The relationship of compassion and self-compassion with personality and emotional intelligence

Annamaria Di Fabio; Donald H Saklofske

doi:10.1016/j.paid.2020.110109

The relationship of compassion and self-compassion with personality and emotional intelligence

Pers Individ Dif. 2021 Feb 1:169:110109. doi: 10.1016/j.paid.2020.110109. Epub 2020 May 11.

Authors

Annamaria Di Fabio¹, Donald H Saklofske²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Education, Languages, Intercultures, Literatures and Psychology (Psychology Section), University of Florence, Florence, Italy.
² Psychology Department, University of Western Ontario, London, Canada.

Abstract

The two studies presented in this article examine the relationships of personality traits and trait emotional intelligence (EI) with compassion and self-compassion in samples of Italian workers. Study 1 explored the relationship between trait EI and both compassion and self-compassion, controlling for the effects of personality traits in 219 workers of private Italian organizations. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that trait EI explained variance beyond that accounted for by personality traits in relation to both compassion and self-compassion. Study 2 analyzed the contribution of trait EI in mediating the relationship between personality traits and both compassion and self-compassion of 231 workers from public Italian organizations with results supporting the mediating role of trait EI.

Keywords: Compassion; Personality traits; Self-compassion; Trait emotional intelligence.