Subjective Economic Inequality Decreases Emotional Intelligence, Especially for People of High Social Class

Emotional intelligence of radiography students in a low resource setting: A cross-sectional survey

INTRODUCTION

Understanding noncognitive traits like emotional intelligence (EI) is valuable for radiography students, academics, practitioners, and educators. It helps them become aware of how these traits can impact their training, placements, and careers. This study aimed to evaluate the EI of radiography students at a tertiary institute in Harare, Zimbabwe.

METHODS

A quantitative cross-sectional study using a validated Trait EI questionnaire was conducted on students at a tertiary institute in Harare, Zimbabwe. Student t-test, analysis of variance (ANOVA), and Spearman's rho were employed for data analysis.

RESULTS

A total of 84 radiography students were enrolled in this study. The students had relatively lower EI scores (4.31 +/-0.49) as compared to most of their global counterparts. A significant positive monotonic relationship was identified between age and self-control factor (Spearman's rho = 0.22, p = 0.04). There were no statistically significant differences in mean scores for the global and the four EI factors when stratified by gender, even though males had slightly higher scores than females in all but the emotionality factor. There were no significant differences in the mean scores of the global as well as the four factors by year of study.

CONCLUSION

Deliberate, time-intensive curriculum interventions are needed to improve the EI of radiography students in Zimbabwe and this trend is potentially similar to other resource-limited settings. However, more context-specific evidence is needed to formulate the best techniques for EI interventions.

When are people more open to cheating? Economic inequality makes people expect more everyday unethical behavior

Economic inequality has been found to be associated with increased unethical behavior and an increased acceptance of unethical behavior. In this paper we explored whether higher amounts of perceived inequality lead to an increase in the expectation of unethical behavior. We tested whether people would say that they themselves would engage in more unethical behavior in a context of high compared to low inequality. We find evidence for this hypothesis in 3 of 4 studies (n = 3,038). An internal meta-analysis shows a small but significant effect. Such increased expectations that oneself will behave unethically likely has consequences for societal trust and functioning.

On the lowest rung of the ladder: How social exclusion, perceived economic inequality and stigma increase homeless people's resignation

Despite the relevance of social exclusion and economic inequality for homelessness, empirical studies investigating how these issues relate to homeless people's psychological well-being are scarce. We aimed to fill this gap by conducting two quasi-experimental studies on homeless and non-homeless groups. The first study (N = 200) showed that homeless (vs. non-homeless) people presented higher levels of resignation, characterized by depression, alienation, helplessness, and unworthiness (Williams, 2009). The second study (N = 183) replicated the findings from Study 1 and showed that perceived economic inequality could increase homeless people's resignation by emphasizing perceptions of social exclusion. Additional analyses found that identification with the stigmatized homeless group could mediate the relationship between perceived inequality and social exclusion, increasing the resignation. Overall, the results showed that chronic social exclusion of homeless people is associated with higher levels of resignation. Moreover, they showed the role of perceived economic inequality and homeless group stigmatized identification as group-specific mechanisms favouring social exclusion and ultimately worsening psychological well-being.

How living in economically unequal societies shapes our minds and our social lives

In recent decades, the economies of many countries have produced increasingly unequal outcomes for the rich and poor. This economic trend has attracted interest from members of the media, public and political classes as well as researchers who are interested in its societal implications. While this research has traditionally been the purview of economists and sociologists, there has been a burgeoning growth in research that has sought to understand the psychology of economic inequality. In this review, we summarize this work, focusing on two major themes: (1) how people perceive the scale of economic inequality and appraise its significance, and (2) how living in an economically unequal environment shapes people's social lives. Together, this work affirms claims that economic inequality is 'the defining issue of our time' (Obama, 2013) with a great deal of destructive potential. We identify important questions that await further research attention.

Influence of emotional intelligence on the clinical ability of nursing interns: a structural equation model

Background

Internship is a critical period during which nursing students develop clinical skills and establish professional attitudes. Requirements for nursing interns are evolving with the development of medicine and the transformation of teaching models. The emotional intelligence (EI) of nursing students has an influence on their clinical performance. This study aimed to investigate the impact of EI on the clinical ability of nursing interns.

Methods

A cross-sectional observational study was designed to include nursing students interning in a tertiary hospital in Shanghai, China from April 1, 2019 to April 30, 2020 (N = 310). Chinese versions of the EI scale (EIS) and holistic clinical assessment tool (HCAT) were used to measure the EI and clinical ability of interns, respectively. Pearson’s correlation coefficient was utilized to determine the correlation between EI and clinical ability. Multiple linear regression analysis was performed to further explore the influence of EI on clinical ability, and the structural equation model (SEM) was used for multivariate path analysis.

Results

The mean EI and clinical ability scores of interns were 125.17 ± 14.98 and 97.91 ± 19.55, respectively, indicating an upper-moderate level in both aspects. EI scores were correlated positively with clinical ability ones (R = 0.534, p < 0.05). Multivariate path analysis showed that “managing emotions” and “facilitating thought” of EI branches have direct effects on clinical ability. Furthermore, the type of school, family financial state and the knowledge of EI indirectly influence clinical ability through their impact on “managing emotions” and “facilitating thought”.

Conclusions

EI is essential to enhancing the clinical ability of nursing students. EI training should focus on facilitating thought and managing emotions. It is also necessary for educators to consider the context of nursing students and the characteristics of schools.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12912-022-00933-y.

Does Emotional Intelligence Increase Satisfaction with Life during COVID-19? The Mediating Role of Depression

COVID-19 has spread rapidly and become a health crisis around the world, and negatively affected the mental state of individuals. Emotional intelligence (EI) can play an important role in coping with the mental problems experienced due to the pandemic. This study examined how individuals' emotional intelligence levels affect depression and satisfaction with life during the COVID-19 period. The study was designed as quantitative and cross-sectional and reached 578 adult participants online. Emotional intelligence trait scale-short form, depression subscale (DASS-21), satisfaction with life scale, and sociodemographic questions as control variables were used as data collection tools in the study. The data obtained were conducted using SPSS 24, PROCESS-Macro, and Amos 25 statistical programs. The hypotheses established were tested by correlation, multiple regression, mediating, and moderating analyzes. Results confirmed that emotional intelligence had a positive association with satisfaction with life and a negative association with depression. In addition, interaction analyses found that age and family type had a moderating effect on satisfaction with life, and depression had a mediating effect. After discussing the importance of emotional intelligence as a coping mechanism in dealing with problems, some suggestions were made to policymakers and practitioners.

Confounding Factors Affecting the Emotional Intelligence Amongst Jordanian Nursing and Midwifery Undergraduate Students During the COVID-19 Pandemic's Outbreak: A Cross-Sectional Study Using USMEQ-i

Objective: This aim of this study was to determine which variables from the demographic data most affect the EI regarding the COVID-19 outbreak and the lockdown amongst the nursing and midwifery students in Jordan. Background: Emotional intelligence (EI) is the ability to recognize, express, comprehend, motivate, influence and regulate emotions proposed the first EI model, which includes three constructs: emotion assessment and expression, emotion consumption and emotion control. During the COVID-19 outbreak and lockdown, face-to-face study methods have been replaced by online teaching, which has caused many psychological effects. Method: A cross-sectional approach was used to measure EI for nursing and midwifery students. The tool was completed online by nursing and midwifery students using Google Forms. All of the findings were received online and then analyzed accordingly. In this study, USMEQ-i was used to gather data from the participants. Results: The general EI score for the student respondents falls into the average score (M = 39.6). Regarding the difference between males and females, the results showed no significant difference. Moreover, the general linear regressions analysis of independent variables on EI score showed four significant factors. Nursing students who study in Years 1 and 4 had significantly higher EI scores than those in Years 2 and 3. EI ability decreased when a student's economic status changed from luxurious to middle income. Moreover, an increase in age significantly decreased the value of EI. This study indicates that all nursing and midwifery students who enrolled in general nursing program tended to have higher EI scores than others (p = 0.006). Conclusion: Year of study, age, average lifestyle and enrollment in a nursing program were found to be the most significant factors associated with EI amongst Jordanian nursing and midwifery students. This issue needs to be researched further, such that appropriate steps can be taken to address it.