Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-dlnhk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-23T19:27:17.969Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Emotional Intelligence: Toward Clarification of a Concept

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 January 2015

Cary Cherniss
Cary Cherniss*
Affiliation:
Rutgers University
*
E-mail: [email protected], Address: GSAPP, Rutgers University, 152 Frelinghuysen Road, Piscataway, NJ 08854
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

There has been much confusion and controversy concerning the concept of emotional intelligence (EI). Three issues have been particularly bothersome. The first concerns the many conflicting definitions and models of EI. To address this issue, I propose that we distinguish between definitions and models and then adopt a single definition on which the major theorists already seem to agree. I further propose that we more clearly distinguish between EI and the related concept of emotional and social competence (ESC). The second issue that has generated concern is the question of how valid existing measures are. After reviewing the research on the psychometric properties of several popular tests, I conclude that although there is some support for many of them, they all have inherent limitations. We need to rely more on alternative measurement strategies that have been available for some time and also develop new measures that are more sensitive to context. The third area of contention concerns the significance of EI for outcomes such as job performance or leadership effectiveness. Recent research, not available to earlier critics, suggests that EI is positively associated with performance. However, certain ESCs are likely to be stronger predictors of performance than EI in many situations. Also, EI is likely to be more important in certain kinds of situations, such as those involving social interaction or significant levels of stress. Context makes a difference.

Type
Focal Article
Information
Industrial and Organizational Psychology , Volume 3 , Issue 2 , June 2010 , pp. 110 - 126
Copyright
Copyright © Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology 2010 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

*

The author wishes to acknowledge the contributions of Graham L. Staines who provided feedback on an earlier version of this paper.

References

Antonakis, J., Ashkanasy, N. M., & Dasborough, M. T. (2009). Does leadership need emotional intelligence? The Leadership Quarterly, 20, 247–261.Google Scholar
Ashkanasy, N. M., & Daus, C. S. (2005). Rumors of the death of emotional intelligence in organizational behavior are vastly exaggerated. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 26, 441–452.Google Scholar
Bachman, J., Stein, S., Campbell, K., & Sitarenios, G. (2000). Emotional intelligence in the collection of debt. International Journal of Selection and Assessment, 8, 176–182.Google Scholar
Bar-On, R. (1988). The development of a concept of psychological well-being. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Rhodes University, Johannesberg, South Africa.Google Scholar
Bar-On, R. (1997). Bar-On emotional quotient inventory: User's manual. Toronto: Multi-Health Systems.Google Scholar
Bar-On, R. (2004). The Bar-On emotional quotient inventory (EQ-i): Rationale, description, and summary of psychometric properties. In Geher, G. (Ed.), The measurement of emotional intelligence: Common ground and controversy (pp. 115–145). Hauppage, NY: Nova Science.Google Scholar
Bar-On, R. (2006). The Bar-On model of emotional-social intelligence (ESI). Psicothema, 18, 13–25.Google Scholar
Barsade, S. G., Brief, A. P., & Spataro, S. E. (2003). The affective revolution in organizational behavior: The emergence of a paradigm. In Greenberg, J. (Ed.), Organizational behavior: The state of the science (pp. 3–52). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Bastian, V. A., Burns, N. R., & Nettlebeck, T. (2005). Emotional intelligence predicts life skills, but not as well as personality and cognitive abilities. Personality and Individual Differences, 39, 1135–1145.Google Scholar
Boyatzis, R. E. (1982). The competent manager: A model for effective performance. New York: John Wiley and Sons.Google Scholar
Boyatzis, R. E. (2009). Competencies as a behavioral approach to emotional intelligence. Journal of Management Development, 28, 749–770.10.1108/02621710910987647Google Scholar
Boyatzis, R. E., & Sala, F. (2004). Assessing emotional intelligence competencies. In Geher, G. (Ed.), Measuring emotional intelligence: Common ground and controversy (pp. 147–180). Hauppage, NY: Nova Science.Google Scholar
Brackett, M. A., & Mayer, J. D. (2003). Convergent, discriminant, and incremental validity of competing measures of emotional intelligence. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 29, 1147–1158.Google Scholar
Brackett, M. A., Mayer, J. D., & Warner, R. M. (2004). Emotional intelligence and the prediction of behavior. Personality and Individual Differences, 36, 1387–1402.Google Scholar
Brackett, M. A., Rivers, S. E., Shiffman, S., Lerner, N., & Salovey, P. (2006). Relating emotional abilities to social functioning: A comparison of self-report and performance measures of emotional intelligence. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 91, 780–795.Google Scholar
Carmeli, A. (2003). The relationship between emotional intelligence and work attitudes, behavior and outcomes: An examination among senior managers. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 18, 788–813.Google Scholar
Carton, J. S., Kessler, E. A., & Pape, C. L. (1999). Nonverbal decoding skills and relationship well-being in adults. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, 23, 91–100.Google Scholar
Chia, Y. M. (2005). Job offers of multi-national accounting firms: The effects of emotional intelligence, extra-curricular activities, and academic performance. Accounting Education: An International Journal, 14, 75–93.Google Scholar
Ciarrochi, J. V., Chan, A. Y. C., & Caputi, P. (2000). A critical evaluation of the emotional intelligence construct. Personality and Individual Differences, 28, 539–561.Google Scholar
Ciarrochi, J. V., Forgas, J. P., & Mayer, J. D. (2001). Emotional intelligence in everyday life: A scientific inquiry. Philadelphia: Taylor & Francis.Google Scholar
Conte, J. M. (2005). A review and critique of emotional intelligence measures. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 26, 433–440.Google Scholar
Conte, J. M., & Dean, M. A. (2006). Can emotional intelligence be measured? In Murphy, K. R. (Ed.), A critique of emotional intelligence: What are the problems and how can they be fixed? (pp. 59–77). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Côté, S., & Miners, C. T. H. (2006). Emotional intelligence, cognitive intelligence, and job performance. Administrative Science Quarterly, 51, 1–28.Google Scholar
Damasio, A. (1994). Descartes' error: Emotion, reason, and the human brain. New York: Grosset/Putnam.Google Scholar
Daus, C. S. (2006). The case for an ability-based model of emotional intelligence. In Murphy, K. R. (Ed.), A critique of emotional intelligence: What are the problems and how can they be fixed? (pp. 301–324). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Daus, C. S., & Ashkanasy, N. M. (2003). Will the real emotional intelligence please stand up? On deconstructing the emotional intelligence “debate.” The Industrial–Organizational Psychologist, 41(2), 69–72.Google Scholar
Day, A. L., & Carroll, S. A. (2004). Using an ability-based measure of emotional intelligence to predict individual performance, group performance, and group citizenship behaviors. Personality and Individual Differences, 36, 1443–1458.Google Scholar
Duckworth, A. L., & Seligman, M. E. P. (2005). Self-discipline outdoes IQ in predicting academic performance of adolescents. Psychological Science, 16, 939–944.Google Scholar
Dulewicz, V., & Higgs, M. (2000). Emotional intelligence: A review and evaluation study. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 15, 341–372.Google Scholar
Dulewicz, V., Higgs, M., & Slaski, M. (2003). Measuring emotional intelligence: Construct and criterion-related validity. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 18, 405–420.Google Scholar
Elfenbein, H. A., & Ambady, N. (2002). Predicting workplace outcomes from the ability to eavesdrop on feelings. Journal of Applied Psychology, 87, 963–971.Google Scholar
Elfenbein, H. A., Foo, M., White, J. B., Tan, H. H., & Aik, V.-C. (2007). Reading your counterpart: The benefit of emotion recognition accuracy for effectiveness in negotiation. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, 31, 205–223.Google Scholar
Emmerling, R. J., & Goleman, D. (2003, October). Emotional intelligence: Issues and common misunderstandings. Issues and Recent Developments in Emotional Intelligence, 1(1). Retrieved July 18, 2006, from www.eiconsortium.org Google Scholar
Feyerherm, A. E., & Rice, C. L. (2002). Emotional intelligence and team performance: The good, the bad, and the ugly. International Journal of Organizational Analysis, 10, 343–362.Google Scholar
Foo, M. D., Elfenbein, H. A., Tan, H. H., & Aik, V. C. (2005). Emotional intelligence and negotiation: The tension between creating and claiming value. International Journal of Conflict Management, 15, 411–429.Google Scholar
Frye, C. M., Bennett, R., & Caldwell, S. (2006). Team emotional intelligence and team interpersonal process effectiveness. Mid-American Journal of Business, 21, 49–56.Google Scholar
Goleman, D. (2006). Social intelligence. New York: Bantam.Google Scholar
Grubb, W. L., & McDaniel, M. A. (2007). The fakability of Bar-On's emotional quotient inventory short form: Catch me if you can. Human Performance, 20, 43–59.Google Scholar
Hopkins, M. M., & Bilmoria, D. (2008). Social and emotional competencies predicting success for male and female executives. Journal of Management Development, 27, 13–35.Google Scholar
Iordanoglou, D. (2007). The teacher as leader: The relationship between emotional intelligence, leadership effectiveness, commitment and satisfaction. Journal of Leadership Studies, 1, 57–66.Google Scholar
Jennings, S., & Palmer, B. R. (2007). Enhancing sales performance through emotional intelligence development. Organisations and People, 14, 55–61.Google Scholar
Jordan, P. J., Ashkanasy, N. M., Hartel, C. E. J., & Hooper, G. S. (2002). Workgroup emotional intelligence: Scale development and relationship to team process effectiveness and goal focus. Human Resource Management Review, 12, 195–214.Google Scholar
Jordan, P. J., & Troth, A. C. (2004). Managing emotions during team problem solving: Emotional intelligence and conflict resolution. Human Performance, 17, 195–218.Google Scholar
Koman, E. S., & Wolff, S. B. (2008). Emotional intelligence competencies in the team and team leader: A multi-level examination of the impact of emotional intelligence on team performance. Journal of Management Development, 27, 55–75.Google Scholar
Lam, L. T., & Kirby, S. L. (2002). Is emotional intelligence an advantage? An exploration of the impact of emotional and general intelligence on individual performance. Journal of Social Psychology, 142, 133–143.Google Scholar
Landy, F. J. (2005). Some historical and scientific issues related to research on emotional intelligence. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 26, 411–424.Google Scholar
Landy, F. J. (2006). The long, frustrating, and fruitless search for social intelligence: A cautionary tale. In K. J. Murphy (Ed.), A critique of emotional intelligence (pp. 81–124). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Law, K. S., Wong, C. S., Huang, G. H., & Li, X. (2008). The effects of emotional intelligence on job performance and life satisfaction for the research and development scientists in China. Asia Pacific Journal of Management, 25, 51–69.Google Scholar
Law, K. S., Wong, C. S., & Song, L. J. (2004). The construct and criterion validity of emotional intelligence and its potential utility for management studies. Journal of Applied Psychology, 89, 483–496.Google Scholar
Lichten, W., & Wainer, H. (2000). The aptitude-achievement function: An aid for allocating educational resources, with an advanced placement example. Educational Psychology Review, 12, 201–228.Google Scholar
Lievens, F., & Klimoski, R. J. (2001). Understanding the assessment centre process: Where are we now? In Cooper, C. L. & Robertson, I. T. (Eds.), International review of industrial and organizational psychology (Vol. 16, pp. 245–286). Chichester: Wiley.Google Scholar
Locke, E. A. (2005). Why emotional intelligence is an invalid concept. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 26, 425–431.Google Scholar
Lopes, P. N., Brackett, M. A., Nezlek, J. B., Schutz, A., Sellin, I., & Salovey, P. (2004). Emotional intelligence and social interaction. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 30, 1018–1034.Google Scholar
Lopes, P. N., Grewal, D., Kadis, J., Gall, M., & Salovey, P. (2006). Evidence that emotional intelligence is related to job performance and affect and attitudes at work. Psichothema, 18, 132–138.Google Scholar
Lopes, P. N., Salovey, P., Côté, S., & Beers, M. (2005). Emotion regulation abilities and the quality of social interaction. Emotion, 5, 113–118.Google Scholar
MacCann, C., & Roberts, R. D. (2008). New paradigms for assessing emotional intelligence: Theory and data. Emotion, 8, 540–551.Google Scholar
Matsumoto, D., LeRoux, J. A., Bernhard, R., & Gray, H. (2004). Unraveling the psychological correlates of intercultural adjustment potential. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 28, 281–309.Google Scholar
Matthews, G. M., Emo, A., Funke, G., Zeidner, M., Roberts, R., Costa, P. T. Jr., et al. (2006). Emotional intelligence, personality, and task-induced stress. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, 12, 96–107.Google Scholar
Matthews, G. M., Emo, A. K., Roberts, R. D., & Zeidner, M. (2006). What is this thing called emotional intelligence? In Murphy, K. R. (Ed.), A critique of emotional intelligence (pp. 3–36). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Mayer, J. D., Caruso, D. R., & Salovey, P. (1999). Emotional intelligence meets traditional standards for an intelligence. Intelligence, 27, 267–298.Google Scholar
Mayer, J. D., Roberts, R. D., & Barsade, S. G. (2008). Human abilities: Emotional intelligence. Annual Review of Psychology, 59, 507–536.Google Scholar
Mayer, J. D., & Salovey, P. (1997). What is emotional intelligence? In Salovey, P. & Sluyter, D. J. (Eds.), Emotional development and emotional intelligence (pp. 3–34). New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar
Mayer, J. D., Salovey, P., & Caruso, D. R. (2000). Models of emotional intelligence. In Sternberg, R. J. (Ed.), Handbook of intelligence (2nd ed., pp. 396–420). New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Mayer, J. D., Salovey, P., & Caruso, D. (2008). Emotional intelligence: New ability or eclectic traits? American Psychologist, 63, 503–517.Google Scholar
McClelland, D. C. (1973). Testing for competence rather than intelligence. American Psychologist, 28, 1–14.Google Scholar
McClelland, D. C. (1998). Identifying competencies with behavioral-event interviews. Psychological Science, 9, 331–339.Google Scholar
Mikolajczak, M., Luminet, O., Leroy, C., & Roy, E. (2007). Psychometric properties of the trait emotional intelligence questionnaire: Factor structure, reliability, construct, and incremental validity in a French-speaking population. Journal of Personality Assessment, 88, 338–353.Google Scholar
Mueller, J., & Curham, J. (2006). Emotional intelligence and counterpart mood induction in a negotiation. International Journal of Conflict Management, 17, 110–128.Google Scholar
Murphy, K. R. (2006). Four conclusions about emotional intelligence. In Murphy, K. R. (Ed.), A critique of emotional intelligence: What are the problems and how can they be fixed? (pp. 345–354). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Neisser, U., Boodoo, G., Bouchard, T. J. Jr., Boykin, A. W., Brody, N., Ceci, S. J., et al. (1996). Intelligence: Knowns and unknowns. American Psychologist, 51, 77–101.Google Scholar
Nikolaou, I., & Tsaousis, I. (2002). Emotional intelligence in the workplace: Exploring its effects on occupational stress and organizational commitment. The International Journal of Organizational Analysis, 10, 327–342.Google Scholar
Nowicki, S. J., & Duke, M. P. (1994). Individual differences in the nonverbal communication of affect: The Diagnostic Analysis of Nonverbal Accuracy Scale. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, 19, 9–35.Google Scholar
O’Connor, R. M. J., & Little, I. S. (2003). Revisiting the predictive validity of emotional intelligence: Self-report vs. ability-based measures. Personality and Individual Differences, 35, 1893–1902.Google Scholar
Offerman, L. R., Bailey, J. R., Vasilopoulos, N. L., Seal, C., & Sass, M. (2004). The relative contribution of emotional competence and cognitive ability to individual and team performance. Human Performance, 17, 219–243.Google Scholar
Palmer, B. R., Gignac, G., Ekermans, G., & Stough, C. (2008). A comprehensive framework for emotional intelligence. In Emmerling, R. J., Shawel, V., & Mandel, M. (Eds.), Emotional intelligence: Theoretical and cultural perspectives (pp. 17–38). New York: Nova Science.Google Scholar
Palmer, B. R., Manocha, R., Gignac, G., & Stough, C. (2003). Examining the factor structure of the Bar-On emotional quotient inventory with an Australian general population sample. Personality and Individual Differences, 35, 1191–1210.Google Scholar
Palmer, B. R., Stough, C., Hamer, R., & Gignac, G. E. (2009). Genos Emotional Intelligence Inventory. In Stough, C., Saklofske, D., & Parker, J. D. (Eds.), Advances in the measurement of emotional intelligence. New York: Springer.Google Scholar
Peterson, C., Maier, S. F., & Seligman, M. E. P. (1993). Learned helplessness: A theory for the age of personal control. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Peterson, C., & Villanova, P. (1988). An expanded attributional style questionnaire. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 97, 87–89.Google Scholar
Petrides, K. V., & Furnham, A. (2003). Trait emotional intelligence: Behavioural validation in two studies of emotion recognition and reactivity to mood induction. European Journal of Personality, 17, 39–57.Google Scholar
Petrides, K. V., & Furnham, A. (2006). The role of trait emotional intelligence in a gender-specific model of organizational variables. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 36, 552–569.Google Scholar
Petrides, K. V., Niven, L., & Mouskounti, T. (2006). The trait emotional intelligence of ballet dancers and musicians. Psicothema, 18, 101–107.Google Scholar
Petrides, K. V., Pita, R., & Kokkinaki, F. (2007). The location of trait emotional intelligence in personality factor space. British Journal of Psychology, 98, 273–289.Google Scholar
Rapisarda, B. A. (2002). The impact of emotional intelligence on work team cohesiveness and performance. International Journal of Organizational Analysis, 10, 363–379.Google Scholar
Rosete, D. (2007). Does emotional intelligence play an important role in leadership effectiveness? Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia.Google Scholar
Rosete, D., & Ciarrochi, J. (2005). Emotional intelligence and its relationship to workplace performance of leadership effectiveness. Leadership and Organization Development Journal, 26, 388–399.Google Scholar
Rozell, E. J., Pettijohn, C. E., & Parker, R. S. (2006). Emotional intelligence and dispositional affectivity as predictors of performance in salespeople. Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice, 14, 113–124.Google Scholar
Rubin, R. S., Munz, D. C., & Bommer, W. H. (2005). Leading from within: The effects of emotion recognition and personality on transformational leadership behavior. Academy of Management Journal, 48, 845–858.Google Scholar
Saklofske, D. H., Austin, E. J., & Minski, P. S. (2003). Factor structure and validity of a trait emotional intelligence measure. Personality and Individual Differences, 34, 707–721.Google Scholar
Salovey, P., & Mayer, J. (1990). Emotional intelligence. Imagination, Cognition, and Personality, 9, 185–211.Google Scholar
Schutte, N. S., Malouff, J. M., Hall, L. E., Haggerty, D. J., Cooper, J. T., Golden, C. J., et al. (1998). Development and validation of a measure of emotional intelligence. Personality and Individual Differences, 25, 167–177.Google Scholar
Schutte, N. S., Malouff, J. M., Simunek, M., McKenley, J., & Hollander, S. (2002). Characteristic emotional intelligence and emotional well-being. Cognition & Emotion, 16, 769–785.Google Scholar
Schutte, N. S., Schuettpelz, E., & Malouf, J. M. (2000). Emotional intelligence and task performance. Imagination, Cognition, and Personality, 20, 347–354.Google Scholar
Semadar, A., Robins, G., & Ferris, G. R. (2006). Comparing the validity of multiple social effectiveness constructs in the prediction of managerial job performance. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 27, 443–461.Google Scholar
Shoda, Y., Mischel, W., & Peake, P. K. (1990). Predicting adolescent cognitive and self-regulatory competencies from preschool delay of gratification: Identifying diagnostic conditions. Developmental Psychology, 26, 978–986.Google Scholar
Slaski, M., & Cartwright, S. (2002). Health performance and emotional intelligence: An exploratory study of retail managers. Stress and Health, 18, 63–68.Google Scholar
Spearman, C. (1927). The abilities of man: Their nature and measurement. New York: Macmillan.Google Scholar
Spector, P. E., & Johnson, H. M. (2006). Improving the definition, measurement, and application of emotional intelligence. In Murphy, K. R. (Ed.), A critique of emotional intelligence: What are the problems and how can they be fixed? (pp. 325–344). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Spencer, L. M. Jr., & Spencer, S. (1993). Competence at work: Models for superior performance. New York: John Wiley and Sons.Google Scholar
Sternberg, R. J., & Detterman, D. R. (1986). What is intelligence? Norwood, NJ: Ablex.Google Scholar
Sue-Chan, C., & Latham, G. P. (2004). The situational interview as a predictor of academic and team performance: A study of the mediating effects of cognitive ability and emotional intelligence. International Journal of Selection and Assessment, 12, 312–320.Google Scholar
Sy, T., Cote, S., & Saavedra, R. (2005). The contagious leader: Impact of leader's affect on group member affect and group processes. Journal of Applied Psychology, 90, 295–305.Google Scholar
Sy, T., Tram, S., & O’Hara, L. A. (2006). Relation of employee and manager emotional intelligence to job satisfaction and performance. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 68, 461–473.Google Scholar
Van Rooy, D. L., & Viswesvaran, C. (2004). Emotional intelligence: A meta-analytic investigation of predictive validity and nomological net. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 65, 71–95.Google Scholar
Van Rooy, D. L., Viswesvaran, C., & Pluta, P. (2005). An evaluation of construct validity: What is this thing called emotional intelligence? Human Performance, 18, 445–462.Google Scholar
Wechsler, D. (1958). The measurement and appraisal of adult intelligence (4th ed.). Baltimore: The Williams & Wilkins Company.Google Scholar
Wong, C. S., & Law, K. S. (2002). The effect of leader and follower emotional intelligence on performance and attitude: An exploratory study. Leadership Quarterly, 13, 243–274.Google Scholar
Wong, C. S., Law, K. S., & Wong, P. M. (2004). Development and validation of a forced choice emotional intelligence for Chinese respondents in Hong Kong. Asia Pacific Journal of Management, 21, 535–559.Google Scholar