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Emotional intelligence (EI) is widely considered a core personal resource for social functioning in educational workplaces, yet evidence remains limited regarding (a) how EI varies across key demographic and work-role characteristics and (b) which EI facets are uniquely associated with workplace interpersonal relationships in private higher education contexts. This study examined EI levels, demographic differences, and face t -level associations with interpersonal relationships among university teachers in Shandong private universities in China. Using a two-stage probability sampling design, survey data were collected from 637 teachers. EI was assessed with a 35-item, five-facet scale (self-awareness, managing emotions, motivating oneself, empathy, and social skill), and interpersonal relationships were measured with a 12-item, four-dimension workplace scale (interpersonal regard, mutual acceptance and facilitation, mutual trust, and workplace harmony), both rated on five-point Likert scales. Overall EI was at a moderate level. Group comparisons showed significant EI differences by gender, age, education, professional title, job role, teaching discipline, and administrative/part-time duty experience, whereas teaching years showed no significant differences. EI was positively associated with interpersonal relationships ( r = 0.570, p 0.01). In multiple regression, the five EI facets jointly accounted for 35.3% of the variance in interpersonal relationships ( R 2 = 0.353), with empathy, social skill, and managing emotions showing significant unique associations, while self-awareness and motivating oneself were not significant. These findings map the demographic distribution of EI in China’s private-university teaching workforce and suggest that interpersonal-facing EI facets may represent particularly relevant targets for relationship-focused faculty development.
Sun et al. (2026) studied this question.