Emotional Intelligence and Prefrontal Cortex: A Comparative Study Based on Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST)

Objective: Emotional intelligence (EI) is a set of competencies that enable us to engage in sophisticated information processing of emotions and emotion-relevant stimuli and to use this information as a guide for thinking and behavior. Prefrontal cortexes (PFC) of brain and related regions have an important role in emotion and emotional regulation. Accordingly, we conducted a study to investigate the relation between EI and performance in Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) (a neuropsychological test, used to evaluate some of the frontal lobe functions).

Methods: In this quasi-experimental study, 250 volunteers from BS and BA students of universities of Tehran were recruited using available sampling method. Bar-on EI, general health questionnaire (GHQ-28) and Raven's Progressive Matrices were completed by the participants. They were categorized into two groups; each group contained 40 students with high and low EI, whose performance in WCST were evaluated thereafter individually. Data was analyzed by MANOVA.

Results: Our results showed that the high EI group had a better performance in WCST than the low EI group. Conclusion: It can be concluded that people with better EI may have better PFC functions.

Declaration of Interest: None.

Citation: Alipour A, Arefnasab Z, Babamahmoodi A. Emotional Intelligence and Prefrontal Cortex: A comparative study based on Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST). Iran J Psychiatry Behav Sci 2011; 5(2): 114- 19.