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 modeling 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.
Sun et al. (Tue,) studied this question.