any statistical
significance in any of the outcomes, the feedback received from participants signalled the importance of such an intervention in the education field. The second study tested the psychometric properties of the measures. This includes the Wong and Law Emotional Intelligence Scale (WLEIS); Implicit Theories of Intelligence Scale (ITI-S); Implicit Person Theories Scale (ITP-S); Implicit Theories of Emotion Scale (ITE-S); Organisational Citizenship Behaviour Scale (OCB-S), and the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES).
The WLEIS was demonstrated to be a valid scale for the study participants. Results produced a good internal consistency, and both the four-factor and the second-factor models were good fitting, albeit the second-order model was shown to be more parsimonious.
Whilst the implicit theories of intelligence and implicit theories of personality measures indicated fairly acceptable internal consistencies, the psychometric properties of the implicit theories of emotion scale were shown to be poor. The UWES consisting of 3 items also produced a poor internal consistency. Most interestingly, for the OCB-S, instead of a five-factor model, a two-factor model consisting of civic virtue and sportsmanship was found to be good-fitting. The third study investigated the impact of the growth mindset and EI intervention (GMEI). This study also examined the process factors that affected the implementation of the intervention. For a deeper understanding of the phenomena,
quantitative and qualitative approaches were employed. The study consisted of the intervention group and a comparison group. Qualitative interviews included only PSTs who
underwent the intervention and completed the study. The findings demonstrated that a growth mindset and some EI abilities could be taught through training. The notion that positive behaviours such as OCBs and work engagement could be developed remains questionable.
The fourth study examined the direct and indirect associations among the study variables. Findings demonstrated a positive and direct relationship between implicit theories of emotion and EI. As expected, there was a direct link between EI abilities and some outcomes (i.e., work engagement). Contrary to expectations, there was a negative relationship between implicit theories of intelligence and civic virtue. This specific finding relates to the notion of a false growth mindset. Moreover, although the moderating role of EI was not confirmed, EI was found to be a significant mediating variable in the relationship between implicit theories of emotion and study outcomes. Overall, these findings can be explained by a Broaden-and-Build theory of positive emotions, significantly contributing to the broader positive psychology movement. These findings also have some important practical implications.
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