Relationship Between Social Intelligence and Leadership Skill of Public Senior Secondary School Students in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area, Rivers State

Gloria Matthews (PhD)

Gloria Matthews (PhD) Department of Educational Psychology, Guidance and Counselling, Ignatius Ajuru University of Education, Rumuolumeni, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria

Keywords: Social Intelligence, Leadership Skills, Relationship Skills, Self-Awareness, Self-Regulation.

Abstract

This study investigates the relationship between social intelligence and leadership skills of public senior secondary school students in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area, Rivers State. Correlational research design was adopted. Four research questions and four corresponding null hypotheses were formulated to guide the conduct of this study. The population of the study comprised all the 16,958 public senior secondary school students in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area, Rivers State. The sample size for the study was made up of 375 public senior secondary school students in the area. This sample size is gotten through the use of the Krejcie and Morgan (1970) table of sample size specification. To get this sample, the researcher adopted the simple random sampling technique. The researcher designed two instruments titles: Social Intelligence Questionnaire (SIQ) and Students’ Leadership Kills Inventory (SLSI) for data collection. The instrument was validated by experts in Measurement and Evaluation from the Department of Educational Psychology, Guidance and Counselling. A test re-test method was used to determine the reliability of the instruments using Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation. A reliability coefficient of 0.88 and 0.79 was obtained for Social Intelligence Questionnaire (SIQ) and Students’ Leadership Kills Inventory (SLSI) respectively. Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation was used to answer the research questions and test the null hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The analysis of data generated from the study were aided by Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). The results of the study are as follows: there was a strong negative correlation between social skill and d leadership skills of public senior secondary school students in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area, Rivers State; there was a strong negative correlation between self-awareness and leadership skills of public senior secondary school students in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area, Rivers State; there was a strong negative correlation between self-regulation and leadership skills of public senior secondary school students in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area, Rivers State; and there was a strong negative correlation between relationship skills and leadership skills of public senior secondary school students in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area, Rivers State. Thus, the study concludes that social intelligence relates to leadership skills of public senior secondary school students in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area, Rivers State. Based on the results of the study, the researcher recommends among others that students should be encouraged to have adequate knowledge of self in order to understand others especially when given leadership responsibilities.

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