Correlation between emotional intelligence and problem-solving skills of Greek social work students

Abstract

Emotional intelligence and problem solving are of great importance for social work, as this is largely an emotionally demanding and stressful profession as well as an applied scientific field of psychosocial problem solving. The aim of this research was to investigate the emotional intelligence of social work students in relation to their demographics and study-related characteristics, and their problem-solving skills. The sample included 368 students from the bachelor’s degree programme of the Department of Social Work of the University of West Attica in Athens, Greece. The students completed both the Problem Solving Inventory (PSI) and Wong Law Emotional Intelligence Scale (WLEIS). The results show a strong correlation between emotional intelligence and problem-solving skills and suggest that emotional intelligence plays a very important role in decision making, action taking and good performance in social work. Implications for additional research and education of bachelor level social work students are discussed.