Association between emotional intelligence and marital quality of married couples

Studies in the west have suggested a positive correlation between emotional intelligence and marital quality among couples; however there is not much research conducted in India. It is evident that marital quality is affected by the culture which creates skepticism if the results from the west are borrowed to the Indian context. This study examined the relationship between emotional intelligence and marital quality of couples and to analyze which domain of emotional intelligence was the best predictor of marital quality among husbands and wives. Forty four couples from Bangalore city, Indians were analyzed. Mangal Emotional Intelligence Inventory (2009) and Marital Quality Scale by Shah (1995) were used to measure emotional intelligence and marital quality respectively. Pearson's correlation coefficient method and regression model were used to analyze the data. The results indicated a positive correlation between emotional intelligence and marital quality among couples. Among all the sub-domains of emotional intelligence, intrapersonal awareness was the single most predictor of perceived marital quality of both husbands and wives. This study might open the discourse on the relationship of emotional intelligence & marital quality in Indian context and it might as well be relevant in emphasizing the role of emotional intelligence in marital quality.