Parental Bonding and Social Adjustment: Evidence from the Mediation by Emotional Intelligence

Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the mediating role of emotional intelligence between the relationship of parental bonding and social adjustment among students. Data were collected on three instruments; Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire (Petrides & Furnham, 2006), Social Adjustment Scale (Weissman & Bothwell, 1976), and Parental Bonding Instrument (Parker, Tupling, & Brown, 1979) from 376 university students selected through simple random sampling. Employing correlation, regression analyses, and sobel tests, the findings showed the significant relationship of parental bonding with social adjustment and emotional intelligence among students; the findings also indicated the significant association of emotional intelligence with social adjustment. Mediation analyses from sobel tests demonstrated that emotional intelligence played a mediating role between the relationships of parental bonding with social adjustment among students. These findings are useful for parents, teachers, and students in the ways that student’s emotional intelligence can help the students to get socially adjusted in the environment.