Laura Heijnen – Organisational Psychology: Performance at Work
Problem 2. Who would you hire? (1)
How can you predict performance based on general and emotional intelligence,
and which one predicts it better?
What is the relationship between experience and cognitive ability?
ü Nolen-Hoeksema, Fredrickson, Loftus, & Lutz (2014) – Intelligence
EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE (EI)
- Understanding + control of emotions.
- 4 critical components:
o Accurate perception + expression of emotions: being able to read emotions of
others helps anticipate threat, empathising with them + modify responses. Not
realising always anxious = chronic physiological arousal.
o Ability to access + generate emotions: thinking + problem-solving à anticipate
future feelings, making decision, gives important info.
o Understanding emotions + emotional meanings: knowing why emotions = able
to adjust. Incorrect attribution influences decision-making.
o Emotional regulation: being able to manage + regulate emotions appropriately
à no overcontrol either, which is important for relationships + own health.
- Psychotherapy: helping people recognise, accurately label + manage emotions better.
Shown to be effective in relieving psychological disorders.
How important is emotional intelligence?
- Some individuals greater ability than others to reason about + use emotions and
emotion-laden info to enhance both cognitive activity + social functioning.
- Four branch model of EI (Mayer & Salovey):
o 4 basic psychological processes at foundation (i.e., perceiving emotions): ability
to perceive, use, understand + manage emotions.
§ Perceiving emotion: ability to identify emotions in oneself + others, as
well as in other stimuli (e.g., stories, music, arts).
§ Using emotion: ability to harness feelings that assist in certain cognitive
activities (e.g., reasoning, decision-making, creativity).
§ Understanding emotion: capacity to analyse emotions (e.g.,
understanding emotional lexicon).
§ Managing emotion: ability to reduce/enhance/modify emotional
response in self + others, and ability to make decisions about
usefulness of emotions in certain situations.
o More advanced processes (i.e., regulating emotions) at top of hierarchy. To
some extent dependent on lower-level abilities.
o Within each dimension there’s developmental progression of skills from basic
to more sophisticated.
o Individual differences in people’s skills on each of 4 branches. Differences can
be measured by performance/ability tests à self-reports can be susceptible to
social desirability bias + faking, but performance test not + eliminating
limitation that individuals often inaccurately make decisions about abilities.
o Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotionel Intelligence Test (MSCEIT): 141 items, 2 tasks
measuring each branch, also one for youth. Compare answers to
experts/normative sample (e.g., ranking usefulness of emotional reactions).
1
, Laura Heijnen – Organisational Psychology: Performance at Work
§ Scores are related but distinct from general + verbal intelligence scores.
§ Higher scores = better quality friendships, nominated as socially liked,
more satisfaction + happiness in relationships, less drugs + alcohol, less
deviant acts, anxiety + depression. Better objective performance at
work, effective leadership. Fewer conduct problems +
attention/learning difficulties, but also less overall problem behaviour.
§ Criticism: doesn’t include direct assessment of all emotion abilities
captured by EI framework, especially fluid skills (e.g., processing speed).
Research on EI only in beginning stages.
Critique of emotional intelligence
- Definition: variation + different aspects emphasised of concept. At least 2 distinct
models of EI: 1 seeing EI as specific intelligence (= ability model of EI), other is EI as set
of personality dispositions (= mixed/trait model of EI). Average correlation between
models low.
o Option: EI should be defined as specific ability, so no mixed model à BUT:
average correlation mixed model moderate-high. Both predicting something.
o Explanation low correlation: 2 conceptualisations assess distinct domains of EI
à factor analyses.
- More research needed: general intelligence (g) + job performance definitely related,
but also need to find for EI.
- EI seen as alternative to g:
o There’s adverse impact when g scores are used for selection decisions.
o EI helps in explaining performance beyond g, e.g., in adverse impact (= when 1
part of group gets compared to other one) à no systematic evaluations of
group differences in EI + scarce literature on predictive bias of EI/cross-cultural
equivalence = differences across cultures.
o Need to show incremental validity of EI: showing that it improves validity of
predictions beyond that of general intelligence + factors of personality.
ü O' Boyle, Humphrey, Pollack, Hawver, & Story (2011) – The relation between emotional intelligence and
job performance: A meta-analysis
Introduction
- Importance of EI as predictor in domains as academic performance, job performance,
negotiation, leadership, etc.
- Aims:
o Extend prior studies by testing whether EI accounts for unique variance in
predicting job performance above + beyond the Five Factor Model (FFM) +
cognitive ability.
o Investigate whether EI measures incrementally predict job performance when
measures of personality + cognitive intelligence are also included as predictors.
- Bar-On Emotional Quotient Inventory (EQ-i), Emotional Intelligence Scale (EIS), Work
Profile Questionnaire-Emotion Intelligence version (WPQ-EI) + MSCEIT V2.0. Also the
Wong and Law (WLEIS), Workgroup Emotional Intelligence Profile (WEIP).
- Cognitive intelligence found as single best predictor of job performance.
- EI shown to add incremental predictive validity beyond GMA + FFM. more studies
shown mixed, but generally favourable, conclusions toward EI. Found that EI predicted
performance in work settings, BUT: small sample size.
2
Problem 2. Who would you hire? (1)
How can you predict performance based on general and emotional intelligence,
and which one predicts it better?
What is the relationship between experience and cognitive ability?
ü Nolen-Hoeksema, Fredrickson, Loftus, & Lutz (2014) – Intelligence
EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE (EI)
- Understanding + control of emotions.
- 4 critical components:
o Accurate perception + expression of emotions: being able to read emotions of
others helps anticipate threat, empathising with them + modify responses. Not
realising always anxious = chronic physiological arousal.
o Ability to access + generate emotions: thinking + problem-solving à anticipate
future feelings, making decision, gives important info.
o Understanding emotions + emotional meanings: knowing why emotions = able
to adjust. Incorrect attribution influences decision-making.
o Emotional regulation: being able to manage + regulate emotions appropriately
à no overcontrol either, which is important for relationships + own health.
- Psychotherapy: helping people recognise, accurately label + manage emotions better.
Shown to be effective in relieving psychological disorders.
How important is emotional intelligence?
- Some individuals greater ability than others to reason about + use emotions and
emotion-laden info to enhance both cognitive activity + social functioning.
- Four branch model of EI (Mayer & Salovey):
o 4 basic psychological processes at foundation (i.e., perceiving emotions): ability
to perceive, use, understand + manage emotions.
§ Perceiving emotion: ability to identify emotions in oneself + others, as
well as in other stimuli (e.g., stories, music, arts).
§ Using emotion: ability to harness feelings that assist in certain cognitive
activities (e.g., reasoning, decision-making, creativity).
§ Understanding emotion: capacity to analyse emotions (e.g.,
understanding emotional lexicon).
§ Managing emotion: ability to reduce/enhance/modify emotional
response in self + others, and ability to make decisions about
usefulness of emotions in certain situations.
o More advanced processes (i.e., regulating emotions) at top of hierarchy. To
some extent dependent on lower-level abilities.
o Within each dimension there’s developmental progression of skills from basic
to more sophisticated.
o Individual differences in people’s skills on each of 4 branches. Differences can
be measured by performance/ability tests à self-reports can be susceptible to
social desirability bias + faking, but performance test not + eliminating
limitation that individuals often inaccurately make decisions about abilities.
o Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotionel Intelligence Test (MSCEIT): 141 items, 2 tasks
measuring each branch, also one for youth. Compare answers to
experts/normative sample (e.g., ranking usefulness of emotional reactions).
1
, Laura Heijnen – Organisational Psychology: Performance at Work
§ Scores are related but distinct from general + verbal intelligence scores.
§ Higher scores = better quality friendships, nominated as socially liked,
more satisfaction + happiness in relationships, less drugs + alcohol, less
deviant acts, anxiety + depression. Better objective performance at
work, effective leadership. Fewer conduct problems +
attention/learning difficulties, but also less overall problem behaviour.
§ Criticism: doesn’t include direct assessment of all emotion abilities
captured by EI framework, especially fluid skills (e.g., processing speed).
Research on EI only in beginning stages.
Critique of emotional intelligence
- Definition: variation + different aspects emphasised of concept. At least 2 distinct
models of EI: 1 seeing EI as specific intelligence (= ability model of EI), other is EI as set
of personality dispositions (= mixed/trait model of EI). Average correlation between
models low.
o Option: EI should be defined as specific ability, so no mixed model à BUT:
average correlation mixed model moderate-high. Both predicting something.
o Explanation low correlation: 2 conceptualisations assess distinct domains of EI
à factor analyses.
- More research needed: general intelligence (g) + job performance definitely related,
but also need to find for EI.
- EI seen as alternative to g:
o There’s adverse impact when g scores are used for selection decisions.
o EI helps in explaining performance beyond g, e.g., in adverse impact (= when 1
part of group gets compared to other one) à no systematic evaluations of
group differences in EI + scarce literature on predictive bias of EI/cross-cultural
equivalence = differences across cultures.
o Need to show incremental validity of EI: showing that it improves validity of
predictions beyond that of general intelligence + factors of personality.
ü O' Boyle, Humphrey, Pollack, Hawver, & Story (2011) – The relation between emotional intelligence and
job performance: A meta-analysis
Introduction
- Importance of EI as predictor in domains as academic performance, job performance,
negotiation, leadership, etc.
- Aims:
o Extend prior studies by testing whether EI accounts for unique variance in
predicting job performance above + beyond the Five Factor Model (FFM) +
cognitive ability.
o Investigate whether EI measures incrementally predict job performance when
measures of personality + cognitive intelligence are also included as predictors.
- Bar-On Emotional Quotient Inventory (EQ-i), Emotional Intelligence Scale (EIS), Work
Profile Questionnaire-Emotion Intelligence version (WPQ-EI) + MSCEIT V2.0. Also the
Wong and Law (WLEIS), Workgroup Emotional Intelligence Profile (WEIP).
- Cognitive intelligence found as single best predictor of job performance.
- EI shown to add incremental predictive validity beyond GMA + FFM. more studies
shown mixed, but generally favourable, conclusions toward EI. Found that EI predicted
performance in work settings, BUT: small sample size.
2
