Whichever intelligence makes you happy: The role of academic, emotional, and practical abilities in predicting psychological well-being

Abstract

Recent findings suggest a positive effect of intelligence on psychological well-being but remain inconclusive as to whether this criterion would be better predicted by drawing on emotional and practical abilities besides traditional "academic" ones and whether any path from intelligence to well-being bypasses socioeconomic status. We investigated these issues with a sample of 288 working adults (N in path analyses = 157), employing three standard tests of academic intelligence (Matrix Reasoning, Verbal Analogies, General Knowledge); the MayerSalovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test; the practical sections of Sternberg's Triarchic Abilities Test to assess practical intelligence; and Ryffs Scales of Psychological Well-Being. Hierarchical regression analyses yielded academic intelligence (Step 1), specifically Matrix Reasoning, an,d emotional intelligence (Step 2, with practical intelligence), specifically Understanding and Managing Emotions, as independent predictors of well-being. Subsequent path analyses revealed that the effect of academic intelligence on well-being was indirect (mediated by socioeconomic status) and the effect of emotional intelligence a direct one, the latter also being stronger and primarily due to the Managing Emotions branch. While expanding the evidence on the real-life utility of academic intelligence, the present results draw special attention to knowing/reasoning about emotions as an incremental predictor of well-being, the implications of which are discussed.