Date of Conferral

2021

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Psychology

Advisor

Matthew Fearrington

Abstract

The concept of Emotional Intelligence (EI) identifies numerous areas within life that are impacted by the development of higher EI, including school performance, work performance, parenting, relationship patterns, and more. The implications of EI appear to be far-reaching, yet the understanding of how EI develops in an individual continues to be vague and unclear. The purpose of this quantitative study was to account for the roles that personality factors and executive functions play in EI. By incorporating personality trait theory and executive function theory, a survey was designed and disseminated online resulting in 89 completed surveys of participants between the age of 25 – 65 years. A multiple linear regression was run to understand the relationship between personality factors and executive function with EI. Results showed that emotional regulation, openness, extraversion, conscientiousness, neuroticism, agreeableness, self-management to time, organization/problem-solving, motivation, and self-restraint account for 32.4 % of the variance in EI with an adjusted R2= of 23.9%. The model, as a whole, was able to significantly predict EI. Understanding the possible antecedents to the development of EI may help to support positive social change in various aspects of individual’s lives, from school to work, by helping individuals increase problem-solving, decision-making, and attention skills that are core to EI. These factors are important and have been shown to positively impact productivity in school and work and may contribute to upward social mobility.

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