Social support and emotional intelligence as predictors of subjective well-being

This study examined the predictive value of social support (SS) and emotional intelligence (EI), and their interaction effects, on subjective well-being (SWB) beyond variance already explained by personality and sociodemographic variables. Participants were 267 adults (196 female) who anonymously completed measures of satisfaction with life, positive and negative affect, social support, emotional intelligence, personality and social desirability. Exploratory hierarchical multiple regression analyses showed that SS and EI, and their interaction effects, significantly predicted SWB, and explained 44%, 50%, and 50% of the variance in SWL, positive affect (PA), and negative affect (NA) respectively. At step-two SS predicted NA and SWL, at step-three EI predicted PA and SWL, and at step-four one interaction effect was significant (SS: Significant Other × EI for PA). This study elucidates the predictive value of SS, EI and their interaction on SWB, and provides the first published insight into a possible conditional relationship between SS and SWB with regard to EI, suggesting that SS may not always be necessary for SWB. Implications are discussed, highlighting that the relationship between SS, EI and SWB is more complex than previous literature suggests.