Gendered self-concept and gender as predictors of emotional intelligence: a comparison through of age

Abstract

This study researched the relevance of gendered self-concept and gender as predictors of emotional intelligence in different age groups: adolescents, young adults and middle-aged. Study 1 analyzed the psychometric properties of the Positive-Negative Sex-Role Inventory introducing the Spanish version (PN-SRI-SP20). Study 2 analyzed the relationship between gendered self-concept, gender and age, a) We specifically examined differences by gender and age in gendered self-concept and EI and b) identified the predictive capacity of gendered self-concept and gender in emotional intelligence in three age groups. Results indicated that the PN-SRI-SP20 presents a factorial structure of 4 related factors (positive feminine, negative feminine, positive masculine and negative masculine), with adequate reliability, and is therefore an appropriate measure to evaluate this subject Both men and women maintain a traditional gendered self-concept, however, differences were found according to age. Gendered self-concept becomes more positive with age. As regards emotional intelligence, differences were also found among varoius age groups with the middle-aged group reaching higher scores. In addition, gendered self-concept was more relevant than gender in predicting emotional intelligence in all age groups. Emotional attention was predicted by feminine gendered self-concept but emotional clarity and repair by both feminine and masculine gendered self-concept. Gender was only relevant for emotional repair in the middle-aged group. We comment on the relevance of promoting feminine and masculine gendered self-concept in order to enhance emotional intelligence.