Emotional intelligence and teacher self efficacy : the contribution of teacher status and length of experience

Practicing teachers and principals in selected Government schools in Victoria provided data on their levels of emotional intelligence and teacher efficacy beliefs. The data supported the theoretical expectation of a linkage between emotional intelligence and teacher self efficacy. Regression analyses showed that neither gender nor age moderated this relationship. However length of teaching experience and current status add significant direct effects on predicting teacher self efficacy but did not moderate the relationship between emotional intelligence and teacher self efficacy. These findings are significant as this now demonstrates a relationship between levels of emotional intelligence in teachers, their self efficacy beliefs and teacher effectiveness.

Effect of mood, social connectivity and age in online depression community via topic and linguistic analysis

Depression afflicts one in four people during their lives. Several studies have shown that for the isolated and mentally ill, the Web and social media provide effective platforms for supports and treatments as well as to acquire scientific, clinical understanding of this mental condition. More and more individuals affected by depression join online communities to seek for information, express themselves, share their concerns and look for supports [12]. For the first time, we collect and study a large online depression community of more than 12,000 active members from Live Journal. We examine the effect of mood, social connectivity and age on the online messages authored by members in an online depression community. The posts are considered in two aspects: what is written (topic) and how it is written (language style). We use statistical and machine learning methods to discriminate the posts made by bloggers in low versus high valence mood, in different age categories and in different degrees of social connectivity. Using statistical tests, language styles are found to be significantly different between low and high valence cohorts, whilst topics are significantly different between people whose different degrees of social connectivity. High performance is achieved for low versus high valence post classification using writing style as features. The finding suggests the potential of using social media in depression screening, especially in online setting.

Menopausal stage and age and perceptions of body image

The aim of This study was to investigate the association between menopausal stage and age and women's perception of their body image. Females from a community sample (n = 304. age range from 35 to 65 years) volunteered to complete a structured questionnaire which contained the Multidimensional Body Self Relations Questionnaire (MBSRQ) and the Stunkard Body Shape Figure Scale. One hundred and twenty women were premenopausal, 76 women were perimenopausal and 108 were postmenopausal. The effects of age and menopausal stage could not be separated in ratings of appearance evaluation, fitness evaluation, current, ideal and societal ratings of the Stunkard Body Shape Figure Scale. Premenopausal women (who were likely to be younger) had more positive ratings of appearance evaluation and fitness evaluation than menopausal women (who were likely to be older). Women who were premenopausal nominated smaller figures from the Stunkard Body Shape Figure Scale for ratings of the current, ideal and societal body shape than women who were perimenopausal and postmenopausal. The implications of these findings as they relate to women as they progress through the menopausal transition and as they become older is discussed.

Emotional intelligence and teaching situations : development of a new measure

This article reports on the development of a new measure entitled: Reactions to Teaching Situations to indicate levels of emotional intelligence among beginning teachers. This article discusses the concept of emotional intelligence and defends the development of such a measure specifically related to the situations in the teaching environment, an environment where emotional intelligence is considered to influence a teachers' thoughts and actions. The measure was found to have acceptable reliability and a range of individual differences was reported. Gender differences were found where female teachers reported greater likelihood of demonstrating emotional intelligence compared to male teachers. There was partial support for the four branch model of emotional intelligence. The discussion includes some projections for these findings and for the use of this measure with more experienced teachers.

The eradication of compulsory retirement and age discrimination in the Australian workplace : A cause for celebration and concern

Earlier this year the Age Discrimination Act 2004 was passed by the Commonwealth government. This paper provides an overview of the Age Discrimination Act 2004 and critically examines whether it is likely to be successful in eradicating compulsory retirement and age discrimination within the workforce. Empirical studies suggesting that law reform alone is insufficient to eliminate ageist employer behaviour are discussed as is the need for public awareness campaigns. Given that compliance with the law is closely linked with normative belief, this paper also considers whether a moral duty to refrain from age discrimination can be grounded within the natural law ethic.

Emotional intelligence and teaching : further validation evidence

Further evidence is presented to demonstrate the validity of a new measure of emotional intelligence: Reactions to Teaching Situations (RTS). Using criterion-related groups of high and low scorers on the RTS, it is shown that high scorers give more responses coded as emotional intelligence in their answers to sentence completion tasks relating to ten situations found in teaching. The questions of convergent and discriminant validity is tackled by examination of correlations of emotional intelligence scores and scores on the Multiple Intelligences Checklist for Adults (MICA) and information processing preferences as measured by the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). The results confirm that emotional intelligence (as assessed by the RTS) bears significant relationships to both intrapersonal and interpersonal intelligences and also to linguistic intelligence, but emotional intelligence shows no significant relationships with the MBTI preferences.

Can experiential learning improve emotional intelligence and can that, in turn, improve the work performance of middle managers?

A group of middle managers in the Australian arm of a large Global company participated in a program of experiential leadership training over a period of one year. One aim of the program was increased interpersonal skills and awareness. Change was measured using a mixed quantitative and qualitative longitudinal design. Pre and post-training measures of emotional intelligence were obtained using the EIQ (Dulewicz & Higgs, 2000) and compared with content analysis of journals kept by participants during the program. The dependent variable was measured by pre and post training measures of work performance. Findings are discussed in terms of their implications for management development as well as for further research.

The measurement of socio-economic status: investigation of gender-and age-specific indicators in Australia: national health survey 1995

Objective: To investigate thecorrelations between age- and gender-specificmeasures of socio-economic status versus healthstatus as measured by the SF-36.

Design: Population based study.

Participants: 38187 people aged between18 to 79 years who participated in the NationalHealth Survey in 1995.

Results: Factor analysis producedconsistent results that were interpreted interms of five conceptually meaningful domains(employment, housing, migration, family unitand education). The relative rank of thefactors differs between groups and in somecases factor composition requires items to beadded or deleted from the conceptual domains.

Conclusions: Age- and gender-specific SESscores based on these factors had strongerassociations with the physical and mentalcomponents of SF-36 than either an area basedindex or scores derived from males aged 40–44years. Overall the results supported thehypothesis that SES measures composed of socialand demographic items exhibit important age-and gender-specific differences which arerelevant for health.

Leaders and their teams : learning to improve performance with emotional intelligence and using choice theory

Looks at the relationship between emotional intelligence and choice theory in the work world, with particular emphasis on the implications on health and productivity. Most of us have a managing or leading role of some sort, whether at home, in community life, or at work. Also, as a professional, one can be leading through professional expertise and not necessarily because of one's place in the organizational hierarchy. There is an increasing awareness of the role of leadership and team development in organizational development, for example in health care where change is needed to manage the chronic disease burden (Dunbar et al., 2007) and utilizing and retaining a dwindling workforce (Schoo, Stagnitti, Mercer, & Dunbar, 2005). This is forcing leaders and their teams to work as smart as they can with resources that are available to them. Positive leadership has been associated with outcomes that include happy relationships, teamwork, learning, recognition, staff retention, and health and wellbeing. There is evidence that emotionally intelligent leaders in workplaces are able to bring about these positive out- comes because they are attuned to the emotions that move people around them (Goleman, Boyatzis, & McKee, 2002). In this sense, emotion can be defined as aroused energy that takes a direction (Hunt, 2004a) (Latin: e = from, movere = to move). Valerie Hunt regards emotion as the metronome of life (Hunt, 2004b). Although emotion can be a feeling state (e.g., fear, anger, joy, hate or sorrow) associated with action, its energy is, according to Hunt, directed to action, to behave(Hunt, 2004b). As mentioned in an earlier publication (Schoo, 2005), Pert (Flowers, Grubin, & Meryman-Brunner, 1993) regards emotions as a bridge that connects the mental and physical realities (p.187), and sees neuropeptides as the physical representations of these emotions. Negative thoughts and emotions such as excitement and anger have been found to increase gut motility, cancer risk and arterial plaque formation which can lead to a heart infarct (Pert, 1997), whereas positive emotions seem to do the opposite.

Emotional intelligence and teaching : solving the puzzle

The emotional intelligence of educators has a major influence on how well they are able to help people to learn. Teachers with high levels of emotional intelligence always or usually adopt an appropriate emotionally intelligent response in both positive and negative situations. Teachers with low levels of emotional intelligence sometimes adopt an emotionally intelligent response in positive situations but seldom or never in negative situations. These differences have some significant implications. The authors' research shows that emotional intelligence and self-efficacy are different but related concepts. A teacher's level of emotional intelligence is linked to his or her sense of self-efficacy. A teacher with high levels of emotional intelligence is more likely to be able to work more effectively and persist longer because they have a belief in their own ability and feel that they are in control. The emotionally intelligent teacher is sensitive to his or her own emotions and the emotions of others and so is able to build positive relationships with colleagues and students. Beyond that, a teaching environment that is emotionally healthy and supportive will enhance the development of teachers' emotional intelligence.

Effect of diet, sex and age on fatty acid metabolism in broiler chickens : SFA and MUFA

The present study was conducted to evaluate the effect of different dietary lipid sources, age and sex on the SFA and MUFA metabolism in broiler chickens using a whole body fatty acid balance method. Four dietary lipid sources (palm fat, Palm; soyabean oil, Soya; linseed oil, Lin; and fish oil, Fish) were added at 3% to a basal diet containing 5% Palm. Diets were fed to female and male chickens from day 1 to either day 21 or day 42 of age. The accumulation (percentage of net intake and ex novo production) of SFA and MUFA was significantly lower in broilers fed on Palm than in broilers fed on the other diets (85·7 v. 97·4 %). Conversely, β-oxidation was significantly higher in Palm-fed birds than the average of the other dietary treatments (14·3 v. 2·6 %). On average, 33·1% of total SFA and MUFA accumulated in the body were elongated, and 13·8% were Δ-9 desaturated to longer chain or more unsaturated metabolites, with lower proportions being elongated and desaturated for the Palm and Fish diets than for the Soya and Lin diets. Total in vivo apparent elongase activity decreased exponentially in relation to the net intake of SFA and MUFA, while it increased with age. Total in vivo apparent Δ-9 desaturase activity was not significantly affected by dietary treatment or age. Total ex novo production and β-oxidation of SFA and MUFA showed a negative and positive curvilinear relationship with net intake of SFA and MUFA, respectively. Sex had no effect on SFA and MUFA metabolism.

Effect of diet, sex and age on fatty acid metabolism in broiler chickens : n-3 and n-6 PUFA

The PUFA metabolism in broiler chicken was studied through the whole body fatty acid balance method. Four dietary lipid sources (palm fat, Palm; soyabean oil, Soya; linseed oil, Lin; fish oil, Fish) were added at 3% to a basal diet containing 5% palm fat. Diets were fed to female and male birds from day 1 to either day 21 or day 42 of age. Birds fed the Lin diet showed a significantly higher 18 : 2n-6 accumulation compared with the other diets (85·2 v. 73·6% of net intake), whereas diet did not affect 18 : 3n-3 accumulation (mean 63% of net intake). Bioconversion of 18 : 2n-6 significantly decreased in the order Palm.> Lin > Soya > Fish (4·7, 3·9, 3·4 and 1% of net intake, respectively). The 18 : 3n-3 bioconversion on the Palm and Soya diets was similar and significantly higher than in broilers on the Lin diet (9·1 v. 5·8% of net intake). The β-oxidation of 18 : 2n-6 was significantly lower on the Lin diet than on the other diets (10·8 v. 23·3% of net intake), whereasβ-oxidation of 18 : 3n-3 was significantly higher on the Fish diet than on the other diets (41·5 v. 27·3% of net intake). Feeding fish oil suppressed apparent elongase and desaturase activity, whereas a higher dietary supply of 18 : 3n-3 and 18 : 2n-6 enhanced apparent elongation and desaturation activity on the PUFA involved in the n-3 and n-6 pathway, respectively. Accumulation of 18 : 2n-6 and 18 : 3n-3 increased andβ -oxidation decreased with age. Sex had a marginal effect on the PUFA metabolism.