Differences in Emotional Intelligence among Adolescents with Varying Attachment Styles and Regulations based on Sibling Status

The present study seeks to investigate the influence of attachment styles and Cognitive Emotional Regulation Strategies in the development of Emotional Intelligence, with a comparison drawn between single children and children who have grown up in the company of siblings. A total of 200 participants within the age range of 13-21 years were subjected to the administration of standardised questionnaires such as Schutte Emotional Intelligence Scale, Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire and the Adolescent Attachment Questionnaire for assessing these psychological attributes, respectively. Analysis of data was done by using descriptive statistics, ANOVA, Pearson’s Correlation and linear regression analysis. Results from ANOVA have detected no statistically significant differences between single children and children with siblings in the three psychological domains under consideration, thus indicating that sibling status alone does not exert a considerable influence over the development of Emotional Intelligence, attachment styles or Cognitive Emotional Regulation. However, further investigation of correlation results indicated associations of these variables with EI, while multiple linear regression analysis precisely indicated the contribution of both attachment styles and CERS as significant predictors of Emotional Intelligence. A strong negative association was identified with attachment styles, while Cognitive Emotion Regulation Strategies had a positive relationship in both instances. This study puts factors like quality of emotional interactions, internal emotion regulation in the forefront for having a profound impact on shaping Emotional Intelligence rather than family dynamics in isolation.