UNDERSTANDING ADOLESCENTS’ EMOTIONALITY: AN ANALYSIS OF FACTORS AFFECTING EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE

The study is an attempt to explore the factors analyzing adolescents' emotional development. At first some of the views of psychologists and researchers on the stage of adolescence was examined. The researcher goes by the definition, ‘adolescence is a socially defined group' given by Ritzer, Kammeyer and Yetman (1979) (6). The sample comprised of 400 adolescents in the age group of 13-18 yearsin Kamrup Metropolitan District of Assam. At first an Emotional Intelligence test developed by Dr Ekta Sharma was administered to the adolescents. The influence of demographic factors such as locality, parents' education and occupation were analysed. The data was statistically treated and the scores of the adolescents were also examined. Though a vast expanse of literature tries to dwell on the relationship of the demographic variables with Emotional Intelligence, the researcher would like to gravitate attention to the fact that at the stage of adolescence, an individual develops a sense of emotional autonomy; there exists a myriad of factors that interplay to shape the emotionality of adolescents. The world today needs more attention to be directed towards nurturing adolescents emotionality through comprehensive, well designed Emotional Intelligence Education curriculum, suited to the individual needs of the adolescents in particular and the society in general.