The mediating role of emotional intelligence in the relationship between social anxiety and communication skills among middle school students in China

Abstract

Nowadays, great attention has been attached to the social and psychological development of adolescents. Emotional intelligence is a pivotal skill in managing emotions and interpersonal relationships. This paper aims to investigate whether emotional intelligence mediates between social anxiety and communication skills. The participants were 168 female and 91 male, middle school students. This study was quantitative and correlational in nature, using online survey method. Descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, regression, and mediation analyses were conducted for data analysis. The results show a significant positive relation between emotional intelligence and communication skills, a significant negative relation between social anxiety and emotional intelligence, as well as between social anxiety and communication skills, and a full mediating effect of emotional intelligence on the relationship between social anxiety and communication skills. This study implies that improving students’ emotional intelligence may help overcome their social anxiety, enhance their communication skills, and establish good relationships.

Keywords

• Social anxiety
• emotional intelligence
• communication skills
• adolescent
• effect and relationship