The Journal of
Positive Psychology, 2012; 7 (2), 107 – 118.
Special thanks to Sam Turner, PhD for preparing this piece
The aim of coaching is to produce positive results with our
clients. One possible way to consider a positive outcome is to take into
consideration the roles of subjective well-being and emotional intelligence.
What is subjective
well-being?
Subjective wellbeing, or simply SWB, refers to both
cognitive well-being (judgments of life satisfaction) and affective well-being
(the presence of positive feelings and the absence of negative feelings). Clients
high in subjective well-being are likely to demonstrate a connection between
activities and overall satisfaction with life and a consistent state of
affective balance with more positive than negative feelings.
What is emotional
intelligence?
Emotional intelligence, or simply EI, refers to the ability
to accurately perceive, express, and regulate emotions to effectively cope with
problems. Not surprisingly, people who are higher in EI tend to be higher in
overall well-being.
This study aimed to test the notion that EI could predict
the cognitive and affective components in subjective well-being using two
international samples.
What are the
implications for coaching?
- The authors suggest that,
“Individuals who are good at identifying, understanding, and regulating
emotions in both themselves and others typically feel better about
themselves.”
- Beyond personality, emotional
intelligence demonstrated value in predicting subjective well-being.
- Clients from different cultures
can show differences in EI and SWB. One way to consider how this plays
out, clients from individualistic cultures such as Germany may present
with higher emotional expression than from more traditionally
collectivistic cultures such as Turkey.
- With the absence of tools
to measure EI and SWB, coaches should look for effective coping
strategies, reliance on a broad social network, and an awareness and effective
regulation of emotions in clients and those around them.
