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Relationship between differentiation of self, emotional intelligence and self-esteem in a Spanish sample

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Abstract

This study analyzes the relationship between differentiation of self, emotional intelligence and self-esteem in a sample of 285 Spanish subjects, 191 women and 94 men, aged between 18 and 85 years. Participants answered a sociodemographic questionnaire, the Differentiation of Self Scale (DSS), the Trait Meta-Mood Scale-24 (TMMS-24) and the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES). Results showed that differentiation of self and its dimensions, emotional intelligence dimensions and self-esteem were interrelated. Furthermore, emotional attention, emotional repair, and self-esteem were related to age. It was also found that men had greater emotional cutoff, while women showed more emotional reactivity and higher emotional attention and clarity. Finally, differentiation of self predicted both emotional intelligence and self-esteem, and the relationship between differentiation of self and self-esteem was mediated by clarity and emotional repair. The results, which have important implications for clinical and research fields, are discussed and new lines of research are proposed.

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Data availability

The datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study are available at the following Open Science Framework link: https://osf.io/yauf3/files/osfstorage/6339d7d40db48e06d4e11c29

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  1. Departamento de Psicología, Universidad Pontificia Comillas, C/ Universidad de Comillas, 3-5, 28049, Madrid, Spain

    Marta Esmeralda Ramos-Luna & Jesús Oliver

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Conceptualization: Marta Esmeralda Ramos-Luna, Jesús Oliver; Methodology: Marta Esmeralda Ramos-Luna, Jesús Oliver; Formal analysis and investigation: Marta Esmeralda Ramos-Luna, Jesús Oliver; Writing—original draft preparation: Marta Esmeralda Ramos-Luna, Jesús Oliver; Writing—review and editing: Marta Esmeralda Ramos-Luna, Jesús Oliver; Resources: Marta Esmeralda Ramos-Luna, Jesús Oliver; Supervision: Jesús Oliver.

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Correspondence to Jesús Oliver.

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Ramos-Luna, M.E., Oliver, J. Relationship between differentiation of self, emotional intelligence and self-esteem in a Spanish sample. Curr Psychol 43, 6797–6806 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-023-04822-8

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