Investigating the Relationship between Emotional Intelligence and Bullying: A Sample from Pakistani High School Students

Abstract

The study aims to investigate the relationship between emotional intelligence and bullying behaviour, as well as to explore gender differences in both variables among high school students in Pakistan. A total of 313 high school students—143 men and 170 females—were chosen from the cities in Pakistan's Punjab region using a convenient sampling technique. The participants' emotional intelligence was evaluated by the researchers using the emotional intelligence scale, and their bullying conduct was examined using the illusion bullying scale. The results showed a strong negative association (r =-0.267, p < 0.05) between bullying and emotional intelligence, especially when it came to the bullying's victimization and ð€…«ighting subscales (p< 0.05). Additionally, there were statistically signið€…«icant gender differences in emotional intelligence, the ð€…«ighting subscale, the victimization subscale, and the bully subscale (p > 0.05), with the exception of the bully subscale. Additionally, the study showed that male students performed better than the score of female students (p < 0.05). The study ð€…«indings also show that emotional intelligence plays a safeguarding role in certain facets of violence among students. The study main objective is to investigate the emotional intelligence and its effect on bullying, including sub-factors of bullying among high school students. Therefore, designing more effective strategies to enhance emotional intelligence, thereby handling aggressive behavior, is important.