The effects of emotional intelligence on communication skills of university students who do and don't do exercise; the mediating role of personality

Recently emotional intelligence aroused a curiosity both inside and out of psychology field. Emotional Intelligence is the ability to follow one's own and others' emotions. Emotional Intelligence not only belongs to an important place beside other intelligence types but also have influence on the other fields that are necessary for individuals in social life. Communication skills which is one of these fields are important in building positive relationships and interactions. Personality traits are important in making contact with other people. The purpose of this research is to examine the effects of emotional intelligence on communication skills and the role of personality traits as an intermediator in university students with regard to their participation and non-participation in exercise. The sample and population of research comprised of 464 (Four Hundred-Sixtyfour) university students who were studying at Gümüşhane, Siirt, Muş Alparslan and Kırklareli Universities. The scales applied to students were Demographical Informations, Schutte Emotional Intelligence Scale, Communication Skills Evaluation Scale, Big Five Personality Traits Scale.As a result of study, it was determined that the levels of emotional intelligence with regard to some of its characteristics had an effect on communication skills; and also it was observed that extroversion and agreeableness variables had significant effects (p<0.05). There was no positive relationship between education level and personality traits, communication skills and emotional intelligence scores. It can be suggested that; while emotional intelligence make a positive influence in increasing the abilities of communication itself; with the mediation of extroversion and agreeableness characteristics of personality traits in making communication in social environment played an important role in communication skills. Keywords: Exercise, Emotional Intelligence, Communication Skills, Personality Traits, Mediation