The Role of Emotional Intelligence in the Relationship Between Childhood Traumas and Prosocial Behaviors of Young Adults

Year 2024, Volume: 2 Issue: 1, 1 - 17, 07.07.2024

Sude Beyaz Tobay Büşra Özdoğan Eylem Özten Feride Gökben Hızlı Sayar

Abstract

The current study aims to investigate how prosocial behaviors in young adults are influenced by
childhood traumas and how emotional intelligence functions as a mediator in this relationship. It demonstrates the
critical influence that early trauma experiences have on people's conduct. A total of 238 participants, 153 women
and 85 men between the ages of 20 to 30, were involved in the research for the study. The Revised Schutte Emotional
Intelligence Scale, the Adult Prosociality Scale, the Childhood Trauma Scale, and the Socio-demographic
Information Form were filled out by the participants to collect the data. The software IBM SPSS 25.0 was used to
analyze the data. First, we looked at the skewness and kurtosis coefficients to see if the scales were appropriate for
a normal distribution. The data was then subjected to the Independent Sample T-Test, Analysis of Variance
(ANOVA), and Pearson Correlation Tests. It was discovered that an individual's prosocial tendency was influenced
by their age, gender, and educational attainment based on the sociodemographic data of the participants. The
study's findings showed that the degree of young adults' childhood trauma experiences was negatively correlated
with their level of adult prosociality and emotional intelligence, while the degree of adult prosociality and
emotional intelligence was positively correlated. Regression analysis was also used to establish the mediating role
that emotional intelligence has in the association between an individual's prosocial behaviors and childhood
traumas.

Keywords

Childhood trauma, emotional intelligence, prosocial behavior

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