The Relationship of Interpersonal and Leadership Skills with Empathic Understanding among Malaysian Gifted Students

Year 2018, Volume: 6 Issue: 3, 1 - 10, 15.09.2018

Abu Yazid Abu Bakar

Abstract

Gifted students have always been
considered as individuals who absorb with their own world; and sometimes are lacking
in interpersonal skills and empathic understanding which prevent them to live
comfortably within the society.  This
study was conducted in order to examine eight dimension of interpersonal skills
and their relationships with empathic understanding among Malaysian gifted students. The study used a survey method and
data was collected using an instrument called the Malaysian Emotional
Quotient Inventory (MEQI) from
a total of 240 (male=81,
female=159) respondents, aged 15
years old from the PERMATApintar™ College, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.
Overall findings show that all dimension of interpersonal skills studied correlate
positively with empathy (p < 0.00, n = 240) and the r values for all dimensions are more than 0.60. Similarly, findings from the study
show that all domains of empathy correlate positively with leadership
skills.  The r values for all
correlations are from 0.253 to 0.788 (p < 0.01). Empathy domains that have
the strong correlation with leadership skills are political awareness, followed
by leveraging diversity, developing other’s potential, caring and helping
others. Based on the findings, implications toward the unique provision
of counseling services and self-development programs for local gifted students’
population were discussed.

Keywords

empathy; gifted students; interpersonal skills; leadership skills; Malaysia

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