Emotional Maturity and Perceived Social Support as Correlates of Psychological Well-Being among Mental Health Professionals

Abstract

Mental health professionals are regularly exposed to emotionally challenging work situations, making it essential to identify the factors that support their psychological well-being. The present study aimed at examining whether emotional maturity and perceived social support were associated with psychological well-being. The study also aimed at examining whether emotional maturity moderated the relationship between perceived social support and psychological well-being. A cross-sectional correlational research design was employed with a purposive sample of 60 mental health professionals from Guwahati, Assam. Participants were administered the Emotional Maturity Scale (Singh & Bhargava, 1990), the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (Zimet et al., 1988), and Ryff's Psychological Well-Being Scale (Ryff, 1989). Descriptive statistics, Pearson product-moment correlation, and moderation analysis were used to analyse the data. The findings revealed significant positive correlations between emotional maturity and psychological well-being (r = .741, p < .001), perceived social support and psychological well-being (r = .771, p < .001), and emotional maturity and perceived social support (r = .524, p < .001). Moderation analysis indicated that emotional maturity significantly moderated the relationship between perceived social support and psychological well-being (B = –0.015, p = .004), with the overall model explaining 78.4% of the variance in psychological well-being (R² = .784). The findings suggest that emotional maturity and perceived social support are significant correlates of psychological well-being and that emotional maturity serves as an important personal resource that influences the extent to which social support contributes to well-being. The findings of the study suggest the importance of emotional competencies and supportive professional environments to enhance the psychological well-being of mental health professionals.