Role of Emotional Intelligence in Aggressive and Violent Behaviors among Undergraduates in a Lower Resource Setting

Abstract

Abstract Introduction:Various forms of Aggressive and Violence Behavior(AVB) among undergraduates have been studied and shown considerable evidence of a significant link between Emotional-Intelligence(EI). Objective:is to assess the prevalence of AVB and its association with EI among second-year undergraduatesin a lower resource setting. Method:A descriptive-cross-sectional study was carried out among 1290, second-year undergraduates using multi-stage stratified cluster sampling in four randomly selected universities in Sri Lanka. UniHRB-Inventory is a self-administered questionnaire developed, translated and validated in a local setting. The domain measures AVB with 14 items, scoring from 0 for “never” and 4 for “more than 5 times”. The minimum-threshold-score for the presence of AVB was 32. Schutte’s Self-reported-EItool was used to assess EI. Total EI score was compared between those with and without AVB using the Mann-Whitney U test. A Multiple Logistic Regression (MLR) analysis was performed to control confounders. Results:Overall response-rate for the study was 88.1% (n=1136). Prevalence of AVB was 2.6% (95%CI:1.8%-3.7%). There was a statistically significant difference between the median total EI among undergraduates with and without AVB (median 72 vs 126; p<0.0001). EI had a significant negative effect on the likelihood of AVB following MLR. When EI increases by one unit the odds of having AVB decreases by a factor of 0.93 (95%CI:0.89-0.98;p<0.05). Conclusion and Recommendation: People with better EI are less likely to have AVB. It is recommended to include EI in the routine of undergraduates’ curriculum to prevent AVB in a lower resource setting.