Date of Award

Spring 5-1-2008

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Educational Leadership

First Advisor

Robert Boyd

Second Advisor

Gregory Ulm

Third Advisor

Joyce Fulford

Abstract

This study was designed to determine the level of social intelligence of public school superintendents in Indiana and to ascertain if there were gender differences associated with a superintendent's level of social intelligence. This research study was designed to determine how Indiana public school superintendents perceived themselves with regard to their level of social intelligence. One other factor was analyzed: Was there a significant relationship between the level of social intelligence and when the superintendents received their Education Specialist Degree. The participants of the study were 257 Indiana public school superintendents taken from the 2006-2007 database at the Indiana Department of Education. Most of the participants were males (n = 220, 85.6%). Out of 37 female participants, 32 female superintendents returned completed surveys. Because of the unequal sample size, 32 male participants were randomly selected from the male superintendents who completed the survey. Research questions were addressed through the use of independent-samples t-tests, tested at the .05 level, and correlational analyses. For the purpose of this study, data was gathered through the use of the Tromso Social Intelligence Scale {TSIS), a self-report measure of social intelligence developed by Silvera, Martinussen and Dahl (2001) from the University ofTromso, Norway. Based upon the findings, the following conclusions were made: 1. Female and male superintendents in Indiana did not show significant differences on the overall level of social intelligence, nor were there significant gender differences in the levels of social information processing, social skills, and social awareness. 2. For both females and males, the TSIS total was positively associated with Social Skills and Social Awareness. 3. For females only, the TSIS total was positively correlated with Social Information Processing, and Social Skills was positively related with Social Awareness; these correlations were not found to be positively correlated for the male superintendents. IV 4. The female superintendents who earned their degrees before 1990 showed significantly higher levels of social intelligence when compared to those who earned their degree after 1990.

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