Emotional intelligence and related factors in medical sciences students of an Iranian university

BACKGROUND: Emotional intelligence has evolved lot of interest in a variety of fields. The aim of this study was to determine the emotional intelligence and its related factors among junior medical sciences students. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The research design was a descriptive — analytic analysis. Based on a census sampling method, the emotional intelligence of 322 junior medical sciences students was evaluated using the Bar-On Emotional Quotient Inventory. This study was done from 2008 to 2009 in the Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences. RESULTS: The findings showed that 48.1% and 22.4% of students had effective functioning and enhanced skills in emotional intelligence, respectively, while 29.5% of them needed some interventions in order to enhance the emotional intelligence. The study revealed that the students required intervention in every composite of emotional intelligence. In addition, emotional intelligence was correlated with gender, psychiatric history of the student and his/her family, experience of stressful life events, interest in the field of study, grade of study, and marital status. CONCLUSIONS: The results of the present study have shown that the students need some interventions to improve their emotional intelligence.