Investigating the relationship between emotional intelligence and social support with mental health in the elderly of Bandar Abbas city

Dissertation for Master's Degree in Clinical Psychology

Abstract:

The purpose of this research was to investigate the relationship between emotional intelligence and social support with the mental health of the elderly in Bandar Abbas city. This research was a type of correlational research. The statistical population included elderly men and women (over 65 years old) of the National Pension Fund of Bandar Abbas city in 2011, in the number of 758 people, and the sample of this research included 256 people who were selected randomly. To measure the variables, Shaneh's Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire, Shrivern and Stewart's Social Support Questionnaire, and General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) were used. The analysis of the obtained data was done by regression analysis test. The research findings showed that emotional intelligence and social support have a significant correlation with mental health and the components of physical symptoms, anxiety symptoms, social dysfunction and depression symptoms. In addition, the results showed that the variables of emotional intelligence and social support have a high ability to predict mental health and its components, so that people who have higher emotional intelligence and have more social support also have higher mental health.

Key words: emotional intelligence, social support, mental health, elderly

Emotions are internal events that are many psychological subsets such as Biological responses harmonize cognitions and conscious awareness. When a person's relationship with his family and with all people changes, his emotions will also change.

For example: a person who remembers sweet memories from childhood, the world may seem fresher and much more enjoyable. Because emotions create relationships in this sense (space) that evoke meaning associated with these relationships. Emotional intelligence is a relatively new term that complements the concept of traditional intelligence and emphasizes the social, personal and emotional contribution to intelligent behavior (Mayer and Salovey, 2001).

Emotional intelligence as a new concept has entered the psychological literature since the 1990s and is the result of the intertwining of two emotional and rational senses and the mutual relationship between reason and emotion.

Emotional intelligence is a new component that many researchers use in various matters. are interested The theory of emotional intelligence and Yusani's perspective on the prediction of success factors in life, including academic progress and effective coping with stressful factors as the source of mental disorders, because many personality traits such as sympathy, self-centeredness, optimism, spontaneity, impulse control, self-awareness and emotion management are the basis for success in various areas of life.

Emotional intelligence seems to be different from personality and cognitive indicators (such as intelligence) and in predicting the consequences Real and basic life is effective. In other words, "emotional intelligence may be the best predictor of a person's success in life" (Ciarrochi et al., 2001).

People who have low emotional intelligence are not able to use coherent and regular mechanisms, so they are liable to suffer from anxiety disorders (Ciarrochi et al., 2001). Regarding health and mental health, many views and definitions have been given and many factors have been mentioned in having and not having health and mental health: knowing oneself and the environment, having emotional stability, mastering emotions, accepting responsibility, being able to make personal decisions, having the ability to face problems and arguments (Porafkari, 1379). 1376).

One of the important factors in the mental health of people are emotions. In general, emotional abilities play an effective role in recognizing appropriate emotional responses in facing everyday events, expanding the scope of insight and creating a positive attitude about events and emotions. Therefore, people who have the ability, control and use of these emotional abilities will enjoy more social support, satisfaction and mental health.

Nowadays, many researchers believe that if a person is emotionally capable, he can better face the challenges of life and as a result, he will enjoy better mental health (Siarouchi et al., 2002, quoted by Nouri, 2013).

Mental health is the way people think, feel and act..

Mental health depends on how people think, feel and act, and in general, people who have mental health have a positive attitude towards life and are ready to deal with life's problems. They feel good about themselves and others. They are responsible in their work environment and relationships, when we have mental health, we expect the best things from life and we are ready to deal with any incident, the better a person can adapt himself to the environment and problems around him, the more emotional intelligence he has. By learning the characteristics of better mental health, we can achieve a balanced and happy spirit and improve our emotional intelligence. The opinion of emotional intelligence provides a new point of view in the field of effective prediction of success as well as primary prevention of mental disorders, which complements cognitive science, neurology and child development (Bar-N, 2000).  The theory of emotional intelligence provides a new framework of the primary prevention model in mental health. The concept of emotional intelligence can be used in educational situations such as high schools, technical schools, universities, to help school psychologists and counselors identify those students who cannot effectively meet their academic needs, which may lead to expulsion from school or emotional problems (Barr-Ann, 2000). Regardless of what positive or negative features there are. In other words, the people of a society or group must confirm each other; Regardless of shortcomings and inabilities or successes and abilities. This point is especially important in old age. A person must be accepted into his group; Not because he has money and spends for others, but because of the person himself, he should be supported (Bavi, 2013). Therefore, social support becomes one of the influential factors in mental health.

Today, there is a debate that success depends on several types of intelligence and emotional control, and appeal to general intelligence (cognition) alone is not enough to explain success, and one reason for this claim is that emotional intelligence is a better predictor of success in social life compared to structure and intelligence (Golman, 1995, quoted by Parsa, 2010) and researchers (for example, Mayer and Salvi, 2001) believe that the constructive abilities of emotional intelligence - understanding emotions, regulating emotional states and using emotional awareness, are related to mental health and cognitive adaptation. Emotional intelligence is a concept that has its roots in the work of Thorndike and Gardner (Ciarrochi, 2003, quoted by Nouri 2013).

1-2 statement of the problem

Today we live in an era where mental health is of particular importance because along with the technological-industrial-economic and social developments, mental disorders are spreading day by day and many people suffer from discomfort. Mentally ill people suffer greatly and are not only in agony, but also cause problems for the family and ultimately the society (Lashgari, 2013).

One of the concepts that has received attention in recent decades is the concept of emotional intelligence[1]. Emotional intelligence means the ability to manage one's mood and mental state and control impulses, a factor that creates hope in a person when failure is caused by not reaching the goal. The complexities of the present age and the speed of changes in various fields of life have made the precise and scientific findings of psychology more sensitive.

For many years, psychologists have tried to classify and define intelligence. In the last century, intelligence (intelligence) was measured by IQ, which tried to evaluate cognitive and functional capacity (such as a person's ability to learn, remember, reason, abstract). From the beginning of the 1990s, the discussion on the psychological effects of emotion and its adaptive functions, as well as the nature of the relationship between emotion and cognition, took on new dimensions with the introduction of the concept of emotional intelligence. The concept of emotional intelligence has opened a new and deep world in the understanding of human intelligence, and the ability to evaluate general or general intelligence is less negative. They are also skilled at building and maintaining high quality relationships. In general, emotional intelligence is related to the events and consequences of life and helps to understand and predict various aspects of daily life (Siaruchi et al. 2002, quoted by Nouri 2013).