Nurturant Fathering, Attachment to Father, and Attachment to God as Predictors of Emotional Intelligence

Abstract

This research was conducted to understand nurturance and attachment with the father and the attachment one has with God as predictors of emotional intelligence among adults. The data was collected through convenience sampling technique. Variables were studied with the use of four scales namely the Nurturant Fathering scale (Finley & Schwartz, 2004), Experiences in close relationship structures father version (Fraley, Heferman, Vicary, & Brumbaugh, 2011), Muslim spiritual attachment scale (Miner et al., 2017) and the Wong and Law emotional intelligence scale. The sample comprised 321 individuals including both men (n = 153) and women (n = 168) from across Pakistan. Participants aged 18–68 years, (M = 32.68, SD = 12.69) filled out an online form. Results show that nurturance has a positive relationship with attachment to the father and emotional intelligence. Avoidance and anxious attachment had a negative relationship with emotional intelligence. The use of emotion subscale in emotional intelligence showed significant positive relationship with three subscales of attachment to God. Stepwise regression analysis was conducted in which age was controlled that indicated avoidance explained 6.5 % variance in emotional intelligence scores which negatively predicted emotional intelligence. Grouped differences indicated that emotional intelligence observed to be high in joint family system while attachment to God was prevalent more in nuclear family systems. Findings may contribute towards involving fathers in parenting roles which would foster useful personal attributes like emotional intelligence.