Parenting Style As Predictors Of Antisocial Behaviour Among Youth In Selangor, Malaysia: Emotional Intelligence As Mediaton

Abstract

: Despite numerous efforts made by the local government, educational institution, and social community, antisocial behaviours are still rampant in society, as can be seen from the current statistics that stated that 65% of substance abusers in Malaysia are youth. The main objective of this study is to investigate the mediation effect of emotional intelligence to the relationship between parenting style and antisocial behaviours among youth in Selangor, Malaysia. 338 youth (mean age of 20.63 years old) participated in this quantitative study, where they answered 39 items that was derived from Parental Authority Questionnaire, Subtypes of Antisocial Behaviors, and Wong and Law Emotional Intelligence Scale. Pearson’s correlation coefficients, stepwise multiple regression analysis, and Hayer’s PROCESS macro software was used to analyse the data. This study found that emotional intelligence is a significant mediator to the relationship between parenting styles and antisocial behaviour among youth in Selangor, Malaysia, suggesting that parenting style can predicts emotional intelligence, which in turn predict antisocial behaviour among youth. Thus, this finding shows the importance of applying emotional intelligence into youth, and intervention programme that aims for parents to make changes to their parenting style can be prove effective in helping to reduce antisocial behaviours among youth, especially for authoritarian parents