Disordered Eating Attitudes and Emotional Intelligence Among University Students

Emotional intelligence is an important factor in determining one's ability to succeed in life and directly influences one's general psychological well-being. The aim of this work is to examine the associations of emotional intelligence with disordered eating attitudes, in a sample of university students. Subjects were 174 adult women and men, all students in Athens, Greece. They were asked to complete two questionnaires, the Eating Attitudes Test and the BarOn EQ-i. It was showed that aspects of emotional intelligence such as reality testing, negative impression, self-regard, happiness, emotional self-awareness and anxiety were the factors associated with eating disordered attitude. This study revealed that emotional intelligence is associated with eating disordered attitude in a sample of university students. This may state a hypothesis of a pathway leading to eating disorders in individuals with low emotional intelligence.