Resilience as a mediator: examining the relationships between emotional intelligence, daily hassles, resilience, and personal growth initiative in postsecondary students

Abstract

The relationship between the experience of daily hassles, emotional intelligence, resilience, and personal growth initiative was examined in a sample of undergraduate, postsecondary students. The mediating role of resilience was also examined. Seventy-one students from four Ontarian universities completed self-report measures of daily hassles, emotional intelligence, resilience, and personal growth initiative. Findings supported the hypotheses. Emotional intelligence was negatively correlated with the experience of daily hassles (r(70) = -.45, p < .01) and was positively correlated with resilience (r(70) = .69, p < .01) and personal growth initiative (r(70) = .52, p < .01). Resilience was positively correlated with personal growth initiative (r(70) = .78, p < .01) and was found to mediate the positive relationship between emotional intelligence and personal growth initiative (b = .80, F(1, 68) = 51.41, p < .001). Resilience also explained a significant proportion of variance in personal growth initiative scores (R 2 = .60, p < .001). The study provides evidence for the significance of emotional intelligence in the ability to use internal and external coping mechanisms (resilience), which in turn promotes personal growth initiative in postsecondary students.