The mediating role of emotional intelligence and social comparison in the relationship between mindfullness and life satisfaction in secondary education students

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between the levels of mindfulness, emotional intelligence and social comparison of secondary school students with their life satisfaction and whether mindfulness, emotional intelligence, social comparison and life satisfaction differ in terms of some variables (gender, age, class level and school type). The sample of the study consists of 1393 students, 794 girls and 599 boys, who study at secondary schools in Sakarya in the 2019-2020 academic year. Students' ages range from 14-19. In the study, the "Personal Information Form", which was created to obtain information about some demographic variables (gender, age, class level, school type) of secondary school students, and the "Adolescent and Adult Mindfulness Scale (AAMS)" for data on mindfulness level "Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire–Short Form (TEIQue-SF)'' for data on emotional intelligence level, "Social Comparison Scale (SCS)" for data on social comparison, and "The Satisfaction with Life Scale" for data on life satisfaction were used. In the study, descriptive statistical analysis was used to obtain numbers of mindfulness, emotional intelligence, social comparison and life satisfaction according to the variables of gender, age, grade level and school type. Pearson Correlation analysis was used to for the relationships between variables considered in the study. A multi-order mediation model was used to determine the mediating role of emotional intelligence and social comparison in the relationship between awareness and life satisfaction. Independent samples t test was used to determine the differences in terms of gender in mindfulness, emotional intelligence, social comparison and life satisfaction. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Welch tests were used to determine whether there was a difference in groups with more than two independent variables such as age, grade level and school type, and Levene tests was used to determine variance homogeneity. Subsequently, Tamhanes' 2 and Games Howell tests were applied. As a result of the multi-order mediation model, emotional intelligence and social comparison variables mediate the relationship between mindfulness and life satisfaction. In addition, there is a statistically significant difference according to the mindfulness gender variable, emotional intelligence, social comparison and life satisfaction by school type. Keywords: Mindfulness, Emotional Intelligence, Social Comparison, Life Satisfaction