Stress, Emotional Intelligence, and Life Satisfaction in College Students.

Abstract Prior studies have examined stress, life satisfaction, and emotional intelligence in college students. Research on stress in college students has focused on the sources of stress, coping styles, and relevant outcomes. Research on life satisfaction has focused on specific relationships between life satisfaction and concepts like worry, self-concepts, and life events. Further, some studies have examined the relationships between stress and life satisfaction, emotional intelligence and stress, as well as emotional intelligence and life satisfaction. The present study examined three main hypotheses: 1) stress is negatively correlated with life satisfaction in college students; 2) emotional intelligence is positively correlated with life satisfaction; and 3) the interaction between stress and emotional intelligence affects life satisfaction. The first two hypotheses focused on replicating and further supporting findings from the research literature. The third hypothesis examined whether emotional intelligence moderated the effect of stress on life satisfaction, which has been unexplored thus far in the research literature. Support was found for the first hypothesis, but not for the second and third. Implications of the results are discussed, as well as directions for future research. Introduction The college setting hosts a number of various experiences, including education, work, recreation, and socialization (Hunt & Eisenberg, 2010). Arnett (2000) points out that transitioning to the college setting provides students with increased autonomy, decreased adult supervision, and new social opportunities and relationships. Because of these unique circumstances and transitions, examining college students' experiences in particular may be beneficial in developing relevant programming, interventions, and general understanding of the lives of college students. Specific processes like stress and life satisfaction may be examined, as prior research has identified high stress levels in college students (e.g., Lee, Kang, & Yum, 2005). Further, while stress itself may be perceived as unpleasant, it is also associated with a number of negative outcomes, regardless of whether the stress is short-term or chronic. Short-term stress has been linked to gastrointestinal problems, heart attacks, arrhythmias, and even sudden death (American Psychological Association, 2013). Chronic stress has been linked to chronic fatigue, inability to concentrate, irritability, chronic headaches, disordered eating, coronary disease, depression, and heart disease. Therefore, understanding stress and related experiences in college students is pertinent to maintaining health and well-being. Stress Psychological stress is defined as the demand made on an organism to adapt, cope, or adjust, and prolonged stress can affect adjustment capacity, mood, ability to experience pleasure, and physical health (Rathus, 2005). Folkman, Lazarus, Dunkel-Schetter, DeLongis, and Gruen (1986) developed a model of psychological stress and coping which identified cognitive appraisal and coping as mediators of stressful person-environment relations and the outcomes. Cognitive appraisal is defined as the process of evaluating whether an interaction with the environment is relevant to well-being and how this might be relevant. For example, a high school student who does not receive a letter of acceptance into college will engage in cognitive appraisal to decide whether or not this event is relative to his or her total well-being. If the student decides that it is relevant, the student will then consider how he or she can cope with the issue. Folkman et al. define coping as the constantly changing cognitive and behavioral efforts to manage internal or external taxing demands. This involves what a person actually thinks and does under stress, the influence of cognitive appraisal, and whether a person is successful or not at coping. …