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Influence Of Emotional Intelligence And Assertiveness On Pro-social Behaviours
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CHAPTER ONE
1.1.INTRODUCTION
Identifying the conditions necessary
for human flourishing depends in part on the perspective one chooses to
take. One can take the perspective of an average person and ask, ‘what
is necessary for an individual to flourish?’ (Heintzelmanrt al, 2012).
Alternatively, one can take the perspective of a community or a society
composed of many persons and ask, ‘what is necessary for a community to
flourish?’ Taking an individual’s perspective will invariably highlight
the necessity of finding meaning in life as a fundamental personal need
(Heintzelman & King, 2014).
Viewing one’s own life as meaningful
is associated with greater longevity, better physical health, and
reduced depression and anxiety (Taylor, Kemeny, Reed, Bower, &
Gruenewald, 2000). In contrast, taking a communal perspective will
invariably highlight the necessity of pro-social behaviour as a
fundamental communal need. Pro-social behaviour is critical for creating
the trust and cooperation necessary to sustain impersonal and complex
societies and markets (Bowles & Gintis, 2003). The present research
investigates whether the personal and communal perspectives are linked.
Specifically, I test whether helping other people can increase helpers’
perceptions of meaning in life, thereby establishing an empirical
connection between personal and societal flourishing.
There are at
least two reasons to predict that helping others can increase a sense of
meaning in life. First, helping other people can increase helpers’
sense of self-worth, which is one of the basic needs that must be
satisfied to achieve a sense of meaning in life, according to prevalent
theoretical accounts (Baumeister & Vohs, 2002). Helping other people
can increase selfworth because pro-social behaviour is universally
admired and valued (Grossman, Uskul, Kraus, & Epley, 2015). Helping
other people is a way for helpers to gain social acceptance and build a
positive reputation, which in turn increase helpers’ social status in
their communities (Grant & Gino, 2010). Because social acceptance is
a critical determinant of self-worth and self-esteem (Leary &
Baumeister, 2000), the reputational benefits of pro-social behaviour are
likely to increase self-worth, which in turn can increase the sense
that life is meaningful. Second, another reliable predictor of
meaningfulness is social connection with others (Stavrova & Luhmann,
2016). Accordingly, social exclusion and loneliness can lead to
substantial psychological damage, including decreased sense of meaning
in life (Cialdini & Patrick, 2008). Helping another person is one of
the most basic ways to establish and reinforce social connection.
Therefore,
helping may increase meaningfulness by increasing the sense of
connection to others. The present research tests whether either or both
of these two potential mechanisms – emotional intelligence and
assertiveness – can explain the relationship between helping and
meaningfulness.
Although helping is primarily intended to benefit
recipients, existing research finds that helping creates benefits for
helpers as well. As mentioned, the most obvious benefit helpers receive
is a boost to their reputation in the eyes of others. Observing a person
help another increases evaluations of the helper, and in turn motivates
recipients and observers to cooperate with helpers in subsequent
interactions (Klein & Epley, 2014). This reputational mechanism is
thought to underlie a substantial portion of the incentive for
pro-social behaviour in general (Rockenbach & Milinski, 2006).
Because helping others is viewed positively, helpers can expect to be
rewarded with social approval and goodwill. Helping others also creates
psychological benefits that do not necessarily depend on others’
judgments and reciprocity. Empirical evidence has thus far pointed to
psychological benefits that are mostly hedonic in nature, increasing
positive emotion and decreasing negative emotion. For example, spending
money to benefit other people can increase happiness compared to
spending money to benefit oneself (Weinstein & Ryan, 2010).
Volunteering is associated with higher levels of happiness and life
satisfaction (Thoits & Hewitt, 2001). Helping can also reduce
sadness associated with seeing another person in need of help (Cialdini
et al., 1987).
However, meaningfulness and happiness are distinct in
important ways. For example, people find meaning in painful and
stressful events in their lives, despite being unlikely to extract
happiness from such events (Baumeister, Vohs, Aaker, & Garbinsky,
2013). Other experiences, such as nostalgic reflection on the past and
thinking about one’s own mortality, increase people’s sense of meaning
despite being hedonically negative (Benzoni & Tost, 2009). Compared
to happiness, meaningfulness spans a wider range of emotions than simply
positive ones, and is also associated with purely cognitive processes
such as mental simulation and counterfactual thinking (Waytz,
Hershfield, & Tamir, 2015). Therefore, simply because pro-social
behaviour creates hedonic benefits does not necessarily mean that it
also creates eudemonic benefits.
Intelligence is considered as one of
the most desirable personality qualities in today's society. I.Q. and
E.Q. tests are presently employed for many purposes such as selection,
diagnosis and evaluation in all parts of society. It claims that, it is
the single most effective predictor of individual performance at school
and on the job (Andoh, 1998).
Evolutionary trend shows human beings
to be the most pro-social of all species, which being a social species
helps and guides their fellow mates to surge ahead in the battle for
existence (Simpson et al., 2008). The term “pro-social†relates to
behaviours which are positive and intend to benefit other individuals.
This beneficial behaviour is further defined as which “covers the broad
range of actions intended to benefit one or more people other than
oneself-behaviours’ such as helping, comforting, sharing, and
cooperating†(Batson etal., 2003).
Quite interestingly, whenever we
refer to pro-social behaviour, the term Altruism intervenes. Altruism
can be defined as “A motive to increase another’s welfare without
conscious regard for one’s self-interests†(Myers, 2010). There is
hardly anyone-to-one interaction between the two concepts, since
altruism is a motivational notion behind initiating beneficial action
towards the welfare of others and pro-social behaviour is the action
itself, but it’s not a necessary criterion for a pro-social act to be
altruistically motivated or an altruistic motivation to produce
pro-social behaviour (Batson et al., 2003).
Definition of Intelligence
According
to David Wechsler, intelligence can be defined as the aggregate of an
individual to act with purpose and to deal effectively with the
environment. Wechsler also postulated in 1943 that non-intellective
abilities were important predictors for success in one’s life (Cherniss,
2000).
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ABSRACT - [ Total Page(s): 1 ]Empirically explored in the study were emotional intelligence and assertiveness on pro-social behaviour. One hundred and eighty-six students (83 males and 103 females) of the University of Uyo, Uyo in Akwa Ibom State, were used in the study. Valid questionnaires and scales were used in the present study, such as; The Schutte Self Report Emotional Intelligence Test (SSEIT) developed by Dr. Nicola Schutte (1998), Rathus Assertiveness Scale (RAS) by Spencer Rathus (1973), and Adult Pro-Socialness S ... Continue reading---
