دانلود رایگان مقاله انگلیسی صفات هوش هیجانی و انحراف اجتماعی در مردان و زنان - نشریه الزویر

ABSTRACT

High trait Emotional Intelligence (trait EI) is often considered a positive attribute, but some studies have suggested that it may facilitate deception or manipulative relational behaviours, and that the effects differ according to gender. In two studies, we examine the influence of trait EI factors on social deviance, from adolescence through to adulthood. A total of 455 participants (243 females) completed the Trait EI Questionnaire and provided self-reports of deviant behaviours during adolescence and emerging adulthood (Study 1) or in adulthood (Study 2). For males, adolescent and emerging adult deviance related negatively to Emotionality and Selfcontrol, in accordance with positive views of trait EI, but in adulthood deviance was predicted only by high Sociability. For females, the opposite pattern was seen, with high levels of Emotionality and Sociability associated with deviance in adolescence and high Sociability in emerging adulthood. Adult female social deviance was negatively correlated with Self-control and Emotionality, replicating the adolescent male profile. Trait EI is not inevitably positive, and is an under-researched personality determinant of social deviance. Further consideration of the developmental trajectory of trait EI may provide insights to inform intervention with at-risk individuals in adolescence, and beyond.

3. Discussion

These two studies confirm that the relationship between socially deviant behaviours and trait EI is not straightforward. Generally considered a positive attribute, our results present evidence that higher levels of trait EI may actually facilitate both criminal and non-criminal deviant behaviours, especially among younger women and adult males. This research builds on the extant work of Bacon et al. (2014) by explicating the aspects of the trait which are most salient in helping to explain adolescent deviance in both males and females. In addition, we present preliminary investigations into how the EI profile of deviant individuals changes as they move through emerging adulthood and into full adulthood, lifestages when they should have normatively desisted from typical adolescent-limited behaviour.

For male participants aged 18–25, our results supported the prediction that deviant behaviours would be negatively associated with the trait EI factor Self-control, reflecting a tendency towards impulsivity, poor emotional regulation and difficulties managing stress. Overall, this is exactly the trait El profile we might expect in antisocial individuals given previous research on measures of similar constructs but measured independently of trait El, such as empathy and self-regulation (e.g. Cohen & Strayer, 1996; Downey et al., 2010; Jolliffe & Farrington, 2007). In contrast, for female participants, we predicted a positive association between trait El factors Emotionality and Sociability to support Bacon et al.'s suggestion that empathy, emotion perception, social skills and the ability to influence other people's feelings are associated with deviant behaviour in young female. Our results fully uphold this prediction.