THE EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE AND INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS: MEDIATING ROLE OF FAMILY ENVIRONMENT

Abstract

The present study aimed to examine the relationship between emotional intelligence (EI) and interpersonal relationships (IR) of collegiate students of Bhakkar, Punjab, by the mediation of family environment (FE). Drawing on the positivist paradigm, the quantitative correlational design was used, based on the theory of emotional intelligence, family systems theory, and attachment theory. The data were gathered using self-structured, closed- ended questionnaire adapted from the scales of EI, FE, and IR. The statistical procedures like the descriptive, correlation, simple and multiple regression and bootstrapping were used to analyze data in accordance with Hayes PROCESS Macro (Model 4). The mean scores were high for EI (3.82) and IR (3.88) and significantly predicted IR (β = .65, p < .001) and accounted for 42.3% of the variance in the relationship quality. The indirect effect of the family environment was significant and partial (0.23; CI: 0.16–0.31), and the overall model accounted for 52.8% of the variance in IR. Results show that emotionally intelligent students create more positive family climates that are a relational bridge that strengthens social competence beyond the family. The study concludes that the best way to support the interpersonal development of the youth is to work upon both interpersonal skills as well as family function.