Relationship between emotional intelligence and leadership behavior of turkish male nursing students

Background: It is important to promote emotional intelligence and leadership behavior of male nursing students to train nurses who have leadership skill to meet emotional requirements of their patients. Aim: The study was planned in descriptive, correlative and relational style to determine the relationship between emotional intelligence and leadership behaviors of male nursing students. Methods: Data was collected from male nursing students (n=87) who receive undergraduate education in a faculty of medical sciences. In data collection, a questionnaire form including 4 questions investigating the personal information of students, "Emotional Intelligence Scale" and "Leadership Behavior Description Scale" was used. Questionnaire forms were distributed to male nursing students in classroom in January 2010, and then collected back when they were completed. 87 out of total 130 students agreed to participate in the study. Participation rate was 67%. Collected data was analyzed in SPSS 11.5 by frequency, percentage distribution and Pearson correlation analyses. Findings: As a result of the study, emotional intelligence level of male nursing students was found moderate in all sub-dimensions and they needed to improve their emotional intelligence level. On the other hand, students were determined to exhibit leadership behavior higher than moderate level. Furthermore, a positive relation was detected between the emotional intelligence level and leadership behavior of male nursing students.