NCJ Number
207736
Journal
Journal of Family Violence Volume: 19 Issue: 5 Dated: October 2004 Pages: 255-267
Editor(s)
Vincent B. Van Hasselt,
Michel Hersen
Date Published
October 2004
Length
13 pages
Annotation
This study explored the relationship between emotional intelligence and domestic abuse.
Abstract
Emotional intelligence has been defined by Bar-On (1997) as “an array of non-cognitive capabilities, competencies, and skills that influence one’s ability to succeed in coping with environmental demands and pressures.” This study, completed in two parts, hypothesized that domestically violent men would score lower on emotional intelligence, and that the relationship between emotional intelligence and abusiveness in samples of domestically violent men and undergraduate men and women would be negative and significant. Participants for study 1 (n=44, age 20 to 56) were recruited from pretrial centers and court-mandated assaultive husband treatment groups in British Columbia and Washington State. At the time of the study, 39 percent of the sample was incarcerated and 63 percent were in court-mandated treatment groups. Participants in study 2 (males=33, females=43) were first and second year undergraduates students recruited from the University of British Columbia (UBC). Participants for both studies completed the Emotional Quotient Inventory (EQ-i), the Propensity for Abusiveness Scale (PAS), and the Balanced Inventory of Desirable Responding. Analysis of the data found that batterers scored significantly lower than the general population on all components of EQ-i. In addition, EQ-i total and subscale scores for both samples correlated negatively and significantly with scores on PAS, suggesting that deficits in various components of emotional intelligence are related to an increase in the propensity to be abusive. Implications for researchers and therapists are discussed. References and 10 tables