Abstract
Nowadays, students are experiencing difficult and stressful situations due to the Global Pandemic Alert. This changing world can evoke negative emotions that have been traditionally linked to higher anxiety. Researches have been focused on the positive outcomes of trait emotional intelligence (TEI) preventing psychological disorders. However, the possibility that TEI might have a dark side has been neglected. Hence, this study aimed to explore the mediating effect of the three dimensions of TEI in the relationship between negative affect and anxiety symptoms among college students. Participants of this research were 467 undergraduates who completed an online self-reported questionnaire including the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS; Watson et al., 1988), the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI; Spielberger et al., 1970), and Trait Meta-Mood Scale (TMMS-24, Salovey et al., 1995). The global serial mediation model showed that the total amount of variance explained by the global model was 30.8% (R2 = 0.31). Negative affectivity and age accounted for the 15.1% of state anxiety variance (R2 = 0.15; c: B = 0.63, p < 0.001) while 15.7% of the variance of state anxiety was attributed to the direct or indirect effect of the three dimensions of TEI (R2 = 0.16). Five indirect effects presented statistical significance (95% BootCI). The contrast analyses between mediators showed that three indirect effects had higher statistical weigh; the ability of negative affect to increase state anxiety through (i) emotional attention; (ii) emotional clarity, and (iii) serially through emotional clarity and mood repair. Our results indicated that students’ negative emotions lead to higher emotional attention which in turn may enhance state anxiety in two ways: by a direct effect of emotional attention on state anxiety and by a serial effect through emotional clarity. Moreover, when negative affect is associated with lower emotional clarity, anxiety symptoms may also arise. However, when attention and clarity are connected, the negative effect is reversed into a positive one, decreasing state anxiety.
Highlights
University life has been widely described as a period of change in which undergraduates have to adapt to academic pressures and different social and personal responsibilities
Due to the scarce literature regarding the potential dark side of trait emotional intelligence (TEI), our study aimed to explore the effect that negative affect has on state anxiety among university students, as well as to examine the serial mediator role of TEI in the relationship between negative affect and anxiety levels
This research contributes to expand knowledge to the growing body of evidence highlighting that TEI may lead to maladaptive behaviors and negative health outcomes (Ciarrochi et al, 2002; Sánchez-Álvarez et al, 2015; Zhang et al, 2015; Pena and Losada, 2017; Guil et al, 2019)
Summary
University life has been widely described as a period of change in which undergraduates have to adapt to academic pressures and different social and personal responsibilities. In the university context, undergraduates have faced difficult and stressful situations in their academic climate such as virtual classes and exams, independent work, and isolation that have caused incomparable psychological distress, increasing negative emotional states (Mazza et al, 2020). In this regard, negative affect has been traditionally linked to lower academic performance, stress (Pollack and Herres, 2020), and symptoms of anxiety and depression (Toro et al, 2018)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
