Cross-cultural comparison of the association between trait emotional intelligence and emotion regulation in European-American and Japanese populations

Although a large body of evidence supports trait emotional intelligence as a positive indicator of well-being, the processes that underlie trait emotional intelligence remain unclear. Emotion regulation is considered a core component of trait emotional intelligence. Given that the consequences of emotion regulation strategies differ between European-American and Eastern Asian populations, culture could moderate the association between these strategies and trait emotional intelligence. Two studies examined whether culture moderated the link between trait emotional intelligence and emotion regulation strategies in European-American and East Asian Japanese populations. The results revealed important cultural similarities and differences in the association between trait emotional intelligence and emotion regulation. Regarding cultural similarities, trait emotional intelligence was positively associated with reappraisal in both groups. With respect to cultural differences, trait emotional intelligence was negatively associated with suppression in European-American, but not Japanese, individuals. These findings are consistent with the notion that emotionally intelligent people are more likely to use adaptive strategies and less likely to use maladaptive strategies to regulate their emotion within their own cultural frameworks. Moreover, the current research provided novel insight into the moderating effect of culture on the emotion regulation process underlying the trait emotional intelligence construct.