Characteristics of emotional intelligence and its relationship with self-esteem and academic satisfaction among college students

Objective To explore the characteristics of emotional intelligence and its relationship with self-esteem and academic satisfaction among undergraduates.Methods A total of 248 undergraduates were assessed with Emotional Intelligence Scale,Self-esteem Scale and Academic Satisfaction Scale.Results The scores of self emotion managing(3.71?0.35),managing others' emotion(3.67?0.40),and utilizing emotion(3.65?0.54) were higher than that of perceiving emotion(3.51?0.23)(P<0.001) among the students.Female students' total emotional intelligence(3.67?0.23),self emotion managing(3.76?0.36),and utilizing emotion(3.72?0.53) were higher than those of male students(3.57?0.23,3.64?0.32,and 3.54?0.52)(P<0.05 for all).The total scores of emotional intelligence(3.66?0.23) and perceiving emotion(3.56?0.31) of junior students were higher than those of freshman(3.59?0.24,3.47?0.36)(P<0.05 for all).There were significant positive correlations between self-esteem,academic satisfaction and dimensions of the emotional intelligence(P<0.05).Self emotion managing and managing others' emotion mediated the relationship between self-esteem and emotional intelligence partially,accounting for 18.5% and 11.3% of total effect,respectively.Conclusion The emotional intelligence of college students is imbalance in different dimensions and gender and grade differences are significant in emotional intelligence.The self-esteem mediates academic satisfaction partially by regulation emotion among college students.