Emotional intelligence as a predictor of job related criteria and well-being

Abstract

The study examined the efficacy of trait and ability measures of emotional intelligence (El) in predicting several life outcomes over traditional predictors such as intelligence and personality. Participants in the study were 288 adults (160 male), who completed the TEIQue and MSCEIT (measures of trait/ability El), a battery of standard intelligence tests, the NEO-FFI (measuring the Big Five), and the RSPWB (measuring well-being). Information on salary, job position, and self-assessed job performance were also gathered. A series of hierarchical multiple regression analyses were conducted by entering the g-factor of intelligence as predictor in Step 1, the Big Five in Step 2, and trait and ability El in Step 3; job position, salary, self-assessed job performance, and well-being served as the criteria. All four regression models proved significant, accounting for 18-63% of the criterion's variance. However, the contribution of particular predictors differed depending on the criterion employed, with a) the g-factor being the single significant predictor of salary (Delta R-2=.218), b) both the g-factor and personality adding significantly to the prediction of job position (g-factor Delta R-2=.117; Big Five Delta R-2=.065) and self-assessed job performance (g-factor Delta R-2=.068; Big Five Delta R-2=.169), and c) trait El making a significant contribution (Delta R-2=.048) to the prediction of well-being, over intelligence (Delta R-2=.221) and personality (Delta R-2=.363). The current findings reinforce the use of traditional measures of intelligence and personality in predicting job related criteria, but encourage the assessment of trait El for the purpose of predicting well-being.