Psychological Reports: Mental & Physical Health

2014, 114, 3, 880-890. Psychological Reports 2014

ASSOCIATIONS BETWEEN TRAIT EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE

AND LONELINESS IN CHINESE UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS:
MEDIATING EFFECTS OF SELF-ESTEEM AND SOCIAL SUPPORT1, 2

JILIN ZOU

Research Center of Learning Science, Southeast University

Key Laboratory of Child Development and Learning Science, Southeast University

School of Education, Linyi University

Summary.Prior studies indicate that trait emotional intelligence (EI) is associ-

ated negatively with loneliness. However, the mechanisms underlying the relation-
ship are not clear. This study assessed whether both self-esteem and social support
mediated the associations between trait EI and loneliness. 469 Chinese undergradu-
ate participants whose age ranged from 18 to 23 years (208 women) were asked to
complete four self-report questionnaires, including the Wong Law Emotional Intel-
ligence Scale, the Social and Emotional Loneliness Scale, the Rosenberg Self-esteem
Scale, and the Multi-Dimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support. Analyses indi-
cated that self-esteem and social support fully mediated the associations between
trait EI and loneliness. Eect contrasts indicated that the specific indirect eect
through social support was significantly greater than that through self-esteem. More-
over, a multiple-group analysis indicated that no path diered significantly by sex.
These results suggest that social support is more important than self-esteem in the
association between trait EI and loneliness. Furthermore, both sexes appear to share
the same mechanism underlying this association.

Emotional Intelligence (EI) has attracted a great deal of attention over

the past decades (Goleman, 1996; Ciarrochi, Chan, & Bajgar, 2001; Pe-
trides, Pita, & Kokkinaki, 2007), with this research leading to two distinct
conceptualizations: ability EI and trait EI. Ability EI has been defined as a
cognitive ability to perceive, use, understand, and manage the emotions
of oneself and others, and it is measured through maximum performance
tests (Mayer & Salovey, 1997). Trait EI has been conceptualized as a con-
stellation of emotion-related self-perceptions and dispositions located at
the lower levels of personality hierarchies (Petrides, et al., 2007; Carval-
ho, Neto, & Mavroveli, 2010) and is measured through self-reports like
the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire. Trait EI essentially concerns indi-
vidual dierences in self-perceptions of one's emotional abilities. People
with higher trait EI are considered to have a better capability to perceive,

1
Address correspondence to Jilin Zou, Research Center of Learning Science, Southeast Uni-
versity, Sipailou No. 2, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, China or e-mail (zoujilin100@163.com).
2
This research was supported by the Scientific Research Foundation of the Graduate School
of Southeast University (YBJJ1121) and the open foundation of the Key Laboratory of Child
Development and Learning Science, Ministry of Education, China (CDLS-2012-04).

DOI 10.2466/04.21.PR0.114k29w3 ISSN 0033-2941

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 EI AND LONELINESS 881

recognize, and manage emotion, which in turn facilitates their emotional

development (Mayer & Salovey, 1997). Both theoretically and empirically,
a number of factors have been related to trait EI, including loneliness, self-
esteem, and social support.
Loneliness refers to a painful experience resulting from a misfit be-
tween people's social expectations and their social networks, and is one
of the variables linked to EI (Peplau & Perlman, 1982). Many studies have
shown that loneliness is negatively correlated with trait EI (rs = .12, .27)
(e.g., Palmer, Donaldson, & Stough, 2002; Shi & Wang, 2007), although the
mechanisms involved in the association are not clear.
Self-esteem has been assumed to be one potential mediator of the as-
sociation between trait EI and loneliness (e.g., Kong, Zhao, & You, 2012b).
Self-esteem refers to people's general sense of their value or worth (Rosen-
berg, 1965). A series of studies have shown a robust correlation (rs = .28,
.44) between self-esteem and loneliness (e.g., Zhao, Kong, & Wang, 2012,
2013; Kong & You, 2013) and emphasized that trait EI appears to have an
important role in improvements of self-esteem (Ciarrochi, Chan, & Ca-
puti, 2000; Dong, Urista, & Gundrum, 2008; Kong, Zhao, & You, 2012a).
These results suggest that that self-esteem likely mediates the association
between trait EI and loneliness.
Several researchers have also assumed social support mediates the
association between trait EI and loneliness (e.g., Zeidner, Matthews, &
Roberts, 2012). Theoretically, people with higher trait EI are thought to
be more likely to master social skills, which help improve the quality of
social relationships and the availability of social support. In turn, these
skills further promote mental health. This idea has been supported by em-
pirical research (e.g., Zeidner, et al., 2012). Additionally, other researchers
have suggested that people with higher trait EI tend to perceive more so-
cial support and thus report loneliness less frequently (e.g., Montes-Berg-
es & Augusto, 2007; Gallagher & Vella-Brodrick, 2008; Kong, et al., 2012a,
2012b). Some studies have found that social support mediated the asso-
ciations between trait EI and the indicators of well-being such as mental
distress and life satisfaction (Kong, et al., 2012b). Thus, these suggest that
higher trait EI may be associated with reduced loneliness and more social
support from others.
Although earlier studies provided insight into understanding the un-
derlying mechanisms of the relationship between EI and loneliness, it is
not known how trait EI and loneliness may be linked, specifically whether
there are concurrent mediating eects of self-esteem and social support.
Prior studies have shown that these relations may be better described by
a multi-mediator model and not a single-mediator model (e.g., Kong &
Zhao, 2013). For example, Kong and Zhao (2013) found that the mediat-

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 882 J. ZOU

ing eect of trait EI on life satisfaction was stronger through positive aect
than that through negative aect. Finally, based on the studies that adopt
a based-trait approach, when controlling for sex, people with high trait EI
still tended to have less loneliness ( = 0.28; e.g., Guo, Wu, Guo, Wang, &
Tang, 2011). However, it is unclear whether the mediational model of self-
esteem and social support dier between sexes. This study used structur-
al equation modeling (SEM) techniques to examine sex dierences in the
mediational model.
The current study tested the concurrent mediating eects of self-es-
teem and social support on the relationship between trait EI and loneli-
ness among Chinese university students. In line with results from West-
ern samples,
Hypothesis 1. Self-esteem and social support mediate the relation-
ship between trait EI and loneliness.
Hypothesis 2. There are no sex dierences in the mediating eects
of self-esteem and social support.

METHOD
Participants
The participants were 469 native Chinese undergraduates (208 wom-
en) recruited from two universities in mainland China. The participants'
age ranged from 18 to 23 yr. (M = 20.8, SD = 1.2). Verbal informed consent
was given by all participants. This study was approved by the University
Ethics Committee.
Measures
Trait emotional intelligence.The self-report Wong Law Emotional In-
telligence Scale (in Chinese) was used to assess the self-perceived emo-
tional competency. It has been found to have high reliability and validity
with related constructs of loneliness, depression, distress, negative aect,
and positive aect in Chinese university students (Shi & Wang, 2007). The
scale consists of 16 items which are brief statements and has four dimen-
sions: Self Emotion Appraisals, Others' Emotion Appraisals, Regulation
of Emotion, and Use of Emotion, whose coecient alphas were .76, .83,
.79, and .77, respectively. Example items are as follows: I have good un-
derstanding of my own emotions (Self Emotion Appraisals) and I have
good understanding of the emotions of people around me (Others' Emo-
tion Appraisals). Participants were asked to rate on a 5-point Likert-type
rating scale with anchors 1: Strongly disagree and 5: Strongly agree. The
measure yields a global trait EI score, and higher scores are indicative of
higher trait EI.

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 EI AND LONELINESS 883

Loneliness.Loneliness was assessed by Wittenberg's Social and Emo-

tional Loneliness Scale (Shaver & Brennan, 1991). It has 10 items scored
with a 5-point Likert-type rating scale with anchors 1: Never and 5: Very
often, which evaluate social loneliness and emotional loneliness. Example
items are, I feel lonely even when I am with other people, I have a re-
ally nice set of friends. The Chinese version of the scale has high inter-
nal consistency reliability and validity with related constructs of humor
styles, self-esteem, and social support (Zhao, et al., 2012, 2013), whose larg-
er total score means more loneliness.
Self-esteem.Self-esteem was measured by the Rosenberg Self-esteem
Scale (Rosenberg, 1965). It has 10 items rated on a 7-point Likert-type scale
with anchors 1: Strongly disagree and 7: Strongly agree. For instance, On
the whole, I am satisfied with myself and I feel that I have a number of
good qualities. Higher total scores indicate higher self-esteem. The Chi-
nese version has reported high internal consistency reliability and validity
with related constructs of self-esteem, social support, and life satisfaction
(Kong, et al., 2012a).
Social support.Perceived social support in participants was assessed
by the Multi-Dimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (Zimet, Dahlem,
Zimet, & Farley, 1988). The scale consists of 12 items rated on a 7-point Lik-
ert-type scale with anchors 1: Strongly disagree and 7: Strongly agree. Three
separate scores can be calculated for the sources of support: Family, Friends,
and Significant Other. For instance, I get the emotional help and support
I need from my family (Family Support), I can talk about my problems
with my friends (Friends Support), and There is a special person in my
life who cares about my feelings (Significant Other Support). Coecient
alphas for Family, Friends, and Significant Other dimensions were .85, .89,
and .85, respectively. The Chinese version has high internal consistency reli-
ability and validity with related constructs of self-esteem, emotional intelli-
gence, and life satisfaction (Kong, et al., 2012b; Kong & You, 2013).
Procedure
The participants completed the four scales in a classroom. They an-
swered anonymously. It took about 20 minutes for the participants to com-
plete all the scales.
Analysis
In order to test for the expected correlations and the mediation eects,
bivariate analyses were conducted. Four criteria are required to identify a
mediator eect (Baron & Kenny, 1986). First, the predictor variable (trait
EI) must be significantly correlated with the mediator variables (self-es-
teem and social support). Second, the predictor variable must be corre-
lated to the outcome variable (loneliness). Third, the mediator variables

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 884 J. ZOU

must be correlated to the outcome variable. Fourth, the association be-

tween the predictor and outcome must be significantly decreased after
controlling for the eects of mediator on the outcome. A set of regression
analyses were conducted to test the mediation eect of self-esteem and so-
cial support on the associations between trait EI and loneliness.
Additionally, structural equation modeling techniques (SEM) were
used to test the mediation model. In order to control for inflated mea-
surement errors due to multiple items for the latent variables, three item
parcels were created for the self-esteem factor using an item-to-construct
balance approach. Moreover, the Bootstrap estimation procedure was con-
ducted to test the significance of the specific indirect eects (Shrout & Bol-
ger, 2002). Bootstrapping is an estimation procedure using random sam-
pling and then replacing a number of samples (e.g., 1000) from raw data.
The indirect eect in those bootstrap samples was then calculated.
Lastly, a multi-group analysis assessed whether the path coecients
diered significantly between sexes.
RESULTS
Bivariate Analyses
Means, standard deviations, and correlations for each questionnaire
are shown in Table 1. Trait EI was positively correlated to self-esteem and
social support, and Loneliness was negatively correlated to trait EI, self-
esteem, and social support. Social support was positively correlated to
self-esteem. The assumption of multicollinearity was not violated, since
no correlation exceeded .70 (Tabachnick & Fidell, 1996).
Test of the Mediation Model
First, self-esteem (B = 0.20, = 0.48, p < .001) and social support (B = 0.57,
= 0.39, p < .001) were regressed on trait EI. Trait EI explained a statistical-

TABLE 1
DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS AND ZERO-ORDER CORRELATIONS (95% CONFIDENCE INTERVALS)
FOR ALL MEASURES
Variable M SD Sex 2 3 4
2. Emotional intelligence .89 57.93 9.10 .09*
.001, .12
3. Social support .93 61.25 13.23 .07 .39
.31, .48
4. Self-esteem .83 28.58 3.86 .07 .48 .46
.39, .55 .37, .55
5. Loneliness .66 22.85 5.09 .001 .31 .56 .43
.39, .22 .63, .50 .51, .34
Note.Sex is coded 1 = male, 0 = female. *p < .05. p < .001.

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 EI AND LONELINESS 885

TABLE 2
REGRESSION ANALYSIS PREDICTING LONELINESS FROM EI, SOCIAL SUPPORT,
AND SELF-ESTEEM

Variable B SE t p
EI 0.17 0.22 0.03 0.77 .44
Self-esteem 1.00 0.23 0.20 4.35 < .001
Social support 2.33 0.22 0.46 10.61 < .001
R2 .35
Adj R2 .35
SE 4.11
F3, 465 84.21

ly significant amount of variance in self-esteem (23%) and social support

scores (16%). Second, loneliness was regressed on EI (B = 0.17, = 0.31,
p < .001). Trait EI contributed a statistically significant amount of variance
in loneliness scores (10%). In the third equation, loneliness was simulta-
neously regressed on self-esteem (B = 0.26, = 0.20, p < .001), social sup-
port (B = 0.18, = 0.46, p < .001), and trait EI (B = 0.02, = 0.03, p > .05).
Finally, the regression model explained a statistically significant amount
of variance in loneliness scores (35%: see Table 2). The results of regres-
sion analyses indicated that the beta weight when trait EI was regressed
alone on loneliness was 0.31. The beta weight dropped from 0.31 to
0.03 when both mediators were added into the equation. Baron and Ken-
ny (1986) showed that full mediation is obtained if the predictor variable
(trait EI) has no significant eect on the outcome variable (loneliness)
when the mediators (self-esteem and social support) are controlled. So
these results indicated that self-esteem and social support fully mediated
the associations between trait EI and loneliness.
The structural equation modeling (SEM) techniques assessed the me-
diation model. Four indices were computed to evaluate the goodness-of-fit
of the model (Hu & Bentler, 1999): (a) chi-square statistics; (b) root-mean-
square error of approximation (RMSEA) of 0.08 or less; (c) Standardized
Root-Mean-Square Residual (SRMR) of 0.08 or less; and (d) Comparative
Fit Index (CFI): best if above 0.95. The results indicated a good fit to the
data: 2 (50, N = 469) = 149.15, p < .001; RMSEA = 0.065; SRMR = 0.067; and
CFI = 0.96. The model is shown in Fig. 1.
Bootstrapping samples (1,000) were generated from the raw data set
(N = 469) through random sampling. Table 3 displays the indirect eects
and their associated 95% confidence intervals. As presented in Table 3, the
results supported the model of a significant indirect eect of trait EI on
loneliness through self-esteem and social support. The SPSS macro pro-
grammed by Preacher and Hayes (2008) was used to compare the eect

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 886 J. ZOU

FIG. 1. The mediation model (N = 469). Factor loadings are standardized. SE = self-esteem;
SS = Social Support; SE1SE3 = three parcels of self-esteem; SEA, ROE, UOE, and OEA are the
subscales of the Wong Law Emotional Intelligence Scale. SS_F, SS_O, and SS_FA are the sub-
scales of the Multi-Dimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support. EL and SL are subscales of
the Social and Emotional Loneliness Scale. All the path coecients are significant at p < .001.

sizes. Eect contrasts indicated that the specific indirect eect through so-
cial support was significantly greater than that through self-esteem (indi-
rect eect contrast = 0.05, 95%CI = 0.003, 0.09).

TABLE 3
STANDARDIZED INDIRECT EFFECTS AND 95% CONFIDENCE INTERVALS

Estimated 95%CI
Model Pathway
Eect Lower Upper
EI Social support Loneliness 0.10a 0.13 0.08
EI Self-esteem Loneliness 0.05a 0.08 0.02
IndE_social support IndE_self-esteem 0.05 0.005 0.10
Note.aEmpirical 95% confidence interval does not overlap with zero.
IndE = indirect eect.

Sex Dierences
The first model, which allows the structural paths to vary by sex, were
compared with the second model, which constrains the structural paths to
be equal by sex. Factor loadings, error variances, and structure covarianc-
es were constrained to be equal. The non-significant chi-square dierences
between the two models [2 (4, N = 469) = 4.59, p > .05] indicated that the

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 EI AND LONELINESS 887

final models were not dierent for the two sexes. Lastly, the critical ratio of
dierences (CRD) was calculated by dividing the dierence between two
estimates (e.g., path coecients) by an estimate of the standard error of
the dierence. A value greater than 1.96 would show that there was a sta-
tistically significant dierence between the two path coecients at p < .05.
The two structural paths did not significantly dier from each other.
DISCUSSION
The present study tested the mediating eect of both self-esteem and
social support on the association between trait EI and loneliness using a
Chinese sample. Consistent with the hypotheses, trait EI was negative-
ly associated with loneliness, supporting the association between trait EI
and loneliness reported in previous studies (e.g., Palmer, et al., 2002; Shi
& Wang, 2007). Further analysis supported EI as a predictor of loneliness.
Moreover, trait EI was positively associated with self-esteem and social
support, consistent with earlier results showing positive associations be-
tween trait EI and social support (e.g., Kong, et al., 2012b), and between
trait EI and self-esteem (Kong, et al., 2012a).
Interestingly, the association between trait EI and loneliness was ful-
ly mediated by self-esteem and social support, consistent with the previ-
ous studies that have reported that social support was a mediator between
emotional perception and the indicators of well-being such as mental dis-
tress and life satisfaction (Kong, et al., 2012b). The present results indicate
that trait EI may be associated with loneliness in two dierent mediational
pathways, i.e., the mediating eects of self-esteem and of social support.
The mediation of self-esteem illustrates that those of higher trait/ability EI
who can perceive and reason about their own emotions better, and are thus
more apt to increase their self-esteem, also report less loneliness. In con-
trast, the mediating role of social support shows that higher EI (indicating
greater ability to perceive and reason about others' emotions) was associ-
ated with increased support from others, which may decrease loneliness.
Furthermore, eect contrasts indicated that the specific indirect ef-
fect via social support was statistically significantly greater than that via
self-esteem. These findings provide evidence that social support is more
important than self-esteem in the association between trait EI and loneli-
ness. The pattern is dierent from the role of these two variables in trait
EI as a predictor of life satisfaction. Specifically, Kong, et al. (2012a) found
that self-esteem and social support had an equal importance in the asso-
ciation between trait EI and life satisfaction. Social support seems to be a
more important resource in avoidance of loneliness. The present findings
may reflect cultural dierences. Collectivistic cultures (e.g., Chinese cul-
ture) place less emphasis on self-esteem, and social relationships are more
crucial to how one assesses one's self and life (Heine & Lehman, 1999).

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 888 J. ZOU

Therefore, social support may play a more important role in the associa-
tion between trait EI and loneliness in Chinese culture. In addition, the
mediation model showed no sex dierences, which implies that men and
women may share the same inherent mechanism underlying the associa-
tion between trait EI and loneliness.
Limitations and Conclusions
It is important to point out some limitations, one of which was that a
cross-sectional design used in the present study is not suitable for explor-
ing causal relations, but the model suggests avenues for further research.
The mediation eects of self-esteem and social support remain to be tested
using longitudinal designs, which may provide better evidence from a de-
velopmental perspective. As a threat to internal validity, self-report could
introduce various biases. Future studies examining mediation eects us-
ing multiple methods for assessment (e.g., peer reports) could minimize
problems with subjectivity. Finally, there was no control of factors such as
personality and cognitive ability, which may influence the associations be-
tween trait EI and loneliness.
The present study has several important implications. For instance,
it provides a new perspective for understanding among trait EI, self-es-
teem, social support, and loneliness in Asian samples. There appear to
be two dierent associations that aect the relationship between trait EI
and loneliness, mediated by self-esteem and social support, but the eect
associated with social support's mediation of trait EI is larger than that
for self-esteem. Given the underlying mechanisms, these findings may
oer practical implications, such as psychological interventions. In oth-
er words, seeking social support from friends or parents may be more ef-
fective than boosting self-esteem in Chinese culture. These interventions
based on social support might focus more on development of social ties
with family or with peer groups in schools for Chinese students. In addi-
tion, further studies should test these relationships among EI, self-esteem,
social support, and loneliness in other cultural samples.
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Accepted April 14, 2014.

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