Hassansafar, Sepide

The Relationship between Iranian EFL Teachers’ Big Five Personality Traits, Their Perfectionism and Their Level of Emotional Intelligence

The present research set out to investigate the correlation between Big Five personality traits, perfectionism and emotional intelligence in Iranian EFL teachers. To this end, 141 EFL teachers including 48 males and 93 females were selected through convenience sampling. The participants work at language institutes, and they were selected from Isfahan, Tehran and Shiraz. Three questionnaires that were used to elicit the data consisted of NEO Five Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI), Hewitt and Flett Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale (H-MPS) and Schutte Self-Report Emotional Intelligence Test (SSEIT). These questionnaires were mainly distributed online. Then, Pearson Correlation Coefficient was used to determine the relationship between the three main variables, and linear regression analysis was run to investigate the predictive effect of the independent variable on the dependent variable. The results indicated that there was a significant negative relationship between Big Five personality traits and perfectionism (r= -.224**, Sig= .008) in EFL teachers. The relationship between perfectionism and emotional intelligence was also significant negative (r= -.613**, Sig= .000), and the relationship between Big Five personality traits and emotional intelligence was significant positive (r= .604**, Sig= .000). The regression analysis also showed the significant predictive effect of EFL teachers’ emotional intelligence on their perfectionism (F= 83.598, Sig= .000, R squared= .376). Moreover, perfectionism could significantly predict the changes in EFL teachers’ Big Five personality traits (F= 7.358, Sig= .008), though it accounted for only 5% of the variation in EFL teachers’ Big Five personality traits (R squared= .050). The predictive effect of EFL teachers’ emotional intelligence on their Big Five personality traits was also significant (F= 79.929, Sig= .000, R squared= .365). Both teacher educators and EFL teachers can make use of the results of this study to notice and develop the traits that are linked to higher EI. Keywords: Big Five Personality Traits, Perfectionism, Emotional Intelligence