ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Sport Psychology
This article is part of the Research TopicTowards a Psychophysiological Approach in Physical Activity, Exercise, and Sports-Volume VView all 30 articles
The Mediating Role of Problem Solving in the Relationship between Emotional Intelligence and Mental Well-Being
Provisionally accepted
BUŞRA ÖZCAN1
Oktay Kızar2Mustafa Kızılkoca2İrem Kaptangil Çalışır3Eyüp Bozkurt4Fatih Mehmet Uğurlu4Suriye Tan4Meryem Koçal5
Ramazan Erdoğan6*- 1Siirt Universitesi, Siirt, Türkiye
- 2Munzur Universitesi, Tunceli, Türkiye
- 3Bitlis Eren Universitesi, Bitlis, Türkiye
- 4Firat Universitesi, Elâzığ, Türkiye
- 5Kuşadası spor, Aydın, Türkiye
- 6Munzur University Faculty of Sports Sciences, Tunceli, Türkiye
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Background: This study aims to examine the relationship between emotional intelligence and mental well-being among university students and to reveal the mediating role of problem-solving skills in this relationship. Methods: Of these students, 707 participated, and the Emotional Intelligence Trait Scale, the Warwick-Edinburgh Psychological Well-being Scale, and the Problem-Solving Inventory were used as data collection tools. The SPSS software was used for data analysis. Results: Emotional intelligence appears to have a significant effect on mental well-being, and emotional intelligence directly significantly predicts problem-solving skills, but mental well-being does not have a significant effect on problem-solving skills. Emotional intelligence appears to have a direct effect on problem-solving, and mental well-being mediates this effect. The explanatory power of the model is moderate in terms of the role of emotional intelligence in predicting mental well-being and more limited in terms of its role in predicting problem-solving skills. Conclusions: In conclusion, emotional intelligence strengthens individuals' mental well-being and directly positively impacts their problem-solving skills. However, mental well-being does not play a mediating role in the problem-solving process. This suggests that the direct effect of emotional intelligence is primary in improving problem-solving skills, and mental well-being does not serve as a decisive mediating factor in this process. Therefore, interventions aimed at strengthening emotional intelligence can be effective both in enhancing individuals' mental well-being and in directly supporting problem-solving skills..
Keywords: Emotional intelligence1, Mental Well-Being2, Problem Solving3, University students4, mediator effect5
Received: 17 Aug 2025; Accepted: 25 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 ÖZCAN, Kızar, Kızılkoca, Çalışır, Bozkurt, Uğurlu, Tan, Koçal and Erdoğan. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Ramazan Erdoğan
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