Examining Emotional Intelligence and Social Skills in a Residential Deaf Population

• Main Author: Leohr, Melissa
• Format: Others
• Published: TopSCHOLAR® 2003
• Subjects: Education; Psychology
• Online Access: http://digitalcommons.wku.edu/theses/551; http://digitalcommons.wku.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1554&context=theses

Mayer and Salovey first defined emotional intelligence in 1990 (Mayer, 1999) and later revised that definition (Mayer & Salovey, 1997). In 1995, Goleman introduced a different concept of emotional intelligence (Goleman, 1995). Bar-On presented a third conceptualization, as well as the first measure of the concept (Bar-On & Parker, 2000). Few studies have addressed emotional intelligence in children and adolescents, and nostudies have examined the concept in the deaf population. The purpose of the present study is to examine emotional intelligence, as well as social skills, in a residential deaf population. Fourteen students at the Kentucky School for the Deaf completed emotional intelligence and social skills questionnaires. Teachers also rated each participant's social skills. Results indicated that the participants rated themselves similar to the standardization sample in overall emotional intelligence. In general, participants rated their emotional intelligence similar to their social skills. The hypothesis that there would be less than one standard deviation of difference between the overall emotional intelligence scores of the research sample and the standardization sample was supported. Suggestions for further research are presented.