Emotional Intelligence and Empathy as Predictors of Subjective Well-Being in University Students

Joining the university environment is stressful. The development of emotional skills can help young people deal with new academic challenges and improve their personal success and well-being. The aim of this paper was to study the relationship between emotional intelligence, empathy and subjective well-being. The participants were 122 university students between 18 and 32 years old (M=20.93; DT=2.55; 83.60% women) who completed the questionnaires: Trait Meta-Mood Scale-24 (TMMS-24), Basic Empathy Scale (BES), Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS) and Scale of Positive and Negative Experiences (SPANE). Descriptive and multiple linear regression analyses were performed. The results indicated an influence of emotional skills on subjective well-being. Cognitive empathy, attention and clarity explained 30% of the variance of life satisfaction (R2=.30). Age and emotional repair predicted 17% of the positive affection variance (R2=.17). Sex, cognitive empathy, clarity, attention and emotional repair explained 28% of the variance of negative affects (R2=.28). Excessive attention can negatively influence well-being, while clarity and reparation could be considered positive predictors of subjective well-being.