Journal of Pedagogical Sociology and Psychology
Relationships among counselor trainees’ emotional intelligence, stress and empathy
John R. D. Adade 1 * , Stephen Antwi-Danso 1, Patricia M. Amos 1, Paul K. A. Bedu-Addo 1, Theresa Antwi 1
More Detail
1 Department of Counseling Psychology, University of Education, Winneba, Ghana
* Corresponding Author
Open Access Full Text (PDF)
ARTICLE INFO

Journal of Pedagogical Sociology and Psychology, 2024 - Volume 6 Issue 3, pp. 64-78
https://doi.org/10.33902/jpsp.202426287

Article Type: Research Article

Published Online: 20 Jul 2024

Views: 312 | Downloads: 141

ABSTRACT
High levels of emotional intelligence, low levels of stress and high empathetic tendencies are successful counselor training propellers. However, ostensibly, relationships between such variables among counselor trainees are underexplored. Thus, this study evaluated such relationships with a cross-sectional, correlational design. A questionnaire made of the Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire, the Perceived Stress Scale, and the Interpersonal Reactivity Index collected data from 92 respondents. The study employed means and standard deviations, t-test, Pearson’s correlation, and multiple linear regression to analyze the data set. The means and standard deviations analysis revealed that counselor trainees had high levels of emotional intelligence, moderate stress and high empathy levels. Also, the t-test analysis revealed a not statistically significant difference in their gender, age and years of training concerning the evaluated variables. Additionally, Pearson’s correlation showed that emotional intelligence and empathy levels correlated positively, a moderate negative correlation existed between emotional intelligence and stress levels, and a weak negative correlation existed between stress and empathy. Finally, the multiple linear regression revealed that emotional intelligence and stress levels jointly predicted empathy. These findings suggest that counselor trainees with high emotional intelligence levels will have lower stress levels and higher empathetic dispositions. Thus, there is a need for counselor educators to use awareness creation, curriculum infused with emotional intelligence activities, and stress management workshops to assist counselor trainees in demonstrating higher emotional intelligence levels and stress resilience and coping mechanisms to enrich their empathetic tendencies.     
KEYWORDS
In-text citation: (Adade et al., 2024)
Reference: Adade, J. R. D., Antwi-Danso, S., Amos, P. M., Bedu-Addo, P. K. A., & Antwi, T. (2024). Relationships among counselor trainees’ emotional intelligence, stress and empathy. Journal of Pedagogical Sociology and Psychology, 6(3), 64-78. https://doi.org/10.33902/jpsp.202426287
In-text citation: (1), (2), (3), etc.
Reference: Adade JRD, Antwi-Danso S, Amos PM, Bedu-Addo PKA, Antwi T. Relationships among counselor trainees’ emotional intelligence, stress and empathy. Journal of Pedagogical Sociology and Psychology. 2024;6(3), 64-78. https://doi.org/10.33902/jpsp.202426287
In-text citation: (1), (2), (3), etc.
Reference: Adade JRD, Antwi-Danso S, Amos PM, Bedu-Addo PKA, Antwi T. Relationships among counselor trainees’ emotional intelligence, stress and empathy. Journal of Pedagogical Sociology and Psychology. 2024;6(3):64-78. https://doi.org/10.33902/jpsp.202426287
In-text citation: (Adade et al., 2024)
Reference: Adade, John R. D., Stephen Antwi-Danso, Patricia M. Amos, Paul K. A. Bedu-Addo, and Theresa Antwi. "Relationships among counselor trainees’ emotional intelligence, stress and empathy". Journal of Pedagogical Sociology and Psychology 2024 6 no. 3 (2024): 64-78. https://doi.org/10.33902/jpsp.202426287
In-text citation: (Adade et al., 2024)
Reference: Adade, J. R. D., Antwi-Danso, S., Amos, P. M., Bedu-Addo, P. K. A., and Antwi, T. (2024). Relationships among counselor trainees’ emotional intelligence, stress and empathy. Journal of Pedagogical Sociology and Psychology, 6(3), pp. 64-78. https://doi.org/10.33902/jpsp.202426287
In-text citation: (Adade et al., 2024)
Reference: Adade, John R. D. et al. "Relationships among counselor trainees’ emotional intelligence, stress and empathy". Journal of Pedagogical Sociology and Psychology, vol. 6, no. 3, 2024, pp. 64-78. https://doi.org/10.33902/jpsp.202426287
REFERENCES
  • Adasi, G. S., Amponsah, K. D., Mohammed, S. M., Yeboah, R., & Mintah, P. C. (2020). Gender differences in stressors and coping strategies among teacher education students at University of Ghana. Journal of Education and Learning, 9(2), 123–133. https://doi.org/10.5539/jel.v9n2p123
  • Atindanbila, S., & BanyenRejoice, E. (2011). The types and incidence of stressors of students in the University of Ghana-Legon. Academic Leadership Journal, 9(4), Article 14.
  • Baqutayan, S. M. S., Gul, M., & Ghafar, S. W. A. (2018). A study of gender differences on stress and emotional intelligence. Journal of Advanced Research in Social and Behavioural Sciences, 13(1), 54–65.
  • Barbash, E. H. (2015). Emotional intelligence in professional psychology doctoral students: A cross sectional study [Unpublished doctoral dissertation]. Florida State University, Florida.
  • Bernstein, D. A., Penner, L. A., Clarke-Stewart, A., & Roy, E. J. (2008). Psychology. Cengage Learning.
  • Bloom, Z. D., McNeil, V. A., Flasch, P., & Sanders, F. (2018). A comparison of empathy and sympathy between counselors-in-training and their non-counseling academic peers. The Professional Counselor, 8(4), 341–354. https://doi.org/10.15241/zdb.8.4.341
  • Cavanagh, R. E. B., & Cavanagh, K. V. (2018). Leading change: Developing emotional, social, and cognitive competencies in managers during an MBA program. In K. V. Keefer, J. D. A. Parker, & D. H. Saklofske (Eds.), Emotional Intelligence in Education, The Springer Series on Human Exceptionality (pp. 403–426). Springer. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-90633-1_15
  • Cazan, A.-M., & Năstasă, L. E. (2015). Emotional intelligence, satisfaction with life and burnout among university students. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 180, 1574–1578. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2015.02.309
  • Clemons, L. P. (2017). The relationship between clinical experience, emotional intelligence and counselor self-efficacy with resilience as a moderator [Unpublished doctoral dissertation]. Arizona State University, Arizona.
  • Cochran, J. L., & Cochran, N. H. (2015). The heart of counseling: Counseling skills through therapeutic relationships. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315884066
  • Cohen, J. (1992). Quantitative methods in psychology: A power primer. Psychological Bulletin, 112, 155–159.
  • Cohen, S., & Janicki-Deverts, D. (2012). Who’s stressed? Distributions of psychological stress in the United States in probability samples from 1983, 2006, and 2009. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 42(6), 1320–1334. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1559-1816.2012.00900.x
  • Cohen, S., Kamarck, T., & Mermelstein, R. (1983). A global measure of perceived stress. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 24(4), 385–396. http://www.jstor.org/stable/2136404
  • Cooper, J. B., & Ng, K. (2009). Trait emotional intelligence and perceived supervisory working alliance of counseling trainees and their supervisors in agency settings. International Journal of Advanced Counselling, 31, 145–157. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10447-009-9074-4
  • Creswell, J. W., & Creswell, J. D. (2018). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches. Sage.
  • Davis, M. H. (1980). A multidimensional approach to individual differences in empathy. JSAS Catalog of Selected Documents in Psychology, 10, 85–104.
  • de Winter, J. C. F. (2013). Using the student’s t-test with extremely small sample sizes. Practical Assessment, Research and Evaluation, 18(10), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.7275/e4r6-dj05
  • Derksen, F. A. W. M., Olde Hartman, T. C., Lagro-Janssen, A. L. M., & Kramer, A. W. M. (2021). Clinical empathy in GP-training: Experiences and needs among Dutch GP-trainees: Empathy as an element of personal growth. Patient Education and Counseling, 104(12), 3016–3022. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pec.2021.03.030
  • Doherty, E. M., Cronin, P. A., & Offiah, G. (2013). Emotional intelligence assessment in a graduate entry medical school curriculum. BMC Medical Education, 13, 38. https://doi.org/10.1186/1472-6920-13-38
  • Fleming, M. (2020). The relationship between emotional intelligence and personality type in counselor education students [Unpublished doctoral dissertation]. University of New Orleans, New Orleans.
  • Goleman, D. (2009). Emotional intelligence: Why it can matter more than IQ. Bloomsbury Publishing.
  • Greenberg, M. (2016). The stress-proof brain: Master your emotional response to stress using mindfulness & neuroplasticity. New Harbinger Publications.
  • Gutierrez, D., Mullen, P. R., & Fox, J. (2017). Exploring emotional intelligence among master’s-level counseling trainees. Counselor Education & Supervision, 56(1), 19-32. https://doi.org/10.1002/ceas.12057
  • Hajibabaee, F., Farahani, M. A., Ameri, Z., Salehi, T., & Hosseini, F. (2018). The relationship between empathy and emotional intelligence among Iranian nursing students. 9, 239–243. https://doi.org/10.5116/ijme.5b83.e2a5
  • Hodges, S. (2016). The counseling practicum and internship manual: A resource for graduate counseling students. Springer.
  • Ioannidou, F., & Konstantikaki, V. (2008). Empathy and emotional intelligence : What is it really about ? International Journal of Caring Sciences, 1(3), 118–123.
  • Jackson, S. L. (2009). Research methods and statistics: A critical thinking approach. Cengage Learning.
  • Jahanara, M. (2014). The relationship of emotional intelligence, perceived stress, religious coping with psychological distress among Afghan students. International Journal of Educational and Pedagogical Sciences, 8(9), 3170–3173.
  • Joshith, V. P. (2012). Emotional intelligence as a tool for innovative teaching. I-Manager’s Journal on Educational Psychology, 5(4), 54–61.
  • Kaplowitz, M. J., Safran, J. D., & Muran, C. J. (2011). Impact of therapist emotional intelligence on psychotherapy. The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 199(2), 74-84. https://doi.org/10.1097/NMD.0b013e3182083efb
  • Karaman, M. A., Kumaran, A. C., Haktanır, A., & Lenz, S. (2018). Predictors of counselor-in-training students’ general self-efficacy. Mediterranean Journal of Educational Research, 12(25), 136–149. https://doi.org/10.29329/mjer.2018.153.8
  • Keeran, D. (2012). Learn empathy: Building skills for caring. College of Mental Health Counseling.
  • Kumary, A., & Baker, M. (2008). Stresses reported by UK trainee counselling psychologists. Counselling Psychology Quarterly, 21(1), 19–28. https://doi.org/http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09515070801895626
  • Leonard, H. D., Campbell, K., & Gonzalez, V. M. (2018). The Relationships among clinician self-report of empathy, mindfulness, and therapeutic alliance. Springer Science+Business Media, 9, 1837–1844. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-018-0926-z
  • Lewis, J. S. (2019). Does emotional intelligence moderate the effect of field work experience on counseling students’ group counseling self-efficacy [Unpublished doctoral dissertation]. Duquesne University, Pittsburgh.
  • McLeod, J. (2010). The counsellor’s workbook: Developing a personal approach. Open University Press.
  • Mohamed, S., & Baqutayan, S. (2015). Stress and coping mechanisms: A historical overview. Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences, 6(2), 479–488. https://doi.org/10.5901/mjss.2015.v6n2s1p479
  • Mustaffa, S., Nasir, Z., Aziz, R., & Mahmood, M. N. (2013). Emotional intelligence, Skills competency and personal development among counseling teachers. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 93(1995), 2219–2223. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2013.10.191
  • Myers, S. B., Sweeney, A. C., Popick, V., Wesley, K., Bordfeld, A., & Fingerhut, R. (2012). Self-care practices and perceived stress levels among psychology graduate students. Training and Education in Professional Psychology, 6(1), 55–66. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0026534
  • Nelis, D., Quoidbach, J., Mikolajczak, M., & Hansenne, M. (2009). Increasing emotional intelligence: (How) is it possible? Personality and Individual Differences, 47(1), 36–41. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2009.01.046
  • Pakenham, K. I., & Stafford-Brown, J. (2012). Stress in clinical psychology trainees: Current research status and future directions. Australian Psychologist, 47(3), 147–155. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1742-9544.2012.00070.x
  • Palmer, B. R., Gignac, G., Manocha, R., & Stough, C. (2005). A psychometric evaluation of the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test Version 2.0. Intelligence, 33(3), 285–305. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intell.2004.11.003
  • Park, K. H., Kim, D. hee, Kim, S. K., Yi, Y. H., Jeong, J. H., Chae, J., Hwang, J., & Roh, H. (2015). The relationships between empathy, stress and social support among medical students. International Journal of Medical Education, 6, 103–108. https://doi.org/10.5116/ijme.55e6.0d44
  • Partido, B. B., Stefanik, D., & Rashid, W. (2021). Relationship between emotional intelligence and professionalism among second-year dental students. Journal of Dental Education, 85(3), 411–417. https://doi.org/10.1002/jdd.12467
  • Petrides, K. V. (2009). Psychometric properties of the trait emotional intelligence questionnaire (TEIQue). In J. D. A. Parker, D. H. Saklofske, & C. Stough (Eds.), Assessing Emotional Intelligence:Theory, Research, and Applications (pp. 85-101). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-88370-0
  • Petrides, K. V., & Mavroveli, S. (2018). Theory and applications of trait emotional intelligence. The Journal of the Hellenic Psychological Society, 23(1), 24–36. https://doi.org/10.12681/psy_hps.23016
  • Ravikumar, R., Rajoura, O. P., Sharma, R., & Bhatia, M. S. (2017). A study of emotional intelligence among postgraduate medical students in Delhi. Cureus, 9(1), 1–11. https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.989
  • Richardson, C. M. E., Trusty, W. T., & George, K. A. (2018). Trainee wellness: self-critical perfectionism, self-compassion, depression, and burnout among doctoral trainees in psychology. Counselling Psychology Quarterly, 33(2), 187-198. https://doi.org/10.1080/09515070.2018.1509839
  • Richter, D., & Kunzmann, U. (2011). Age differences in three facets of empathy: Performance-based evidence. Psychology and Aging, 26(1), 60–70. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0021138
  • Sa, B., Ojeh, N., Majumder, M. A. A., Nunes, P., Williams, S., Rao, S. R., & Youssef, F. F. (2019). The relationship between self-esteem, emotional intelligence, and empathy among students from six health professional programs. Teaching and Learning in Medicine, 31(5), 536–543. https://doi.org/10.1080/10401334.2019.1607741
  • Saleh, D., Camart, N., & Romo, L. (2017). Predictors of stress in college students. Frontiers in Psychology; Sec. Psychology for Clinical Settings, 8, 19. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00019
  • Sánchez-Ruiz, M. J., Pérez-González, J. C., & Petrides, K. V. (2010). Trait emotional intelligence profiles of students from different university faculties. Australian Journal of Psychology, 62(1), 51–57. https://doi.org/10.1080/00049530903312907
  • Sawatzky, D. D., Jevne, R. F., & Clark, G. T. (1994). Becoming empowered: A study of counsellor development. Canadian Journal of Counsellin, 28(3), 177–192.
  • Sharma, T., & Sehrawat, A. (2014). Emotional intelligence, leadership and conflict management. Lambert Academic Publishing.
  • Sommerlad, A., Huntley, J., Livingston, G., Rankin, K. P., & Fancourt, D. (2021). Empathy and its associations with age and sociodemographic characteristics in a large UK population sample. PLoS ONE, 16(9), 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0257557
  • Sun, B., Luo, Z., Zhang, W., Li, W., & Li, X. (2017). Age-related differences in affective and cognitive empathy: self-report and performance-based evidence. Aging, Neuropsychology, and Cognition, 25(5), 655–672. https://doi.org/10.1080/13825585.2017.1360835
  • Thorne, B. (2003). Carl Rogers. Sage.
  • Wahjudi, J. W., Findyartini, A., & Kaligis, F. (2019). The relationship between empathy and stress: A cross-sectional study among undergraduate medical students. Korean Journal of Medical Education, 31(3), 215–226. https://doi.org/10.3946/kjme.2019.132
  • Zarei, F., Akbarzadeh, I., & Khosravi, A. (2019). The relationship between emotional intelligence and stress, anxiety, and depression among Iranian students. International Journal of Health Studies, 5(3), 1–5. https://doi.org/10.22100/ijhs.v5i3.668
LICENSE
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.