Date

8-9-2024

Department

Rawlings School of Divinity

Degree

Doctor of Education in Christian Leadership (EdD)

Chair

Michael Grayston

Keywords

Emotional intelligence, pastors, pastoral leadership, Christian leaders

Disciplines

Christianity | Leadership Studies

Abstract

Pastoral leadership must understand their obligation to provide and promote healthy relationships in their personal, professional, and church ministries by utilizing the effective tool of emotional intelligence (EI) to become more effective (Goleman et al., 2013; Hendron et al., 2014; Chavous et al., 2023). The concept and usage of EI have experienced continued growth within the secular and academic organizational fields. However, there is little research on EI among the Christian pastoral leadership, the church, its associated ministries, and its educational institutions (Hendron et al., 2014). As noted by scholars, this gap in the literature and the credibility crisis of pastors needed attention (Barna, 2022; Earls, 2022). Religious leaders involved in Christian leadership are disadvantaged in not recognizing critical information about interpersonal relationships (Oswald & Jacobson, 2015). The theory guiding this study was defined by Peter Salovey and John D. Mayer (1990), Daniel Goleman (1995; 1998; 1999; 2019), and The Institute for Health and Human Potential (2020), which defined EI as the ability to recognize, comprehend, and manage one’s own emotions and to identify, understand and affect the emotions of others. The population of this research was the data collection and sampling of 200 pastors located within the metropolitan Richmond, Virginia area. The purpose of this non-experimental quantitative correlational study was to discover if a relationship existed between EI and the participants’ emotional traits, demographic characteristics, and relationships with others.

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