EQ determines adolescent relationships

The higher the emotional intelligence of adolescents and their parents, the better is the quality of their relationship, suggests a new study. The findings were based on the respondents' perception of their emotional intelligence, measured by an Emotional Intelligence scale.

The higher the emotional intelligence of adolescents and their parents, the better is the quality of their relationship, suggests a new study. The findings were based on the respondents' perception of their emotional intelligence, measured by an Emotional Intelligence scale.

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The study was conducted in the department of human development, Nirmala Niketan, College of Home Science affiliated to Mumbai University. A sample of 105 respondents (35 adolescents and both their parents) rated themselves on an emotional intelligence scale as well as on a scale to measure the quality of the parent-adolescent relationship.

While adolescents perceived their relationship with their parents as “high” on the scale, fathers perceived it as “average” and mothers as “high”. “There is a significant correlation between the two,” said Payal Maheshwari, assistant professor, department of human development, who conducted the research along with her student Krupa Bhatt.

While 66% of adolescents surveyed felt they had average level of emotional intelligence, 57% of both mothers and fathers felt that they had average level of emotional intelligence.