Investigating the Relationship Between Emotional Intelligence and Social Anxiety Levels of University Students

Abstract

This study investigates the relationship between emotional intelligence and social anxiety levels of university students. The study data consisted of a total of 212 university students, 64% female (N=136) and 36% (N=76) male and data were collected from a state university in the west of Turkey. The relational model, one of the general models, was used in the research. The "Schutte Emotional Intelligence Scale" was used to determine the emotional intelligence levels of the students, and the "Social Anxiety Scale" was used to determine the social anxiety problems experienced by university students. SPSS 23.0 package program was used for the analyzes. Research findings revealed the positive effects of emotional intelligence in reducing the social anxiety levels of university students. In addition, it was concluded that emotional intelligence predicts social anxiety in university students in a statistically significant way. It was observed that the subscales of optimism, use of emotions and evaluation of emotions which constitute emotional intelligence in university students significantly predicted social anxiety together.