ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Educ.
Sec. Leadership in Education
The Impact of Emotional Intelligence on Teacher Leadership: A Mediation Model of Interpersonal Relationships in Chinese Private Universities
Provisionally accepted
- 1Hengxing University of Science and Technology, Qingdao, China
- 2Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia
- 3Huanghe Jiaotong University, Jiaozuo, China
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Teacher leadership (TL) plays an increasingly important role in advancing teaching quality and institutional development in higher education. However, the socio-emotional mechanisms through which TL develops in China's private universities remain underexplored. Guided by a mixed-model conception of emotional intelligence (EI) and a social-relational lens, this study investigates whether interpersonal relationships (IR) help clarify the pathway from EI to TL. Survey data were collected from 637 full-time academics across 12 private universities in Shandong Province using validated multidimensional EI, IR and TL instruments. Structural equation modelling indicated that EI positively predicts TL, with IR accounting for part of this association. Faculty with higher EI reported stronger collegial respect, acceptance, trust and workplace harmony, and these relational qualities were linked to enhanced TL. The findings highlight a socio-emotional channel through which teacher leadership develops and suggest that faculty development initiatives in private universities should pair EI cultivation with deliberate relationship-building efforts.
Keywords: China, Emotional Intelligence, interpersonal relationships, Mediation, Private universities, Teacher leadership
Received: 10 Dec 2025; Accepted: 30 Jan 2026.
Copyright: © 2026 SUN, Chen, Gao and Abdullah. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: QIANQIAN SUN
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