Differential Effect of Socio-Demographic Factors on Emotional Intelligence of Secondary School Students in Ernakulam District

Emotional intelligence has been defined as the ability to adaptively recognize, understand, manage, harness emotions both in self and others (Mayer & Salovey 1995; Schutte et al., 1998) and to use emotion to facilitate cognitive processing (Mayer et al., 1999). Emotional intelligence has been conceptualized in the literature both as a relatively enduring trait and as ability (Mayer et al., 2002; Petrides & Furnham, 2006; Schutte et al., 1998). Mayer et al. (2002) & Afolabi (2004) argue that emotional intelligence is not a single trait or ability rather; it is a composite of distinct emotion reasoning abilities. Perceiving emotions consist of recognizing and interpreting the meaning of various emotional states, as well as their relations to other sensory experiences. Understanding emotions involve understanding of how basic emotions are blended to form complex emotions. Regulating emotions encompasses the control of emotions in oneself and in others. An individual’s emotional intelligence is an indicator of how an individual perceives, understands and regulates emotions