Negative Automatic Thoughts, Emotional Intelligence and Demographical Different Variables Affecting University Students

This study examines the relationship of negative automatic thoughts, emotional intelligence subscales, gender, and department of university students. The participants are 291 students (170 female and 121 male) of Department of Psychology, Department of Counselling and Department of Preschool Education, of Private University in North Cyprus. Participants completed 'Personal Information Form', 'Emotional Intelligence Scale' and 'Automatic Thoughts Questionnaire'. Obtained data was processed with Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, and cumulative distribution of data was not normal. Accordingly, data was analyzed with Mann Whitney U and Kruskall Wallis tests. Significant difference (p  automatic thoughts, emotional intelligence, gender, department, university students  According to Cognitive Behavioral Approach, core beliefs, are developing during early childhood, due to interaction with environment (Beck et al. 2008). During the life, core beliefs are showing themselves as an automatic thoughts, which are appearing suddenly and repeating at any stage of life (Kilinc and Sevim 2005). Once negative beliefs become active, automatic negative thoughts starts to occupy the mind (Hjemdal et al. 2013). Themes of that repetitive thoughts could be positive or negative (Mathew et al. 2014). The meanings of automatic thoughts are based on experiences gamed by individual from environment (Nobre and PintoGouveia 2008). The schemas that are manifested by automatic thoughts, are important for individual to build up their own world, and understand individuals around them and environment (Wenzel and Cochran 2006). Automatic thoughts directly affect individual's emotions and behavior (Beck 2014; Ergun Basak and Can 2014). Cognitive Behavioral Approach is based on emotions, thoughts and behavior (Beck 2014). Emotions have a many functions, the most important one is to protect individual against danger (Grant et al. 2014). Multiple intelligences theory, explains the efficiency of emotions with emotional intelligence. The ability to percept, understand and form emotions of others and self is called emotional intelligence (Poon 2004). According to Coopler and Sawaf (2003) emotional intelligence is an ability to understand, percept and effective use of the power and speed of emotions. Emotional intelligence is effective on intrapersonal and interpersonal processes (Grant 2014). There is three components of emotional intelligence. One of them is ability to understand own emotions, it is an ability of own feelings awareness (Stein and Book 2003). The awareness of own emotions is building a base for ability of understanding others emotions and managing own emotions. Individuals are expressing their emotions by verbal and nonverbal ways, it is known that nonverbal communication is mostly used one. Understanding of others emotions and self-awareness is progressing in that direction (Goleman 2005). The third component is ability to manage own feelings. This ability is important to adaptation of individual to the reaction of others (Balci 2001). The studies made on emotional intelligence shows that individuals who gets high emotional intelligence scores are using more effective stress coping methods (Slaski and Cartwright 2003) and have higher life quality that individuals with low emotional intelligence scores (Karim and Shah 2013). …

Field of study: Education