Background & Objective: Given the significance of caring in the nursing profession, it is essential to assess the caring behaviors of nursing students and the factors that may influence these behaviors. This study aimed to explore the relationship between emotional intelligence and critical thinking disposition, as well as their impact on the caring behaviors of a sample of Iranian nursing students.
Materials & Methods: This descriptive-correlational study was conducted on 203 nursing students. Participants were selected using a census method. The data were collected from from 17 February 2024 to 29 June 2024 using a demographic checklist, Watson and Lea's Caring Behaviors Questionnaire, Wang and Law's Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire, and Ricketts's Critical Thinking Disposition Questionnaire. Data were analyzed using an independent t-test, one-way ANOVA, Pearson's correlation coefficient, and multiple linear regression in SPSS-25.
Results: The present study showed a positive and significant correlation between caring behaviors and emotional intelligence (p < 0.001, r = 0.34), as well as critical thinking disposition (p < 0.001, r = 0.56). Multiple linear regression analysis showed that critical thinking disposition (β = 0.49, p < 0.001) was the strongest predictor of caring behaviors, followed by academic year (β = -0.14, p = 0.01) and emotional intelligence (β = 0.14, p = 0.01). These variables accounted for 34% of the variance in caring behaviors.
Conclusion: The results of the study showed that increasing emotional intelligence and critical thinking disposition leads to improved caring behaviors while increasing the academic years leads to a decrease in caring behaviors. Therefore, nursing colleges and instructors should consider integrating critical thinking and emotional intelligence training into internships as potential intervention strategies to enhance students' caring behaviors. In addition, the pressures associated with academic years must be effectively managed.