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Pakistan Journal of Psychology, June 2009, 40, 1, 93-101

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

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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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each skill appears to contribute to success. These include intrapersonal skills, interpersonal skills, adaptability, stress management, and general mood such as optimism and happiness.

In recent years, dispositional explanations of happiness have also emphasized the importance of emotional intelligence (EI), which, among other things, refers to the ability to identify and manage ones and others emotions (Palmer et al., 2002; Salovey & Mayer, 1990). Although few goals are more valued in society than happiness, psychologists have traditionally focused on human unhappiness (e.g., depression, anxiety and emotional disorders) However, recent years have seen an upsurge in studies on happiness (e. g., Argyle, 2001; Diener, 2000; Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2000), which is defined in terms of the average level of satisfaction over a specific time period, the frequency and degree of positive affect manifestations, and the relative absence of negative affect (Argyle, Martin, & Crossland, 1989).

Emotional well-being in adolescence and throughout the life span is

typified by a predominance of positive affect. This includes the experience as well as the expression of positive emotions, such as happiness, interest, and pride. Although negative emotions such as fear, anger, and guilt serve adaptive functions in reaction to environmental events, these emotions become maladaptive when they predominate over the positive emotions (Barrett & Campos, 1987). A research conducted by Furnham and Petrides (2003) found a positive relationship between trait EI and happiness in the presence of the Big Five personality dimensions. Furthermore, the significant links between the Big Five and happiness were fully accounted for by trait Emotional Intelligence.

The present study is set out to replicate previous findings on the relationship of trait emotional intelligence with life satisfaction and subjective happiness. Keeping in view the literature review, following hypotheses were formulated for the present research:

a) There will be a positive relationship betwee n t r a i t emotional

intelligence and life satisfaction b) There will be a positive r e l ationship between trait emotional

intelligence and subjective happiness.

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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 TEIQue-SF 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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Satisfaction with Life Scale:

The SWLS (Diener et al., 1985) consists of statements relating to global life satisfaction to which participants respond on a seven point scale (1=strongly disagree to 7 = strongly agree). Diener et al. (1985) have reported evidence of discriminant and convergent validity for the SWLS, and high internal consistency (Cronbachs alpha = 0.87). Procedure

In this study the sample was recruited from University of Karachi. Sample of the present research comprised of 70 students (28 males, 42 females) with the mean age of 23.64 years. Their education level was from intermediate to Masters. After getting the informed consent from the participants, they were briefed about the purpose of the study and were assured that the data will purely be used for research purpose and their identifications (names) will not be revealed to any one. Once the rapport was established the personal information sheet was filled which focused on the participants age, gender, level of education etc. The Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire was administered to assess the emotional intelligence in the participants. Then the Satisfaction with Life Scale and Subjective Happiness scale were administered to assess the life satisfaction and happiness in participants respectively.

RESULTS

Table 1 Descriptive Statistics (Mean & Standard Deviation) for Age of the Entire Sample Variable Male

N = 28 Female N = 42

Total Sample N = 70

Age

M

24.285

SD

3.895

M

23.214

SD

3.474

M

23.642

SD

3.65955

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Table 2 Correlation of Trait Emotional Intelligence with Life Satisfaction and Happiness (N=70) Variables N r Sig. Life satisfaction 70 0.362 .002 Happiness 70 0.553 .000

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

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difficult to measure the emotional intelligence in a quantitative perspective by using the self report measures. In order to explore the concept of emotional intelligence in future it would also be better to use qualitative method. The level about individuals behavior could be explored through a qualitative research and will contribute more knowledge in the field of emotional intelligence studies. An important task for future research is to look at the relationship between trait EI and real life condition which are linked to happiness such as achievement, health, and so on.

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