Linkage Between the Usage of Digital Technologies and Emotional Competence

Emotional competence is critical for 21st century society, where digital technologies permeate all spheres of life, requiring a rethinking of human relationships in both private and working life. The need for technological detoxification is increasingly being discussed, however at the same time the inevitability of intervention of digital technologies in everyday life is understood. There is still a gap of knowledge regarding the impact of the use of digital technologies on the emotional competence. Moreover, different scholars see both the harm of digital technologies on the emotional competence and the positive impact of digital technologies on the development of emotional competence when digital technologies activate the system of human senses.The paper aims at closing this gap by examining the linkage between the use of digital technologies and the emotional competence (Self-Awareness, Self-Management, Social Awareness, and Relationship Management). In doing this, the quantitative data were collected from questionnaires distributed in Lithuania using simple random sampling (178 responses). The research has shown that the use of digital technologies can have both positive and negative effects on emotional competence. Respondents who use digital technologies as a means of communication develop their interpersonal emotional competence (social awareness, and relationship management), but it was found that the use of some social media are negatively related to the personal emotional competence (self-awareness, self-management).