Emotional Intelligence and Administrative Behavior of School Principals: A Systematic Review

Abstract School principals' emotional intelligence has been identified as a key yet under-integrated aspect of research in educational leadership. Although the literature already covers emotional intelligence in leadership in general, or focus specifically on the effect of emotional intelligence on student outcomes, there has been less systematic focus on the expression of emotional intelligence in the daily behaviors of principals and the resulting consequences for the school organization. This systematic review has a process-oriented approach that aims to review the empirical evidence and synthesize the relationship between principals' emotional intelligence and their administrative behaviors, such as decision-making, communication management, conflict resolution, teacher support, and school climate development. A systematic search was done in SCOPUS and Web of Science; following the PRISMA guidelines, 1247 records were found after removing the duplicates. Twenty-eight studies were included between 2010 and 2025 and were analyzed through thematic synthesis. The three themes that emerged were relational administration (empathy-based communication, trust building); emotionally attuned decision-making (emotional intelligence and problem solving, crisis response); and climate cultivation and teacher outcomes (principals' emotional intelligence and teacher morale, commitment, and organizational citizenship behavior). Results indicate that highly EI principals engage in more participatory, transparent, and supportive actions as administrators, resulting in healthier school environments and more motivated teaching teams. There are also tensions in the evidence, such as when principals' regulatory resources are tapped during the demands of emotional labor, and when culturally loaded expectations and resource scarcity reduce the degree to which principals' emotional intelligence is expressed and effective. The paper ends with an integrative model of the principals' emotional intelligence, the mediating role of emotional labor and relationship trust, and directions for leadership preparation and future research.