GRATITUDE MEDIATES THE EFFECTS OF EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE ON HAPPINESS AMONG MEDICAL STUDENTS: A STRUCTURAL EQUATION MODELING ANALYSIS

Nowadays many professionals consider mental health a necessary condition for optimal functioning and medical students play a critical role in sustaining a community's health. That’s why the present study aimed to identify, the relationship between emotional intelligence, happiness, and, gratitude. This study is an analytical cross-sectional study. The targeted population was 219 medical students (males=110, females=109) aged between 19-25 years studying at Nishter Medical College Multan. The participants were selected through a purposive sampling technique and three questionnaires (Schering emotional intelligence scale, subjective happiness scale, and, gratitude questionnaire) were used to collect responses from them. In the light of broaden and build theory, the results revealed that there exists a significant positive association between emotional intelligence, gratitude, and happiness (p<0.05). The results also revealed that gratitude significantly acts as a mediator between emotional intelligence and happiness (p<0.05). In conclusion, the findings have made it abundantly evident that gratitude, happiness, and emotional intelligence play a vital role in a person's well-being. Consequently, positive emotions such as happiness and contentment increase one's thought-action repertoires, allowing one to develop practical psychological resources. Keywords: emotional intelligence, happiness, gratitude, broaden and build, thought-action repertoires, psychological resources