Emotional Intelligence and its Relationship to The Big Five Factors of Personality Among Social and Psychological Specialists in Palestine

The study aimed to identify the relationship between emotional intelligence and the five big factors of personality among social and psychological specialists. Using the descriptive, correlational approach, the study was applied to a sample consisting of (164) psychologists, social workers, and educational counselors in the areas of Jerusalem, the Gaza Strip, and the West Bank. They were selected in a manner Simple randomness. The results showed that social and psychological specialists have a high degree of emotional intelligence. The existence of a statistically significant inverse relationship between emotional intelligence and the neuroticism factor, and the existence of a statistically significant positive direct relationship between emotional intelligence and the following personality factors: Extraversion, Openness to Experience, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness. The results also indicated that There are no statistically significant differences in emotional intelligence among sample members according to the gender variable, and there are statistically significant differences in emotional intelligence according to the years of experience variable in favor of those with more than (10) years of experience. The order of the personality factors was: Conscientiousness, Agreeableness, Extraversion, and Openness to Experience, and Neuroticism came in last place. There were statistically significant differences in the Extraversion factor according to the gender variable in favor of females, and there were no statistically significant differences in the Openness to Experience factor according to the years of experience variable. The originality of this study lies in its attempt to deepen the understanding of the extent to which social and psychological specialists possess emotional intelligence, the prevalence of the Big Five personality traits among them, and to examine the relationship between emotional intelligence and these traits.