Personality and Psychological Well-Being of Adolescents: The Moderating Role of Emotional Intelligence

The purpose in this study was to examine the relationship between the Big Five personality factors and psychological well-being of adolescents and the moderating role of emotional intelligence in that relationship. Adolescents ( N = 400) randomly selected from secondary schools in southwestern Nigeria completed the NEO Five-Factor Inventory (Costa & McCrae, 1992), and emotional intelligence (Law, Wong, & Song, 2004), and psychological well-being (Ruff & Keyes, 1995) scales. It was found that personality factors and emotional intelligence had significant correlations with psychological well-being. Emotional intelligence moderated the relationship between neuroticism, extraversion, and psychological well-being. Implications for counseling adolescents and directions for future research are suggested.