Abstract
The strength named “social intelligence” in the Values in Action (VIA) Classification of Character Strengths and Virtues represents emotional, personal, and social intelligences, which are considered “hot intelligences”. This work contributed to the study of the mechanisms of influence of social intelligence on mental health. A multiple mediation model was proposed to quantify the direct effect of social intelligence on psychopathological symptoms, as well as its indirect effect through its impact on components of subjective and psychological well-being. This study involved 1407 university students who completed the Values in Action Inventory of Strengths (VIA-IS), the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS), the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS), the Psychological Well-Being Scales (PWBS), and the Symptom Checklist-90-Revised (SCL-90-R). Social intelligence was found to be significantly associated with life satisfaction (a = 0.33, p < 0.001), positive affect (a = 0.42, p < 0.001), and negative affect (a = −0.21, p < 0.001), transmitting significant indirect effects on psychopathological symptomatology through these components of subjective well-being. Likewise, social intelligence was positively and significantly related to psychological well-being (a-paths ranged from 0.31 to 0.43, p < 0.001), exerting significant and negative indirect effects on psychological distress through the dimension of positive relations with other people. These results could be useful in order to expand the explanatory models of the influence of social intelligence on mental health and to design interventions based on this strength for the promotion of well-being and the reduction in psychological distress.
Highlights
Emotional, personal, and social intelligences fit the description of hot, broad intelligences.They have in common “their concern for the human world of inner experience and outer relationships” [1] (p. 295)
All three constitute one of the strengths included in the Values in Action (VIA) Classification of Character Strengths and Virtues [2], which was named “Social Intelligence” (SI)
We proposed a parallel multiple mediator model in which SI was modeled as influencing psychological distress indirectly through nine mediators: the cognitive and affective components of subjective well-being (SWB) and the six dimensions of psychological well-being (PWB)
Summary
Personal, and social intelligences fit the description of hot, broad intelligences.They have in common “their concern for the human world of inner experience and outer relationships” [1] (p. 295). Personal, and social intelligences fit the description of hot, broad intelligences. They have in common “their concern for the human world of inner experience and outer relationships” [1] All three constitute one of the strengths included in the Values in Action (VIA) Classification of Character Strengths and Virtues [2], which was named “Social Intelligence” (SI). Previous research has shown that character strengths have strong connections with well-being in adults (e.g., [3,4,5,6,7]), youths, and children (e.g., [8,9,10]). Two forms of well-being have been distinguished: subjective well-being (SWB) and psychological well-being (PWB) [11,12]. The SWB perspective defines well-being in terms of life satisfaction and balance between positive affect and negative affect
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