ABSTRACT
Empirically explored in the study were emotional intelligence and assertiveness on pro-social behaviour of undergraduate students of the college of Social Science and Education and Behavioral Studies. In addition, it investigated whether the level of emotional intelligence and prosocial behavior of the students differ by gender and locality. For this purpose data were gathered from 248 sample students from 9 department of the colleges using self-report type instruments. The questionnaire consisted of 3 types of instruments. These are instrument for gathering general information, instrument measure emotional intelligence and instrument measures prosocial behavior of the students. The questionnaire was administered to 248(m=124, F= 124) randomly selected students from 9 departments. Out of these 151 students were from urban while 62 of them were from rural areas. The collected data were analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. The result indicated the majority of the students have high emotional intelligence and prosocial behavior. It was observed also “Regulation of emotion” and “Altruistic Prosocial behavior” predominantly experienced among the students from the components of emotional intelligence and Prosocial behavior respectively. Regarding gender difference, male students were found to be high in both emotional intelligence and prosocial behaviour. Based on locality difference, there was no statistically significant difference between students from urban and rural areas in both emotional intelligence and prosocial behavior. Besides, there was statistically significant positive relationship between emotional intelligence and prosocial behavior. On the other hand, it was found that there were no statistically significant relationships between academic achievement and emotional intelligence, and academic achievement and prosocial behavior. This imply that scoring high in academic achievement doesn’t imply that having high emotional intelligence and prososocial behaviour while having high emotionally intelligent imply their tendency to behave more in a prosocial manner. Thus, it is emotional intelligence rather than academic achievement which is determinant for their prosocial behaviour.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1. 1 Background
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.
