Emotional Intelligence and Parenting Effectiveness among Working Women

Abstract

The increasing participation of women in the workforce has brought significant changes in family roles and responsibilities. Working women are expected to manage professional commitments along with household responsibilities and parenting roles. In this context, emotional intelligence has emerged as an important personal capability that may help women understand and regulate their emotions, respond appropriately to the emotions of others, and maintain healthy interpersonal relationships. Parenting effectiveness is influenced not only by the time available to parents but also by their emotional awareness, communication, patience, adaptability, and ability to respond to children's needs. The present conceptual paper examines the significance of emotional intelligence in enhancing parenting effectiveness among working women. The paper discusses the concept of emotional intelligence, its major dimensions, the challenges faced by working women in balancing professional and family responsibilities, and the role of emotional intelligence in parenting. It also highlights the possible relationship between emotional intelligence, parent-child interaction, communication, emotional support, and children's overall well-being. The study concludes that developing emotional intelligence may enable working women to manage competing responsibilities more effectively and contribute positively to a supportive family environment and effective parenting.