Pre-Service Teachers’ Personal Traits and Emotional Skills: A Structural Model of General Mental Ability

Abstract

Teachers’ personal traits and emotional skills impact the quality of the teaching they deliver. Therefore, this study analyzes the relationship between pre-service teachers’ general mental ability, personal traits, and perceived emotional intelligence, so as to present a structural model of general mental ability. It uses a sample of 196 final-year teaching students at a university in Spain (80.1% women, M years = 22.96). The results of the structural equation model analysis reveal that personal traits and intelligence variables contribute the most to explaining the pre-service teachers’ level of training. Regarding the pre-service teachers’ academic achievement, conscientiousness and intelligence are direct predictors; negative neuroticism and conscientiousness are indirect predictors. The findings highlight the importance of working on these variables in the study of teacher training because they relate to relevant aspects of teachers’ work and can help to achieve a quality educational environment.