Abstract:

The aim of the study is to determine the effect and direction of the gender variable on the emotional intelligence of children and adolescents. Studies conducted in Turkey and scanned in the database of the National Thesis Center of the Council of Higher Education were included in the research. In this context, 101 studies were reached. However, 34 studies addressing the gender variable and complying with the coding protocol were included in the analysis. The sample of the study consists of 15027 people. The effect size of emotional intelligence by gender was analyzed using the Standardized Difference of Means (SOF) method. For the meta-analysis, publication bias was tested and no publication bias was found. According to the homogeneity test, it was determined that the study was heterogeneous in terms of gender variable. According to the findings; In the random-effects model, the level of emotional intelligence in children and adolescents was found to be significantly lower in favor of girls for gender. In the study, the level of development and working year variables (moderator variable) were also examined in the effect of gender on emotional intelligence. The variance between studies according to developmental level and year of study was not statistically significant. The findings were interpreted in line with the related literature and suggestions were made.

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