حمایت اجتماعی و هوش هیجانی بعنوان پیش بینی کننده رفاه ذهنی

This study examined the predictive value of social support (SS) and emotional intelligence (EI), and their interaction effects, on subjective well-being (SWB) beyond variance already explained by personality and sociodemographic variables. Participants were 267 adults (196 female) who anonymously completed measures of satisfaction with life, positive and negative affect, social support, emotional intelligence, personality and social desirability. Exploratory hierarchical multiple regression analyses showed that SS and EI, and their interaction effects, significantly predicted SWB, and explained 44%, 50%, and 50% of the variance in SWL, positive affect (PA), and negative affect (NA) respectively. At step-two SS predicted NA and SWL, at step-three EI predicted PA and SWL, and at step-four one interaction effect was significant (SS: Significant Other × EI for PA). This study elucidates the predictive value of SS, EI and their interaction on SWB, and provides the first published insight into a possible conditional relationship between SS and SWB with regard to EI, suggesting that SS may not always be necessary for SWB. Implications are discussed, highlighting that the relationship between SS, EI and SWB is more complex than previous literature suggests.

Research exploring happiness and its predictors is important because it illuminates factors that foster optimal psychological functioning. Happiness is often operationalised in empirical investigations as subjective well-being (SWB) comprising of three components: positive affect (PA); negative affect (NA); and satisfaction with life (SWL) (Diener and Lucas, 1999 and Lucas et al., 1996). Personality and sociodemographic variables consistently explain significant variance in SWB. For example, Gannon and Ranzijn (2005) found that personality accounted for 34% of unique variance in SWB, a result that supports earlier literature (Diener and Lucas, 1999, Diener et al., 1999 and Keyes et al., 2002). Between 8% and 20% of significant variance in SWB has also been explained by sociodemographic variables including age, income, relationship status, gender and education (Argyle, 2001 and Diener et al., 1999). The present study examines social support (SS) and emotional intelligence (EI) as potential predictors of SWB beyond personality and sociodemographic variables (Austin et al., 2005 and Schutte et al., 2007). There is general consensus that SS is positively related to SWB (Cohen et al., 2000 and Okun et al., 1984). Some even suggest that SS is necessary for SWB ( Baumeister and Leary, 1995, Diener and Oishi, 2005 and Diener and Seligman, 2002). SS is thought to promote well-being by influencing emotions, cognitions and behaviours in a way that promotes positive affect ( Cohen et al., 2000). Numerous studies provide evidence for the positive relationship between SS and SWB; most noteworthy are those that control covariates such as personality ( Argyle and Lu, 1990, Cooper et al., 1992, Bal et al., 2003, Diener and Seligman, 2002, Lu and Lin, 1998 and Skok et al., 2006). Although the evidence is plentiful, these findings are limited because most of the studies have measured only one component of SWB: SWL, or PA, or NA. An assessment of SWB from both affective and cognitive perspectives is important, as each of these components may be differentially influenced ( Chamberlain, 1988). Another limitation is the lack of studies considering source and perceptions of SS relating to SWB. Source of support, (e.g., from Significant Others, Partner, Family or Friends), is emerging as an important measure of SS ( Arkar et al., 2004, Dahlem et al., 1991, Gutierrez-Dona and Gutierrez-Dona, 2005 and Winefield et al., 1992). Perceived SS, as opposed to number of supports and received support, is also important ( Reinhardt et al., 2006, Reis and Collins, 2000, Wills and Shinar, 2000 and Zimet et al., 1988). EI has been theoretically associated with both SWB and SS (Bar-On, 2005 and Salovey et al., 1999) and has been flagged as “worth investigating” (Diener et al., 1999, p. 294). People with higher EI are thought to possess a greater capacity to perceive and reason around emotion which facilitates greater positive affect (Mayer and Salovey, 1997, Salovey and Mayer, 1990 and Salovey et al., 1999). Although there is some controversy regarding EI’s discriminant validity, much research also supports EI’s utility (Ciarrochi et al., 2000, Ciarrochi et al., 2002, Gannon and Ranzijn, 2005 and Schutte et al., 1998) and evidence is emerging which indicates that EI can be taught and developed (Reshmi, 2006 and Slaski and Cartwright, 2002). Although limited, there are a few studies that have explored the predictive value of EI on differential components of SWB, mostly SWL, where EI has been found to be a significant positive predictor (Austin et al., 2005, Bar-On, 2005, Ciarrochi and Scott, 2006, Ciarrochi et al., 2000, Gannon and Ranzijn, 2005, Gignac, 2006, Palmer et al., 2002 and Saklofske et al., 2003). A limitation of this evidence however, is that the well-established variance explained by personality and sociodemographic variables is not always controlled (e.g. Bar-On, 2005). Furthermore, although SWB research rarely includes measures of social desirability, such a measure is appropriate where newer relationships are being explored (Glatzer, 2000). Interestingly, the proposed processes underlying the relationship of both SS and EI on SWB focus on effective emotion regulation (Cohen et al., 2000 and Salovey et al., 1999). Thus, it is suggested here that EI may act as a moderator in the relationship between SS and SWB, that is, the relationship between SS and SWB may differ at different levels of EI. If both SS and EI act to regulate emotion it is possible that where EI is high, individuals may self-regulate emotion in a way that promotes SWB, thus diminishing the strength of the relationship between SS and SWB. Conversely, where EI is low the relationship between SS and SWB will be stronger. Consistent with this rationale is that EI has been shown to act as a moderator in research exploring the relationship between stress and health (Ciarrochi et al., 2002, Slaski and Cartwright, 2002 and Slaski and Cartwright, 2003). This study is exploratory with three aims. The first aim is to further investigate the predictive value of SS on SWB, taking into account (a) all three components of SWB, (b) the need to control for personality and sociodemographic variables, and (c) the need to further explore source and perception of SS. The second aim is to examine the predictive value of EI on SWB, over personality, sociodemographics and SS. The third aim is to explore the proposition that EI may moderate the relationship between SS and SWB.