Teachers’ Subjective Happiness: Testing the Importance of Emotional Intelligence Facets Beyond Perceived Stress

Abstract

Purpose: This study investigated which EI facets were the most predictive in explaining subjective happiness above perceived stress in a relatively large sample of Spanish teachers. Methods: The sample was composed of 1323 Spanish teaching professionals (821 females and 529 secondary school teachers) from different educational centers located in Southern Spain. Predictive and incremental validity was assessed with SPSS, and hierarchical regression analysis was used to predict subjective happiness from EI facets beyond that accounted for by perceived stress. Results: The results showed that all four EI facets correlated significantly with each other. Also, they all were positively and significantly associated with subjective happiness, whereas perceived stress was negatively associated with happiness scores. Moreover, self-emotion appraisal, use of emotions and regulation of emotions accounted for a significant amount of variance in the prediction of satisfaction with life beyond the effects of sociodemographic variables and perceived stress. Conclusion: This study extends the specific contribution of EI facets in predicting subjective happiness, rather than EI as a unified construct, in a relatively large sample of Spanish teachers. Self-focused dimensions involving appraisal, use and regulation of emotions appeared to be the most important predictors of happiness beyond stress experienced by teachers.