Does emotional intelligence predict unique variance in life satisfaction beyond IQ and personality?

Abstract

Many emotional intelligence (EI) scales have been found to overlap with personality scales and it has been argued that EI scales are measuring personality. In the present study it was hypothesised that EI would explain unique variance in life satisfaction beyond that predicted by personality, IQ, and control variables. A community sample ( N = 191) aged 18–79 years ( M = 35.94, SD = 14.17) was recruited. Because IQ showed no bivariate relationship with life satisfaction, IQ was not used in further analyses. After controlling for marital status and income, personality accounted for an additional 34.2% of the variance in life satisfaction, and total EI scores accounted for a further 1.3% ( p < 0.05). Further analysis revealed that the additional variance was explained by the EI dimension of Emotional Management. In a competing analysis, EI explained 28.3% of the variance at step 2, and personality accounted for a further 8.8% of the variance at step 3. It was concluded that EI predicted some unique variance in life satisfaction, and that there was substantial conceptual overlap between EI and personality. However, it is argued that, rather than being redundant, emotional intelligence may offer valuable insights to current conceptions of personality.