Abstract
Background: Emotional Intelligence is the ability to recognize, control, and express one's own emotions and to recognize and react appropriately to the emotions of others. Principles of Emotional Intelligence include: self-awareness, managing your emotions, self-motivation, empathy, social skills.
Objectives of the Study: To measure global Emotional Intelligence among the family medicine residents in Qatar and to describe the distribution of emotional intelligence parameters among the family medicine residents; also to examine the relationship between emotional intelligence parameters' level and selected demographic variables.
Methods: The study targeted residents of the family medicine training programs in Qatar. The final number of questionnaires analyzed was 46 (90.2%). The study used a self-administered questionnaire in Arabic Language. The questionnaire had two parts: Section A: included personal information (e.g. Age, gender, marital status, number of children, PGY level, ethnicity) and Section B: Emotional Intelligence standardized questionnaire which is 153-items Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire.
Results: Generally, residents of the family medicine program in Qatar are reporting average scores in the global EI and related factors and facets; males showed a statistically significant higher global EI, emotionality factors and their related facets (emotion expressions and relationship). The results showed that residents who were raised in small town/village had higher perceived global EI and well-being factor and its related facets (happiness, optimism and self-esteem). There was a statistically significant difference between batches with regard to scores in the emotionality factor and its facets (empathy) where senior residents showed high scores in both.
Conclusion: Family Medicine residents perceived lower E.I. scores, reversed gender relationship with E.I. scores. Academic performance and seniority showed significantly different EI scores.