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TRAIT EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE AS A DETERMINANT OF LIFE SATISFACTION AND SUBJECTIVE HAPPINESS Zaeema Riaz, Salman Shahzad and Kausar Ansari Institute of Clinical Psychology University of Karachi
ABSTRACT This study examined the relationship of trait emotional intelligence with life satisfaction and subjective happiness in university students. After detailed literature review the following hypotheses were formulated; a) There will be a positive relationship between trait emotional intelligence and life satisfaction b) There will be a positive relationship between trait emotional intelligence and subjective happiness. The sample of present study consisted of 70 university students. Among them 28 were males and 42 were females. The age range was from 18 to 30 years with a mean age of 23.64 years (SD = 3.65). Their education level was from Intermediate to Masters. The sample was recruited from University of Karachi, Karachi. Demographic information sheet was used to take personal information of the participants. Satisfaction with Life Scale (Diener et al., 1985), Subjective Happiness Scale (Lyubomirsky & Lepper, 1999) and Trait Emotional Intelligence Scale (Petrides & Furnham, 2003) were administered to measure the variables of life satisfaction, subjective happiness and trait emotional intelligence respectively. Pearsons product moment coefficient of correlation r was applied to determine the relationship of trait emotional intelligence with life satisfaction and with subjective happiness. Over all analysis indicates a significant positive correlation of trait emotional intelligence with life satisfaction (r = 0.362, p <.01) and subjective happiness (r = 0.553, p <.01).
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RIAZ, SHAHZAD & ANSARI INTRODUCTION Emotional intelligence has been defined as the ability to adaptively identify, understand, manage, and harness emotions both in the self and others (Salovey & Mayer, 1990; Schutte, Malouff, Hall, Haggerty, Cooper, Golden & Dornhein, 1998) and to use emotions to facilitate cognitive processing (Mayer, Caruso, & Salovey, 1999). It has also been conceptualized in the literature both as a relatively enduring trait and as ability (Mayer et al., 1999; Petrides & Furnham, 2003; Schutte et al., 1998). Researches suggest that higher emotional intelligence is associated with better psychological functioning. Several studies have found that high emotional intelligence is related to greater wellbeing (Austin, Saklofske, & Egan, 2005; Palmer, Donaldson, & Stough, 2002). Other studies have found high emotional intelligence to be associated with less depression greater optimism (Schutte et al., 1998). Positive associations of emotional intelligence with life satisfaction, social network size and quality, and negative associations with loneliness have been found (Ciarrochi, Chan, & Bajgar, 2001; Dawda & Hart, 2000; Palmer, Donaldson, & Stough, 2002; Saklofske, Austin, & Minski, 2003; Schutte et al., 1998). Life Satisfaction can be defined as the level of enjoyment, wellbeing and satisfaction with ones life and activities (Diener, Emmons, Larsen, & Griffin, 1985). In order to explain that to what extent the emotional intelligence is an important part of an individuals life satisfaction several studies have been conducted to answer this question. For example, Martinez-Pons (1997) using Trait Meta Mood Scale (TMMS) found a positive relationship of emotional intelligence with life satisfaction and work performance but found a negative relationship of emotional intelligence with depression. Another study was conducted by the Extremera and Ferndandez-Berrocal (2005) by using TMMS who found the evidence supporting that emotional clarity adds significant variance to the prediction of life satisfaction beyond the transient mood state and personality traits. Emotional Intelligence has also been defined by Bar-On (1997) as an umbrella concept of non cognitive capabilities, competencies and skills which helps an individual to become more efficient in coping with environmental demands and pressures. He proposed a non cognitive intelligence that includes five broad areas of skills and competencies from the personality domain, and
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RIAZ, SHAHZAD & ANSARI METHOD Sample Participants in the present study consisted of 70 students selected from University of Karachi. Their age range was from 18 to 30 years with the mean age of 23.64 years (SD =3.65). Among them 28 were males with the mean age of 24.28 years (SD = 3.89) and 42 were females with the mean age of 23.21 years (SD =3.47). The education level of the participants was from intermediate to Masters. Measures Demographic Information: Personal information was obtained through items focusing on participants age, gender, level of education etc. Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire: TEIQue- SF (Petrides & Furnham, 2003) is a 30-item questionnaire and is designed to measure global trait emotional intelligence. This questionnaire is based on the full form of the TEIQue (Petrides & Furnham, 2003), which covers the trait emotional intelligence sampling domain comprehensively. The TEIQueSF provides highly reliable global trait emotional intelligence scores that correlate meaningfully with a wide range of diverse criteria, including coping styles, life satisfaction, personality disorders, perceived job control, and job satisfaction (Petrides et al., 2003). Responses are scored on a 7-point Likert scale. Subjective Happiness Scale: Subjective Happiness Scale (Lyubomirsky & Lepper, 1999) measures the global or enduring happiness. The first item asks participants to evaluate their general level of happiness, whereas the second item asks them to compare themselves to peers. The other two items provide short descriptions of happy and unhappy individuals and ask participants to which extent these characteristics describe them. In Lyubomirskys original study (1999) the items showed excellent internal consistency with alphas ranging between 0.79 and 0.94.
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RIAZ, SHAHZAD & ANSARI Table 2 Correlation of Trait Emotional Intelligence with Life Satisfaction and Happiness (N=70)
N 70 70
r 0.362 0.553
DISCUSSION The present study found that, as hypothesized, there is a positive relationship of trait emotional intelligence with satisfaction with life (r = 0.362, p < .01, Table 2). These results are consistent with previous researches. Emotional intelligence has been found to be associated with a range of outcomes which in a broad sense can be regarded as relating to quality of life. The associations which have been found are theoretically reasonable, with plausible links either to the interpersonal aspects of emotional intelligence which would be expected to be associated with better quality of social interactions, or to intrapersonal aspects such as mood regulation. Results of previous researches have shown that EI has some incremental validity in the prediction of outcomes such as self-reported life satisfaction (Palmer et al., 2002; Saklofske et al., 2003). Another research found that trait emotional intelligence is related to goal orientation and life satisfaction (Martinez-Pons, 1997). Further, the results (Table 2) indicate a significant relationship between trait emotional intelligence with subjective happiness (r = 0.553, p<.01). These findings are consistent with the formulated hypothesis and the strong association between trait emotional intelligence and happiness is congruent with the previous researches (Austin, Safloske, & Egan, 2005). Individuals with high scores on trait EI measures believe that they are in touch with their emotions and that they can regulate them in a way that promotes well-being. These individuals enjoy higher levels of happiness (Petrides & Furnham, 2003). The present study has certain limitations; firstly the study is of correlational nature so one cannot determine the direction of causality. It is
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Argyle, M. (2001). The psychology of happiness (2nd ed.). In T. C. Premuzic, E. Bennett & A. Furnham (2007). The happy personality: Mediational role of trait emotional intelligence. Personality and Individual Differences 42, 2007, 1633-1639. Argyle, M., Martin, M., & Crossland, J. (1989). Happiness as a function of personality and social encounters. In J. P. Forgas, & J. M. Innes (Eds.), Recent advances in social psychology: An international perspective. North Holland: Elsevier Science Publishers. Austin, E. J., Saklofske, D. H., & Egan, V. (2005). Personality, wellbeing and health correlation of trait emotional intelligence. In T. J. Slick, & N. S. Schutte (2006). Emotional intelligence and self esteem mediate between perceived early parental love and adult happiness. Journal of Applied Psychology: Emotional Intelligence, 2(2), 38-48. Bar-On, R. (1997). Emotional Quotient Inventory: Technical Manual. In T. C. Premuzic, E. Bennett & A. Furnham (2007). The happy personality: Mediational role of trait emotional intelligence. Personality and Individual Differences 42, 2007, 1633-1639. Barrett, K.C., & Campos, J.J. (1987). Perspective on emotional development II: A functionalist approach to emotions. In J.D. Osofsky (Ed.), Handbook of infant development (2nd ed., pp. 1101-1169). New York: Wiley.
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RIAZ, SHAHZAD & ANSARI Ciarrochi, J., Chan, A. Y. C. & Bajgar, J. (2001). Measuring emotional intelligence in adolescents. Personality and Individual Differences, 31, 1105-1119. Dawda, D., & Hart, S. D. (2000). Assessing emotional intelligence: reliability and validity of the Bar-On Emotional Quotient Inventory (EQ-i) in university students. Personality and Individual Differences, 28, 797-812. Diener, E. (2000). Subjective well-being: the science of happiness and a proposal for a national index. In T. C. Premuzic, E. Bennett & A. Furnham (2007). The happy personality: Mediational role of trait emotional intelligence. Personality and Individual Differences 42, 2007, 1633-1639. Diener, E., Emmons, R. A., Larsen, R. J., & Griffin, S. (1985). The satisfaction with life scale. Journal of Personality Assessment, 49, 71-75. Extremera, N., & Fernandez-Berrocal, P. (2005). Perceived emotional intelligence and life satisfaction: predictive and incremental validity using trait meta-mood Scale. Personality and Individual Difference, 39, 937-948. Furnham, A., & Petrides, K. V. (2003). Trait emotional Intelligence and happiness. Social Behavior and Personality, 31(8), 815-824. Lyubomirsky, S., & Lepper, H. S. (1999). A measure of subjective happiness: preliminary reliability and construct validation. Social Indicators Research, 46, 137 155. Martinz-Pons, M. (1997). The relation of emotional intelligence with selected areas of personal functioning. Imagination, Cognition and Personality, 17 , 3-13. Mayer, J. D., Caruso, D. R., & Salovey, P. (1999). Emotional intelligence meets traditional standards for an intelligence. In T. J. Slick, & N. S Schutte (2006). Emotional intelligence and self esteem mediate between perceived early parental love and adult happiness. Journal of Applied Psychology: Emotional Intelligence, 2(2), 38-48.
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