Black Sea Journal of Health Science doi: 10.19127/bshealthscience.1115290 BSJ Health Sci / Alime SELÇUK TOSUN et al. 476 This work is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License Open Access Journal e-ISSN: 2619 – 9041 SOCIAL INTELLIGENCE, SELF-EFFICACY, AND STRESS-COPING STYLES AS PREDICTORS OF EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE IN NURSING STUDENTS: A DESCRIPTIVE STUDY Alime SELÇUK TOSUN 1 *, Nurcan AKGÜL GÜNDOĞDU 2 , Emine ERGİN 3 , Neslihan LÖK 4 1 Department of Public Health Nursing, Faculty of Nursing, University of Selcuk, 42130, Konya, Türkiye 2 Department of Public Health Nursing, Faculty of Health Science, University of Bandirma Onyedi Eylül, 10200, Bandirma, Türkiye 3 Department of Public Health Nursing, Hamidiye Health Sciences Faculty, University of Health Sciences, 34668, İstanbul, Türkiye 4 Department of Psychiatric Nursing, Faculty of Nursing, University of Selcuk, 42130, Konya, Türkiye Abstract: This study aims to determine the level of emotional intelligence, social intelligence, self-efficacy, and stress-coping strategies in nursing students, as well as investigate the relationship of emotional intelligence with these variables. The study design was a descriptive relational type. Data were collected from 322 students recruited from one nursing faculty and one faculty of health sciences. Nursing students’ total emotional intelligence score mean (127.73±15.33) was above average. Social intelligence, self-efficacy, and a self-confident coping style were important predictors of emotional intelligence (p<0.05). This study presented an important finding on how nursing students could improve their emotional intelligence in the vocational training process considering the factors that may be associated with emotional intelligence. Keywords: Emotional intelligence, Social intelligence, Self-efficacy, Stress-coping style, Nursing students *Corresponding author: Department of Public Health Nursing, Faculty of Nursing, University of Selcuk, 42130 Konya, Türkiye E mail: alimeselcuk_32@hotmail.com (A. SELÇUK TOSUN) Alime SELÇUK TOSUN https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4851-0910 Received: May 11, 2022 Accepted: June 26, 2022 Published: September 01, 2022 Nurcan AKGÜL GÜNDOĞDU https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6446-730X Emine ERGİN https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9419-3146 Neslihan LÖK https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8246-6311 Cite as: Selçuk Tosun A, Akgül Gündoğdu N, Ergin E, Lök N. 2022. Social intelligence, self-efficacy, and stress-coping styles as predictors of emotional intelligence in nursing students: a descriptive study. BSJ Health Sci, 5(3): 476-483. 1. Introduction Nursing is considered a challenging and stressful profession (Yamani et al., 2014; Moreland and Apker, 2016). Many studies have indicated that nurses’ high levels of occupational stress result in feelings of inadequacy, self-doubt, lack of self-confidence, nervousness, depression, somatic discomfort, sleep disorders, and burnout (Watson et al., 2008; Codier et al., 2011). Becoming a nurse is stressful; studies have shown that nursing students have difficulty in balancing family/work life with academic and financial stress factors (Bandadi et al., 2020). Many nursing students experience significant emotional distress leading to gradual separation and voluntary withdrawal in the later stages of the program (O’Donnell, 2009). In addition, nursing students need interpersonal communication skills to manage individuals’ care demands during clinical practices within the course (Rankin, 2013). Emotions are at the center of healthcare delivery. Nurses maintain communication with individuals in an environment containing emotional burdens (James, 2018). It is critical to consider all data including emotions in a profession where nurses can face life-or-death decisions. In nursing practice, the value of emotion can be clearly expressed using the conceptual framework of emotional intelligence (Powell, 2015). Previous studies were emphasized that individuals with higher emotional intelligence scores tended to have more advanced social abilities, richer forms of social communication, and more effective coping strategies (Meng and Qi, 2018; Kikanloo et al., 2019). “Emotional intelligence", also known as emotional-social intelligence, is a subunit of social intelligence that indicates individuals’ ability to critique the feelings of themselves and of those around them (Salovey and Mayer, 1990). In other words, Emotional Intelligence (EI) includes a two-way therapeutic interaction. First, it addresses an individuals’ comprehension level of their own emotional reactions, and the method of expressing this emotion effectively and accurately. Second, it reflects how individuals understand the emotional reactions that arise in their interaction with others, and the power to cope with the daily changing emotional load in the face of events. Within the framework of this interaction, EI can be defined as "the sum of interrelated emotional and social competencies, skills, and facilitators" (Bar-On, 2006). In this context, EI is an important part of nursing care because of therapeutic communication. Nurses who are exposed to emotional burden loads from different sources (individual characteristics, communication with Research Article Volume 5 - Issue 3: 476-483 / September 2022