Emotional intelligence moderates the relationship between communication technology use and the quality of face-to-face relationships

Increased communication technology use, including contact through email, cell phones, chat rooms, instant messaging and social network systems, has dramatically modified social interactions. Specifically, communication technology has increased the frequency of communication between individuals but has resulted in the loss of face-to-face interactions. This study was designed to test the relationship between communication technology use, personality characteristics and the quality and quantity of face-to-face interactions. In this study, 176 adults from one corporation were surveyed on their communication technology use, emotional intelligence, extroversion and face-to-face relationships. The results from this study provide evidence that emotional intelligence moderates the relationship between communication technology use and the quality of face-to-face interactions. However, there was no evidence that emotional intelligence moderated the relationship between communication technology use and the number of face-to-face interactions. The results for extroversion are converse to those examining emotional intelligence. There is support that extroversion moderated the relationship between communication technology use and the quantity of face-to-face interactions, but not the quality of face-to-face interactions. It is clear that there is a relationship between personality characteristics, communication technology use and face-to-face interactions