Emotional Intelligence of Hungarian Teachers

The research focused on the personal and social competencies of Hungarian teachers as unexplored areas. The participants in the survey were 707 Hungarian teachers from elementary and secondary schools. In view of the expectations of the European Union related to new teacher roles, the following research question was formulated to guide the study: can the Hungarian teachers meet the expectations of the European Union regarding the expected competencies? The results proved that about one third of the participants seem uncertain personalities that might be in connection with low communicative and emotional capacities, mainly as a result of their poor emotional intelligence. This study aims to highlight the characteristics of teachers' emotional intelligence. The weakest part of teachers' emotional intelligence is the sense of their emotions and controlling them. One quarter can interpret their partners' emotions correctly, one third becomes hesitating. The majority believe they are good at interpreting emotions. One quarter are not capable of conveying the right emotions, two-thirds claim they can regulate their emotions, but this means suffocating their emotions. However, most of them would be suitable to interact efficiently. They are eager to take care of other people and their strong wish for parity foster social relationships.