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Emotional Intelligence Relates to Well‐Being: Evidence from the Situational Judgment Test of Emotional Management
Author(s) -
Burrus Jeremy,
Betancourt Anthony,
Holtzman Steven,
Minsky Jennifer,
MacCann Carolyn,
Roberts Richard D.
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
applied psychology: health and well‐being
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.276
H-Index - 31
eISSN - 1758-0854
pISSN - 1758-0846
DOI - 10.1111/j.1758-0854.2012.01066.x
Subject(s) - situational ethics , psychology , emotional intelligence , affect (linguistics) , test (biology) , well being , psychological well being , social psychology , developmental psychology , applied psychology , psychotherapist , paleontology , communication , biology
Background: This research was conducted to examine whether people high in emotional intelligence (EI) have greater well‐being than people low in EI. Method: The Situational Test of Emotion Management, Scales of Psychological Well‐being, and Day Reconstruction Method were completed by 131 college students. Results: Responses to the Situational Test of Emotion Management were strongly related to eudaimonic well‐being as measured by responses on the Scales of Psychological Well‐being ( r = .54). Furthermore, the ability to manage emotions was related to hedonic well‐being, correlating with both the frequency of experienced positive affect and the frequency of experienced negative affect, as measured by the Day Reconstruction Method. Conclusion: Two aspects of these results suggest a relationship between EI and well‐being. First, the observed relationship between ability EI and psychological well‐being is the largest reported in the literature to date. Second, this study is the first use of the Day Reconstruction Method to examine the relationship between well‐being and EI. Results are discussed in terms of the potential for training emotion management to enhance well‐being. Methodological advances for future research are also suggested.