Procedure

The participants completed the Bulgarian translation of the TEIQue as well as the demographic questionnaire with a paper-pencil format. A brief description of the purpose of the study was sent to the institutions that consented to their employees participating in the survey. All participants provided their answers anonymously except those who wanted a detailed explanation of their results after the completion of the questionnaire.

Results

The internal validity of the TEIQue components were established through factor analysis and are presented in Table 13.1. The TEIQue method is

Table 13.1 Confirmatory factor analysis of TEIQue

Source: Author’s own compilation.

designed to measure 15 faces (dimensions), which are grouped into 4 factors - well-being, self-control, emotionality, sociability (Petrides & Furnham, 2000, 2001, 2003). The results of the factor analysis produce a 4- factor solution consistent with the original structure of TEIQue, described by Petrides (2001), and confirms that the four factors are independent within a Bulgarian sample. Some individual dimensions have weights higher than 0.30 on more than one factor, such as assertiveness, emotion perception, emotion regulation, relationships, self-esteem, social awareness, stress management. The self-motivation dimension has low but significant weights on all four factors, but self-motivation and adaptability are independent facets not included on any factor. The four factors explain 61.95 percent of the total variation.

The “Well-being” factor includes the items of the three facets: self-esteem, happiness, and optimism. The second factor - “Self-Control” - includes the following three facets: emotional regulation, stress management, and impul- sivity. The “Emotionality” factor contains four expected facets: perception of emotions, emotion expression, empathy, and relationships. The fourth factor - “Sociability” - combines the social consciousness, emotional management, and assertiveness facets.

Table 13.2 reports the results from the ANOVA showing significant values of the Fischer’s F-criterion regarding differences in El based on the reported birth order of the participants. Significant group differences were found on all variables except for Emotionality. Only ten participants in the sample reported being the third born in their nuclear families, therefore the results for this group must be interpreted with caution.

244 Antonina Kardasheva

Table 13.2 ANOVA for TEIQue factor scores based on participants’ birth order

Source: Author’s own compilation.

Table 13.3 ANOVA for TEIQue factor scores between families based on number of children

Source: Author's own compilation.

The number of children in the adult participants’ current family system is the second demographic factor that was related to the El level and is reported in Table 13.3. The ANOVA indicated significant variations of all components of the TEIQue, except for Well-being.

One methodological concern is that there were only three participants who reported having three children in their current families. The results for this group cannot be considered stable compared to the participant group with one child (N = 245) and two children (N = 299).

Trait El in Bulgarian family relationships 245

Table 13.4 Differences in TEIQue factor scores between families based on family status

Source: Author’s own compilation.

Table 13.5 Regression analysis of TEIQue factors and family relationship ratings

Notes: Significance * - p < .05, ** - p < .01, *** - p <. 001, **** - p < .0000; a - relationship with their children b - relationships with partners

Source: Author’s own compilation.

The results from the ANOVA reported in Table 13.4 illustrate the differences in TEIQue factor components between family statuses. Significant F-values were found for the following dimensions: Sociability (F = 7.891, p < 0.000), Self-control (F = 6.076, p < 0.000), Emotionality (F = 2.661, p < 0.023), and Well-being (F = 5.948, p < 0.000).

Table 13.5 reports regression analyses of the TEIQue factors on the participants’ ratings of relationship quality with their family members. The results of the regression analysis indicate that El factors predict the participants’ ratings of relationship quality with children (R² = 0.39; 6 = 0.707; t - 6.217, sig. < 0.000) and with partners (R² - 0.27; 6 - 0.421; t = 2.833, sig. < 0.005).