Cohort differences in trait emotional intelligence – a possible effect of the covid-19 pandemic?

Abstract

Although personality traits are by definition relatively stable, there is evidence that they can change in response to major life events, especially when it comes to so-called affective traits and younger individuals. Given that the COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically altered students’ life circumstances, we examined whether these changes are reflected in the average levels of trait EI of several student cohorts. To this end, we compared the data on trait EI obtained with the TEIQue in four generations of university students: two cohorts were tested in “normal” circumstances before the pandemic, in 2015 (N1 = 288) and 2016 (N2 = 183); the other two were tested during the first and third wave of the pandemic in Serbia, in April 2020 (N3 = 222) and in December 2020 (N4 = 222). All participants were female and students of Special Education at the University of Belgrade. Two separate MANOVAs were conducted, with either TEIQue factor or facet-level scores as independents. Results of the factor-level MANOVA were significant (Wilk’s Λ = .97, F(12, 2402.643) = 2.48, p<.01), with univariate effects for Self-Control (F(3, 911) = 2.79, p<.05) on which N3 scored higher than N4. The facet-level MANOVA also produced significant results (Wilk’s Λ = .88, F(45, 2665.539) = 2.54, p<.001), with univariate effects for Empathy (F(3, 911) = 5.16, p<.001), Impulse control (F(3, 911) = 5.92, p<.001), Emotion perception (F(3, 911) = 2.20, p<.05), and Emotion management (F(3, 911) = 1.78, p<.05). Post-hoc analyses using Tukey’s test revealed the following differences: higher Empathy for N3 and N4 compared to N1; higher Impulse control for N3 than for N1 and N4; and higher Emotion perception for N3 than for N4. While indicating considerable stability of trait EI scores across generations (at least over a five-year period), the current results suggest that particular aspects of students’ trait EI might vary according to the prevalent demands and challenges in their social environment, though this remains to be confirmed in more rigorous research.