Existing literature provides evidence of the connection between emotional intelligence and resilience, both concepts being adversely related to perceived stress. Nevertheless, there is little evidence from cross-cultural and/or cross-country studies of the simultaneous relationship between these psychological variables. The objective of this study was to address this lack of research, examining the associations between emotional intelligence, resilience and perceived stress in a cross-country context. A total sample of 696 undergraduate students from two universities in the United States and the Basque Country (an autonomous community in northern Spain) participated in the study. Structural equation modeling was used to examine the effects of emotional intelligence and resilience that may affect students' perceived stress. The results revealed that emotional intelligence functions as a negative predictor of perceived stress through the mediating variable resilience for the American and Basque students. The findings suggest that university students with better emotional intelligence and resilience present lower perceived stress. Thus, improving emotional intelligence and resilience could prevent students from suffering perceived stress in higher education. Implications and directions for further research are discussed; in particular, it is highlighted that intervention programs that improve both EI and resilience could be helpful in reducing perceived stress.
Keywords: cross-country study; emotional intelligence; perceived stress; resilience; undergraduate students.