Mediation of Emotional Intelligence between personality traits and risk behaviors andnegative experiences

Resumo

There is clear evidence that some personality traits are associated with risky behaviors and great attention to negative emotional experiences. From the theoretical models of personality that explore thecomponents of impulsivity, Gray’s behavioral motivation theory describes the Behavioral ActivationSystem (BAS) and the Behavioral Inhibition System (BIS). People with a particular sensitivity tothe BIS system are likely to have problems with anxiety and depression due to excessive attention tosignals related to adverse events. People with a very sensitive BAS and not very adept at identifying signals associated with punishment would be particularly vulnerable to the development of addictivebehaviors. However, according to Zuckerman’s theory, the impulsive disinhibited personality factoris most pronounced in alcohol consumption. Adequate Emotional Intelligence (EI) prevents certainbehaviors. Therefore, the objective of this study is to know, through two empirical studies, the mediation processes of EI between personality traits and negative behaviors or experiences. On the onehand, the results reveal that the activation of BAS produces a more positive affect, but presenting lowlevels of clarity and emotional repair will reduce this positive state. On the other hand, greater activation of BIS will produce a more significant negative affect. This will increase when he perceives thathe pays excessive attention to his feelings, does not understand them, or feels incapable of regulatingthem. Also, the results of the mediation analyzes show that disinhibition has an indirect effect throughemotional clarity, which in turn affects the frequency of consumption. Thus, young people with lowerlevels of disinhibition, and less impulsive are expected to consume alcohol less frequently. However,this relationship is affected by young people’s understanding of their emotional states; if they haveemotional clarity and understand their emotional states, more alcohol consumption becomes morelikely. In short, there is a need to work on different intervention pathways in EI programs accordingto previous personality traits.