| This study quantified the contribution of various constructs associated with emotional intelligence, namely, empathy, alexithymia and personality characteristics. Additionally, this study explored the contributions of gender and culture to emotional intelligence. Culture was categorized as either foreign-influenced or western-influenced according to country of birth and/or language spoken at home. A sample of 94 undergraduate students from a private northeastern university served as participants. Students were administered the Bar-On Emotional Quotient Inventory: Short (EQ-i:S), the Balanced Emotional Empathy Scale (BEES), the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) and the NEO Five Factor Inventory-Form S, as well as a demographic questionnaire. Gender, culture, NEO-FFI scores, TAS-20 scores, and BEES scores served as predictors in the regression model, while EQ-i:S scores served as the dependent variable. Main hypotheses were: (1) the proposed model expanded on existing models of emotional intelligence and included culture and gender along with personality factors, empathy and alexithymia, to provide a comprehensive and predictive of emotional intelligence (EQ) (2) culture also would emerge as a significant predictor of emotional intelligence and (3) total EQ scores would be greatest among empathic females. The first hypothesis was supported as a multiple regression analysis indicated that the proposed model of emotional intelligence accounted for 69% of the variance in EQ scores. However, of the five predictors included in model, only Neuroticism, Extraversion, Conscientiousness, and TAS-20 scores emerged as significant predictors of emotional intelligence, thus failing to support the second hypothesis. Potential explanations for the lack of support of this hypothesis include the possibility that the procedure used to assess culture was insensitive, as well as the possibility that sample demographics such as age, education, and SES affected level of acculturation. Finally, the third hypothesis was not supported as the EQ scores of empathic females were not significantly higher than other females in the sample. A major implication of these findings is that personality may serve a larger role in emotional intelligence than many theorists attest. Strengths and limitations of the study, clinical implications of the findings and suggested areas of future research are discussed. |
