The Relationship between Emotional Intelligence and Emotion Regulation

Abstract

The thesis examines the relationship between emotional intelligence (EI) traits (capacities people have) and emotion regulation processes (things people do) in two studies: a meta-analysis (Study 1) and a cross-sectional study (Study 2). This research is important for understanding the mechanisms by which EI produces positive outcomes. Emotion regulation can either be intrinsic (regulating one’s own emotions) or extrinsic (regulating others’ emotions). Study 1 estimates the associations of intrinsic emotion regulation processes with each of the three EI streams (ability EI, self-rated EI, and mixed EI), comparing the lower-level branches of ability EI (i.e., emotion perception, use, understanding, and management). Study 2 looks at the associations between ability EI and extrinsic emotion regulation. Chapter 1 introduces background theory on EI and emotion regulation. Chapter 2 presents a meta-analysis (n = 67 studies, k = 618 effects) on EI and intrinsic emotion regulation. Chapter 3 presents a cross-sectional study (N = 178) on EI and extrinsic emotion regulation. Chapter 4 discusses the overall meaning of results. Results indicated that: 1) emotionally intelligent people tend to regulate their own emotions by either solving the problems (direct situation modification and seeking help) or changing their mindset towards the emotional situations (positive reappraisal); 2) emotionally intelligent people tend to use processes that involve high engagement with others’ emotions (reappraisal, receptive listening, and valuing) but not processes that involve low engagement with others’ emotions (downward comparison and expressive suppression); and 3) the test formats and theoretical models of EI measures significantly affect the correlations between EI and intrinsic/extrinsic emotion regulation. This thesis contributed to our understandings of associations between EI and emotion regulation, as well as the moderating effects of EI stream and EI branch.