Associations between the Antioxidant Network and Emotional Intelligence: A Preliminary Study

BACKGROUND: Emotional intelligence (EI) can be broadly defined as the ability to cope with environmental demands. In the scientific research, however, there is not a univocal precise definition of EI and recent articles have underlined the necessity to explore its biological basis to advance understanding of the construct. The aim of study was to investigate if the antioxidant network may be associated with typical-performance or trait EI. METHODS: The study group consisted of 50 women (age, M = 25.10, SD = 3.87). Super Oxide Dismutase (SOD), Catalase (CAT), Glutathione Reductase (GR), and Glutathione Peroxidase (GPx) activities were evaluated on proteins extracted from Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells. Participants completed the Italian version of the EQ-i (Bar-On, 1997) as a measure of trait EI. RESULTS: We observed positive and significant correlations between some biological variables and EQ-i scores, and a significant predictive effect of CAT activity when controlling for related biological variables, age, and smoking. CONCLUSIONS: Our preliminary study suggests that the antioxidant network may constitute some of trait EI's biological basis. In particular, CAT and the SOD/CAT ratio could be two biological variables involved in some specific components of EI.