Trait Emotional Intelligence of student sonographers : is it learnt or inherent?

INTRODUCTION This poster presents the findings of a study undertaken in partial fulfillment of the BSc (Hons) Diagnostic Radiography award. Despite the increasing popularity of both research and practice on emotional intelligence (EI), it remains a debateable psychological construct. The definition of the construct differs widely under different theoretical frameworks, with some models defining EI as a related set of abilities and some models defining EI as a mixture of behaviours, motivations, beliefs, and attitudes (MacCann et al. 2014). For many years the EI intelligence of student sonographers has been a stumbling block for the introduction of undergraduate/direct entry ultrasound programmes. With this in mind, the main focus of this study was whether or not EI can be taught to student sonographers, or whether it is an individual’s intrinsic ability? METHODOLOGY Participants - First and second year student sonographers were invited to complete a demographic survey to collate personal variables such as; age, gender, profession and area of clinical study. In addition to this, the respondents were asked to complete the Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire TEIQue-SF), a self-report measure. Findings: From the results demonstrated within this study, it is evident that the main statistical significances stem from the independent variables of age group and gender. Results from this study suggested that perhaps Emotional Intelligence could be learnt over time Conclusion: Whilst females have proved to be more capable and successful at encompassing Emotional Intelligence, it could be inferred that this is due to family social interactions or the expectation of society itself and thereby learnt. Studies have suggested that EI, as a part of the personality, is inherent in the person suggesting EI could be improved if that facet in your personality is present. The study indicated that obstetric sonographers scored higher in the EI test than the Abdominal sonographers which suggests a possible role for EI testing as an indicator for recruiting to specific ultrasound practice where higher EI is preferred.