حمایت اجتماعی واسطه تاثیر هوش هیجانی بر روی پریشانی های روانی و رضایت از زندگی در بزرگسالان جوان چینی

In this study, the pivotal role of social support and emotional intelligence (EI) in mental distress and life satisfaction in a sample of Chinese young adults was investigated. The participants were 678 Chinese adults with an age range of 18–35 years. Data were collected by using the Wong Law Emotional Intelligence Scale, the Multi-Dimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support, the Satisfaction with Life Scale, and the General Health Questionnaire. Path analysis showed that social support partially mediated the relationship between EI and life satisfaction as well as that between EI and mental distress. Furthermore, a multi-group analysis found that the males with high EI scores are more likely to gain greater social support from others than the female counterparts. Implications for future research and limitations of the present findings are discussed.

Over the last decade, emotional intelligence (EI) has received much attention in the psychological literature and beyond. Different researchers have distinctive visions of how to conceptualize and assess EI. Two different conceptualizations of EI – i.e., Trait EI and Ability EI – coexist in the literature. Ability EI has been conceptualized as a cognitive ability concerning one’s actual ability to perceive, use, understand, and manage emotions in the self and others (as measured through maximum performance tests). Trait EI is defined as a constellation of emotion-related self-perceptions located at the lower-levels of personality hierarchies (as measured through self-report measures) (Petrides, Pita, & Kokkinaki, 2007). In fact, trait EI and ability EI are two different constructs conceptually, methodologically, and empirically. Past studies found very low correlations between these two measures (e.g., Gohm, Corser, & Dalsky, 2005). The present study focuses on the second conceptualization of EI and used a self-report measure to assess EI.