Emotional Intelligence and Life Adjustment: A Validation Study

Emotional intelligence was hypothesized to be a factor in successful life adjustment, among them the successful achievement of a well-balanced life with little interference between work and family and leisure. Data from a sample of 153 respondents who were roughly representative of the population were obtained, including measurement of emotional intelligence, life/work balance and other indices of adjustment and social/psychological skills, and salary. EI was measured by both questionnaire items (trait EI) and a task of identifying emotions in social problem episodes as described in vignettes (performance EI). Balance was measured both in terms of family/leisure interfering with work and vice versa. Both interference dimensions correlated strongly with emotional intelligence in the hypothesized direction. Emotional intelligence was positively related to salary both for men and women, and at different levels of educational achievement. Other indices of social skill were also related to EI. On the other hand, those high in EI tended to be less concerned with economic success.