Role of emotional intelligence and grit in life satisfaction

Background: There is a pressing need to study life satisfaction in the context of collectivistic culture, particularly of undergraduate students. Various socio-cultural factors influence the level of emotional intelligence and grit of an individual. Even though a wide array of research on life satisfaction is available, it hasn't been studied in relation to grit and emotional intelligence (as conceptualized by Bar On), both of which can be acquired and enhanced over time. To the best of researcher's knowledge, a research that collectively studies emotional intelligence, grit and life satisfaction in the context of a collectivistic culture has not been carried out Method: The study discusses the relationship between emotional intelligence (as conceptualized by Bar-On), grit and life satisfaction. Scales employed to investigate the relationship between each of the constructs include Scale of Emotional Intelligence (SEI), 12-item Grit scale and Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS). 350 undergraduate students were selected through random sampling. Statistical analyses included Pearson Product Moment Coefficient of correlation, Independent Sample t-test, one-way between group analysis of variance (ANOVA) and multiple regression. Results: The study concludes that the two constructs, i.e. emotional intelligence and grit, are weakly related to life satisfaction, r(348)=.25, p<.01 and r(348)=.22, p<.01 respectively. A moderately strong association is found between emotional intelligence and grit r(348)=.46, p<.01. Significant gender differences are found in emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence and grit are not influenced by academic majors and academic years. Emotional intelligence and grit can influence life satisfaction by a variance of 15.6%. Participant's age ranged from 18 to 26 years (M = 21.20, SD = 1.62). Conclusion: The study concludes that emotional intelligence and grit have a moderately strong association with one another. Emotional intelligence and grit positively influence the level of satisfaction experienced by an individual, however small it maybe. The study presents important insight into each of the primary constructs within the cultural context of Pakistan. The results also highlight the importance of educating Pakistani individuals regarding improving emotional intelligence and grit. Both emotional intelligence and grit are learnable and teachable, which means that individuals can be educated to help them improve their performance and subjective well-being. Parents, educators and health professionals can also benefit from findings of this study, in a way that they can identify areas of emotional intelligence and grit that can be enhanced in order for the children, students and clients, respectively, to achieve better well-being and individual effectiveness.