[Levels of emotional intelligence and types of attachment among third year students of the Faculty of Health Science and the Faculty of Medicine--a comparative analysis].

Abstract

Introduction: For the purposes of this research attachment theory was incorporated into the concept of emotional intelligence.

Material and method: The methodological starting point of this study was the assumption that the level of emotional intelligence and social competence is related to a steady feature, namely the type of attachment. Standardized questionnaires available in the Laboratory of Psychological Tests of the Polish Psychological Association were chosen to measure the level of emotional intelligence. However, the type of attachment was studied by Bartholomew's Self Description Test in my own translation. The study involved two groups of students, who were compared: 147 people from the Faculty of Health Sciences/Faculty of Nursing (nursing, midwifery, health promotion, cosmetology, emergency medicine, dietetics), and 181 people from the Faculty of Medicine (medicine), students in their second and third years of studies. A total of 328 people, aged 19-24, were tested.

Results: On the basis of the results it was stated that students of the Faculty of Health Sciences/Faculty of Nursing, as compared to students of the Faculty of Medicine, received significantly higher scores on the scale of the social competence scale, which investigated the efficiency of their behaviour in intimate situations. Moreover, statistical analysis proved that students of the Faculty of Health Sciences showed significantly higher scores than those studying at the Faculty of Medicine in the following fields: KKS-I subscale assessing social competencies in--conditioning effective behaviour in intimate situations, emotional intelligence measured with the INTE questionnaire,--awareness of their own emotional states and understanding their causes (DINEMO-I),--ability to recognize emotions in other people and understanding the reasons for the reactions expressed by them (DINEMO-Others)--emotional intelligence measured with the DINEMO questionnaire (DINEMO-general score). Women from both faculties showed higher social competence than men in the KKS-I, and higher emotional intelligence according to the INTE questionnaire and DINEMO: the overall result, DINEMO-Others and DINEMO-I (in the last scale, at level 0.065). Male students, from both faculties, showed significantly higher social competence in conditioning effectiveness of behaviour in situations requiring assertiveness (KKS-A).

Conclusion: Taking into consideration the results of this study, the answer to the question of whether it is reasonable and necessary to develop skills among the examined students seems to be obvious. Indeed, assertive behaviours should be trained for at the Faculty of Health Sciences. At the same time skills related to EI--such as perceiving and processing emotional information, awareness of one's own and others' emotions, and associated social competencies in conditioning effective behaviours in intimate situations--should be trained for at the Faculty of Medicine.