RESEARCH PAPER
Perceived emotional intelligence and life satisfaction: the mediating role of the positivity ratio
 
More details
Hide details
 
Submission date: 2017-10-11
 
 
Final revision date: 2018-02-16
 
 
Acceptance date: 2018-03-29
 
 
Online publication date: 2018-07-19
 
 
Publication date: 2018-09-01
 
 
Current Issues in Personality Psychology 2018;6(3):212-223
 
KEYWORDS
TOPICS
ABSTRACT
Introduction:
Emotional intelligence is a positive predictor of well-being, and positive and negative affect were demonstrated to mediate this relationship. In two studies the balance between positive and negative affect (positivity ratio) is examined as a mediating factor between perceived emotional intelligence and satisfaction with life.

Participants and procedure:
Three-hundred and sixteen individuals (50% female) participated in the first study. Participants completed the Self-perceived emotional intelligence questionnaire, the Positive and negative affect scale, and the Satisfaction with life scale. One hundred individuals (79% women) participated in the second study. In the first measurement participants completed the Emotional intelligence questionnaire, the general Positive and negative affect scale, and the Satisfaction with life scale, while in the second measurement participants completed the Positive and negative affect in the past week scale and the Satisfaction with life scale.

Results:
In the first study perceived emotional intelligence was positively correlated with positivity ratio and satisfaction with life, while positive ratio mediated between perceived emotional intelligence and satisfaction with life. In the second study, perceived emotional intelligence was positively correlated with satisfaction with life and positivity ratios in both measurements. The relationships between perceived emotional intelligence and satisfaction with life (Time 2) were fully mediated by satisfaction with life (Time 1), and sequentially by positivity ratio (general) and satisfaction with life (Time 1), and positivity ratio (general) and positivity ratio (Time 2).

Conclusions:
Individuals with high emotional intelligence tend to be more satisfied with their lives, while higher positivity ratio mediated between perceived emotional intelligence and satisfaction with life.

 
REFERENCES (83)
1.
Andrei, F., Siegling, A. B., Aloe, A. M., Baldaro, B., & Petrides, K. V. (2016). The incremental validity of the Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire (TEIQue): A systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Personality Assessment, 98, 261–276.
 
2.
Athota, V. S., & O’Connor, P. J. (2014). How approach and avoidance constructs of personality and trait emotional intelligence predict core human values. Learning and Individual Differences, 31, 51–58.
 
3.
Bacon, A., & Corr, P. J. (2017). Motivating emotional intelligence: A Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory (RST) perspective. Motivation and Emotion, 41, 254–264.
 
4.
Baird, B. M., Lucas, R. E., & Donnellan, M. B. (2010). Life satisfaction across the lifespan: Findings from two nationally representative panel studies. Social Indicators Studies, 99, 183–203.
 
5.
Baker, R., Thomas, S., Thomas, P. W., & Owens, M. (2007). Development of an Emotional Processing Scale. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 62, 167–178.
 
6.
Basińska, B. A., & Gruszczyńska, E. (2017). Positivity and job burnout in emergency personnel: examining linear and curvilinear relationship. Polish Psychological Bulletin, 48, 212–219.
 
7.
Bolger, N., & Schilling, E. A. (1991). Personality and the problems of everyday life: The role of Neuroticism in exposure and reactivity to daily stresors. Journal of Personality, 59, 355–386.
 
8.
Brackett, M. A., Rivers, S. E., Shiffman, S., Lerner, N., & Salovey, P. (2006). Relating emotional abilities to social functioning: A comparison of self-report and performance measures of emotional intelligence. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 91, 780–795.
 
9.
Brown, N. J. L., Sokal, A. D., & Friedman, H. L. (2014). The persistence of wishful thinking. American Psychologist, 69, 629–632.
 
10.
Brown, N. J., Sokal, A. D., & Friedman, H. L. (2013). The complex dynamics of wishful thinking: The critical positivity ratio. American Psychologist, 68, 801–813.
 
11.
Brzozowski, P. (2010). Skala uczuć pozytywnych i negatywnych (SUPIN): Polska adaptacja skali PANAS Dawida Watsona i Lee Anny Clark. Podręcznik [SUPIN. Positive and negative affect schedule (PANAS)]. Warsaw: Pracownia Testów.
 
12.
Charles, S. T., Reynolds, C. A., & Gatz, M. (2001). Age-related differences and change in positive and negative affect over 23 years. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 80, 136–151.
 
13.
Cheung, Ch.-K., Cheung, H. Y., & Hue, M.-T. (2015). Emotional intelligence as a basis for self esteem in young adults. The Journal of Psychology. Interdisciplinary and Applied, 149, 63–84.
 
14.
Cornélissen, G., Watson, D., Mitsutake, G., Fišer, B., Siegelová, J., Dušek, J., Vohlídalová, I., Svaèinová, H., & Halberg, F. (2005). Mapping of circaseptan and circadian changes in mood. Scripta Medica (BRNO), 78, 89–98.
 
15.
del Mar Salinas-Jiménez, M., Artes, J., & Salinas-Jiménez, J. (2011). Education as a positional good: A life satisfaction approach. Social Indicators Research, 103, 409–426.
 
16.
Diehl, M., Hay, E. L., & Berg, K. M. (2011). The ratio between positive and negative affect and flourishing mental health across adulthood. Aging and Mental Health, 15, 882–893.
 
17.
Diener, E. (2000). Subjective well-being: The science of happiness and a proposal for a national index. American Psychologist, 55, 34–43.
 
18.
Diener, E., Colvin, C. R., Pavot, W. G., & Allman, A. (1991). The psychic costs of intense positive affect. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 61, 492–503.
 
19.
Diener, E., & Emmons, R. A. (1984). The independence of positive and negative affect. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 47, 1105–1117.
 
20.
Diener, E., Emmons, R. A., Larsen, R. J., & Griffin, S. (1985). The satisfaction with life scale. Journal of Personality Assessment, 49, 71–75.
 
21.
Diener, E., Oishi, S., & Lucas, R. E. (2003). Personality, culture, and subjective well-being: Emotional and cognitive evaluations of life. Annual Review of Psychology, 54, 403–425.
 
22.
Diener, E., Sandvik, E., & Pavot, W. G. (1990). Happiness is the frequency, not intensity, of positive versus negative affect. In F. Strack, M. Argyle, & N. Schwarz (Eds.), The social psychology of subjective well-being (pp. 119–139). Elmsford, NY: Pergamon Press.
 
23.
Elfenbein, H. A., & MacCann, C. (2017). A closer look at ability emotional intelligence (EI): What are its component parts, and how do they relate to each other? Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 11, e12324.
 
24.
Emmons, R. A., & Diener, E. (1985). Personality correlates of subjective well-being. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 11, 89–97.
 
25.
Extremera, N., & Fernández-Berrocal, P. (2005). Perceived emotional intelligence and life satisfaction: Predictive and incremental validity using the Trait Meta-Mood Scale. Personality and Individual Differences, 39, 937–948.
 
26.
Extremera, N., Ruiz-Aranda, D., Pineda-Galán, C., & Salguero, J. M. (2011). Emotional intelligence and its relation with hedonic and eudaimonic well-being: A prospective study. Personality and Individual Differences, 51, 11–16.
 
27.
Extremera, N., & Rey, L. (2016). Ability emotional intelligence and life satisfaction: Positive and negative affect as mediators. Personality and Individual Differences, 102, 98–101.
 
28.
Fredrickson, B. (2013). Updated thinking on positivity ratios. American Psychologist, 68, 814–822.
 
29.
Fredrickson, B. L., & Losada, M. F. (2005). Positive affect and the complex dynamics of human flourishing. American Psychologist, 60, 678–686.
 
30.
Gable, S. L. (2006). Approach and avoidance social motives and goals. Journal of Personality, 74, 175–222.
 
31.
Gallagher, E. N., & Vella-Brodrick, D. A. (2008). Social support and emotional intelligence as predictors of subjective well-being. Personality and Individual Differences, 44, 1551–1561.
 
32.
Gignac, G. E. (2006). Self-reported emotional intelligence and life satisfaction: Testing incremental predictive validity hypotheses via structural equation modeling (SEM) in a small sample. Personality and Individual Differences, 40, 1569–1577.
 
33.
Gottman, J. M. (1994). What predicts divorce? The relationship between marital processes and marital outcomes. New York, NY: Erlbaum.
 
34.
Guadagno, R. E., & Cialdini, R. B. (2010). Preference for consistency and social influence: A review of current research findings. Social Influence, 5, 152–163.
 
35.
Guarnieri, S., Smorti, M., & Tani, F. (2014). Attachment relationships and life satisfaction during emerging adulthood. Social Indicators Research, 121, 833–847.
 
36.
Hayes, A. F. (2013). Introduction to mediation, moderation, and conditional process analysis: a regression-based approach. New York: Guilford Press.
 
37.
Jaworowska, A., & Matczak, A. (2001). Kwestionariusz Inteligencji Emocjonalnej INTE N. S. Schutte, J. M. Malouffa, L. E. Hall, D. J. Haggerty’ego, J. T. Cooper, C. J. Goldena, L. Dornheim. Podręcznik [INTE. Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire by N. S. Schutte, J. M. Mallouff, L. E. Hall, D. J. Haggerty, J. T. Cooper, C. J. Golden, L. Dornheim. Manual]. Warsaw: Pracownia Testów Psychologicznych PTP.
 
38.
Juczyński, Z. (2001). Narzędzia pomiaru w promocji i psychologii zdrowia [Assessment and diagnostic instruments for health psychology promotion]. Warsaw: Pracownia Testów Psychologicznych Polskiego Towarzystwa Psychologicznego.
 
39.
Kafetsios, K. (2004). Attachment and emotional intelligence abilities across the life course. Personality and Individual Differences, 37, 129–145.
 
40.
Karademas, E. C. (2007). Positive and negative aspects of well-being: common and specific predictors. Personality and Individual Differences, 43, 277–287.
 
41.
Kong, F., & Zhao, J. (2013). Affective mediators of the relationship between trait emotional intelligence and life satisfaction in young adults. Personality and Individual Differences, 54, 197–201.
 
42.
Kunzmann, U., Richter, D., & Schmukle, S. C. (2013). Stability and change in affective experience across the adult life-span: Analyses with a national sample from Germany. Emotion, 13, 1086–1095.
 
43.
Kuppens, P., Realo, A., & Diener, E. (2008). The role of positive and negative emotions in life satisfaction judgment across nations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 95, 66–75.
 
44.
Lee, E., Watson, E., & Dams-O’Connor, K. (2017). Positive affect as a mediator of the relationship between social contact and subjective health. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, 98, e11.
 
45.
Lucas, R. E., Diener, E., & Suh, E. (1996). Discriminant validity of well-being measures. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 71, 616–628.
 
46.
Lucas, R. E., & Donnellan, M. B. (2007). How stable is happiness? Using the STARTS model to estimate the stability of life satisfaction. Journal of Research in Personality, 41, 1091–1098.
 
47.
MacCann, C., Fogarty, G. J., Zeidner, M., & Roberts, R. D. (2011). Coping mediates the relationship between emotional intelligence (EI) and academic achievement. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 36, 60–70.
 
48.
Martins, A., Ramalho, N., & Morin, E. (2010). A comprehensive meta-analysis of the relationship between emotional intelligence and health. Personality and Individual Differences, 49, 554–564.
 
49.
Mayer, J. D., Roberts, R. D., & Barsade, S. G. (2008). Human abilities: Emotional intelligence. Annual Review of Psychology, 59, 507–536.
 
50.
Mayer, J. D., & Salovey, P. (1997). What is emotional intelligence? In P. Salovey & D. Sluyter (eds.), Emotional development and emotional intelligence: Implications for educators (pp. 3–31). New York: Basic Books.
 
51.
Mayer, J. D., Salovey, P., & Caruso, D. R. (2002). Mayer-Salovey-Caruso emotional intelligence test (MSCEIT), version 2.0. Toronto, Canada: Multi-Health Systems.
 
52.
Ong, A. D., Mroczek, D. K., & Riffin, C. (2011). The health significance of positive emotions in adulthood and later life. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 5, 538–551.
 
53.
Palmer, B., Donaldson, C., & Stough, C. (2002). Emotional intelligence and life satisfaction. Personality and Individual Differences, 33, 1091–1100.
 
54.
Peña-Sarrionandia, A., Mikolajczak, M., & Gross, J. J. (2015). Integrating emotion regulation and emotional intelligence traditions: A meta-analysis. Frontiers Psychology, 6, 160.
 
55.
Pereira-Teques, A., Bueno Carrera, G., Pais-Ribeiro, J., Teques, P., & Ramón, G. L. (2016). The importance of emotional intelligence and meaning in life in psycho-oncology. Psychooncology, 25, 324–331.
 
56.
Petrides, K. V. (2011). Ability and trait emotional intelligence. In T. Chamorro-Premuzic, A. Furnham, & S. von Stumm (eds.), The Wiley-Blackwell handbook of individual differences (pp. 656–678). New York: Wiley.
 
57.
Petrides, K. V., & Furnham, A. (2000). On the dimensional structure of emotional intelligence. Personality and Individual Differences, 29, 313–320.
 
58.
Rego, A., Sousa, F., Marques, C., & Cunha, M. P. E. (2012). Optimism predicting employees’ creativity: The mediating role of positive affect and the positivity ratio. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 21, 244–270.
 
59.
Saklofske, D. H., Austin, E. J., & Minski, P. S. (2003). Factor structure and validity of a trait emotional intelligence measure. Personality and Individual Differences, 34, 707–721.
 
60.
Salovey, P., Mayer, J. D., Goldman, S. L., Turvey, C., & Palfai, T. P. (1995). Emotional attention, clarity, and repair: Exploring emotional intelligence using the Trait Meta-Mood Scale. In J. W. Pennebaker (Ed.), Emotion, disclosure, & health (pp. 125–154). Washington: American Psychological Association.
 
61.
Salovey, P., Bedell, B., Detweiler, J., & Mayer, J. (1999). Coping intelligently: Emotional intelligence and the coping process. In C. Snyder (Ed.), Coping: The psychology of what works (pp. 141–164). New York: Oxford Psychology Press.
 
62.
Sánchez-Álvarez, N., Extremera, N., & Fernández-Berrocal, P. (2015). Maintaining life satisfaction in adolescence: Affective mediators of the influence of perceived emotional intelligence on overall life satisfaction judgments in a two-year longitudinal study. Frontiers in Psychology, 6, 1892.
 
63.
Sánchez-Álvarez, N., Extremera, N., & Fernández-Berrocal, P. (2016). The relation between emotional intelligence and subjective well-being: A meta-analytic investigation. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 11, 276–285.
 
64.
Schimmack, U., & Oishi, S. (2005). The influence of chronically and temporarily accessible information on life satisfaction judgments. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 89, 395–406.
 
65.
Schimmack, U., Diener, E., & Oishi, S. (2002). Life-satisfaction is a momentary judgment and a stable personality characteristic: The use of chronically accessible and stable sources. Journal of Personality, 70, 345–384.
 
66.
Schimmack, U., Radhakrishnan, P., Oishi, S., Dzokoto, V., & Ahadi, S. (2002). Culture, personality, and subjective well-being: Integrating process models of life satisfaction. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 82, 582–593.
 
67.
Schutte, N. S., Malouff, J. M., Hall, L. E., Haggerty, D. J., Cooper, J. T., Golden, C. J., & Dornheim, L. (1998). Development and validation of a measure of emotional intelligence. Personality and Individual Differences, 25, 167–177.
 
68.
Schutte, N. S., & Malouff, J. M. (2011). Emotional intelligence mediates the relationship between mindfulness and subjective well-being. Personality and Individual Differences, 50, 1116–1119.
 
69.
Schutte, N. S., Malouff, J. M., Thorsteinsson, N. B., & Rooke, S. E. (2007). A meta-analytic investigation of the relationship between emotional intelligence and health. Personality and Individual Differences, 42, 921–933.
 
70.
Schwarz, N., & Clore, G. L. (2007). Feelings and phenomenal experiences. In A. Kruglanski & E. T. Higgins (Eds.), Social psychology. Handbook of basic principles (2nd ed.) (pp. 385–407). New York: Guilford.
 
71.
Schwartz, R. M., Reynolds, C. F., Thase, M. E., Frank, E., Fasicska, A. L., & Haaga, D. A. F. (2002). Optimal and normal affect balance in psychotherapy of major depression: Evaluation of the balanced states of mind model. Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy, 30, 439–450.
 
72.
Shrira, A., Palgi, Y., Wolf, J. J., Haber, Y., Goldray, O., Shacham-Shmueli, E., & Ben-Ezra, M. (2011). The positivity ratio and functioning under stress. Stress and Health, 27, 265–271.
 
73.
Steger, M. F., & Kashdan, T. B. (2007). Stability and specificity of meaning in life and life satisfaction over one year. Journal of Happiness Studies, 8, 161–179.
 
74.
Szczygieł, D., & Mikolajczak, M. (2017). Why are people high in emotional intelligence happier? They make the most of their positive emotions. Personality and Individual Differences, 117, 177–181.
 
75.
Szczygieł, D., & Weber, J. (2017). Emotional intelligence predicts peer-rated social competence above and beyond personality traits. Current Issues in Personality Psychology, 5, 91–101.
 
76.
Watson, D., Clark, L. A., & Tellegen, A. (1988). Development and validation of a brief measure of positive and negative affect: The PANAS scales. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54, 1063–1070.
 
77.
Wojciszke, B., & Baryła, W. (2005). Skale do pomiaru nastroju i sześciu emocji [Scales for measurement of mood and six emotions]. Czasopismo Psychologiczne, 11, 31–47.
 
78.
Wong, C. S., & Law, K. S. (2002). The effects of leader and follower emotional intelligence on performance and attitude: An exploratory study. The Leadership Quarterly, 13, 243–274.
 
79.
Zeidner, M., & Kloda, I. (2013). Emotional intelligence (EI), conflict resolution patterns, and relationship satisfaction: Actor and partner effects revisited. Personality and Individual Differences, 54, 278–283.
 
80.
Zeidner, M., & Matthews, G. (2016). Ability emotional intelligence and mental health: Social support as a mediator. Personality and Individual Diffrences, 99, 196–199.
 
81.
Zeidner, M., Matthews, G., & Roberts, R. D. (2006). Emotional intelligence, adaptation, and coping. In J. Ciarrochi, J. Forgas, & J. D. Mayer (Eds.), Emotional intelligence in everyday life: A scientific inquiry (2nd ed.) (pp. 100–125). Philadelphia, PA: Psychology Press.
 
82.
Zeidner, M., Matthews, G., & Roberts, R. D. (2012). The emotional intelligence, health, and well-being nexus: What have we learned and what have we missed? Applied Psychology: Health and Well-being, 4, 1–30.
 
83.
Zheng, Y., Plomin, R., & von Stuum, S. (2016). Heritability of intraindividual mean and variability of positive and negative affect: Genetic analysis of daily affect ratings over a month. Psychological Science, 27, 1611–1619.
 
Copyright: © Institute of Psychology, University of Gdansk This is an Open Access journal, all articles are distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/), allowing third parties to copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format and to remix, transform, and build upon the material, provided the original work is properly cited and states its license.
eISSN:2353-561X
ISSN:2353-4192
Journals System - logo
Scroll to top