Emotional Intelligence and Teacher Self-Efficacy in Initial Teacher Education: A Psychoeducational Intervention with Spanish Pre-Service Teachers

Emotional intelligence and teaching self-efficacy are essential competencies for teachers’ professional and personal development. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a psychoeducational intervention to enhance both areas in future teachers. A quasi-experimental design with pretest and posttest measures was implemented, including an experiment. An eight-week program was conducted using active, reflective, and participatory methodologies to promote emotional awareness and confidence in teaching abilities. The OSTES instrument was used to measure teaching self-efficacy, the TMMS-24 to assess perceived emotional intelligence, and the EQ-i to evaluate socioemotional competencies, and. Results revealed significant improvements in the experimental group in emotional attention, clarity, and repair; in instructional strategies, classroom management, and student engagement; as well as in adaptability, interpersonal skills, stress management, and overall emotional intelligence. These effects ranged from moderate to large in magnitude and contrasted with the stable scores in the control group. The findings confirm that psychoeducational interventions focused on emotional competencies can be effective in strengthening emotional intelligence and self-efficacy in pre-service teachers. These outcomes suggest that such programs may contribute to the promotion of well-being and teaching effectiveness during initial teacher education, offering implications for future curricular development in teacher training programs.