Annamaria Di Fabio

Promoting Emotional Intelligence and Career Decision Making Among Italian High School Students

This article evaluates the efficacy of a training program focused on increasing emotional intelligence (EI), which was developed for Italian high school students. The training was constructed using an ability-based model of EI. It was hypothesized that specific training would increase both ability and self-reported EI and reduce levels of indecisiveness and career decision difficulties. This article outlines relevant literature and provides a description of the intervention, an evaluation of its efficacy, and a presentation of the results with regard to decisional problems.

Career Indecision Versus Indecisiveness: Associations With Personality Traits and Emotional Intelligence

The goal of the present study was to investigate the distinctions between career indecision and indecisiveness. The different patterns of the associations between career indecision and indecisiveness, on one hand, and personality traits, career decision-making self-efficacy, perceived social support, and emotional intelligence, on the other, were studied in a sample of 361 university students. The results showed that career indecision, as measured by the Career Decision-making Difficulties Questionnaire, is most highly associated with emotional intelligence, whereas career indecisiveness, as measured by the Indecisiveness scale, is most highly associated with personality traits, and in particular with emotional stability. This pattern of results was obtained for both women and men; however, the prediction was stronger for indecision (R 2 = .76 and .55, for women and men, respectively) than indecisiveness (R 2 = .35 and .28, for women than for men, respectively). Possible explanations of these differences are discussed.

The Contributions of Emotional Intelligence and Social Support for Adaptive Career Progress among Italian Youth.

Drawing from career construction and positive youth development perspectives, this study explores, among 254 Italian high school students, the relationship between emotional intelligence (EI) and support from friends and teachers with indices of adaptive career development. Results from the full canonical correlational model revealed that dimensions of EI and teacher support were positively associated with resilience and self-perceived employability. These results suggest that EI and teacher support warrant further investigation as factors that may contribute to adaptive career progress among youth.

Emotional Intelligence and Perceived Social Support Among Italian High School Students

Emotional intelligence (EI) has emerged in recent research as a teachable skill that is distinct from personality and is relevant to scholastic and work success and progress in career development. This study adds to that research by examining the relationship of performance and self-report measures of EI and personality traits with perceived social support. Three hundred and nine Italian high school students completed the Multidimensional scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS), the Emotional Intelligence scale (EIS), the Mayer Salovey Caruso Emotional Intelligence test (MSCEIT), and the Big Five questionnaire (BFQ). Both self-report (EIS) and performance (MSCEIT) measures of EI contributed to the explanation of social support beyond the effects of personality (BFQ). Building on prior research evidence that social support and EI are instrumental to career development, and that EI can be enhanced through training, the findings suggest the potential of EI training as a component of career readiness preparation.

Emotional Intelligence and Decisional Conflict Styles: Some Empirical Evidence among Italian High School Students.

This study assessed the relationship between emotional intelligence and decisional conflict styles. Five hundred and twenty-eight Italian high school students (median age = 18; SD = .76) were given the Melbourne Decision Making Questionnaire (MDMQ) and the Bar-On Emotional Quotient Inventory: short (Bar-On EQ-i:S). The Intrapersonal dimension of emotional intelligence emerged as the best inverse predictor of nonadaptive styles, whereas the Adaptability dimension was the best predictor of the adaptive style of vigilance; the Interpersonal dimension of emotional intelligence was associated with the nonadaptive styles. The results provide an in-depth look at the relationship between the emotional intelligence construct and the decisional conflict styles, yielding new areas of research, assessment, and intervention.

The Contribution of Emotional Intelligence to Decisional Styles Among Italian High School Students

This study examined the relationship between emotional intelligence (EI) and styles of decision making. Two hundred and six Italian high school students completed two measures of EI, the Bar-On EI Inventory, based on a mixed model of EI, and the Mayer Salovey Caruso EI Test, based on an ability-based model of EI, in addition to the General Decision-Making Style Questionnaire. The findings suggest that both mixed model and ability-based models are related to decision-making style, but that ability-based EI does not predict decision-making style beyond the effects of the mixed model. This study reveals how varied dimensions of EI, especially self-assessment of one’s emotional skills and personal qualities, are related to decision-making style. The assessment of EI may be useful in understanding career decision-making difficulties and in identifying strategies for promoting adaptive career decision making.

Beyond fluid intelligence and personality traits in social support: the role of ability based emotional intelligence.

Social support represents an important individual resource that has been associated with multiple indices of adaptive functioning and resiliency. Existing research has also identified an association between emotional intelligence (EI) and social support. The present study builds on prior research by investigating the contributions of ability based EI to social support, beyond the effects of fluid intelligence and personality traits. The Advanced Progressive Matrices, the Big Five Questionnaire, the Mayer Salovey Caruso EI test (MSCEIT), and the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support were administered to 149 Italian high school students. The results showed that ability based EI added significant incremental variance in explaining perceived social support, beyond the variance due to fluid intelligence and personality traits. The results underline the role of ability based EI in relation to perceived social support. Since ability based EI can be increased through specific training, the results of the present study highlight new possibilities for research and intervention in a preventive framework.

Hedonic and eudaimonic well-being: the role of resilience beyond fluid intelligence and personality traits.

Resilience is a key factor in the well-being of individuals. The present study set out to analyze the role of fluid intelligence, personality traits, and resilience in hedonic and eudaimonic well-being (EWB) in order to determine the incremental validity of resilience with respect to fluid intelligence and personality traits in 168 Italian high school students. The Advanced Progressive Matrices, the Big Five Questionnaire, the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale, the Satisfaction With Life Scale, the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule, the Meaningful Life Measure, the Authenticity Scale were administered to the participants in the study. The results showed that resilience added a significant percentage of incremental variance with respect to fluid intelligence and personality traits in relation to life satisfaction, positive affect, life meaning, and authenticity. These results underline the value of resilience in both hedonic and EWB, thus offering new perspectives for research and intervention.

Promoting Well-Being: The Contribution of Emotional Intelligence

Adopting a primary prevention perspective, this study examines competencies with the potential to enhance well-being and performance among future workers. More specifically, the contributions of ability-based and trait models of emotional intelligence (EI), assessed through well-established measures, to indices of hedonic and eudaimonic well-being were examined for a sample of 157 Italian high school students. The Mayer–Salovey–Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test was used to assess ability-based EI, the Bar-On Emotional Intelligence Inventory and the Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire were used to assess trait EI, the Positive and Negative Affect Scale and the Satisfaction With Life Scale were used to assess hedonic well-being, and the Meaningful Life Measure was used to assess eudaimonic well-being. The results highlight the contributions of trait EI in explaining both hedonic and eudaimonic well-being, after controlling for the effects of fluid intelligence and personality traits. Implications for further research and intervention regarding future workers are discussed.

The psychology of sustainability and sustainable development for well-being in organizations

This article discusses the contribution of the psychology of sustainability and sustainable development to well-being in organizations from a primary prevention perspective. It deals with sustainability not only in terms of the ecological, economic, and social environment but also in terms of improving the quality of life of every human being. The psychology of sustainability and sustainable development is seen as a primary prevention perspective that can foster well-being in organizations at all the different levels going from the worker, to the group, to the organization, and also to inter-organizational processes. The possibilities for further research and interventions are also discussed.