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Abstract:
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Emotional intelligence (EI) is a set of abilities that accounts for how people’s emotional reports vary in their accuracy and how the more accurate understanding of emotions leads to better problem solving in emotional life. This construct has attracted much scientific and popular attention over the past 20 years. Research on EI is split into two camps: the first treats it as a mental ability while the second treats it as a personality trait. Scholars disagree about which of these conceptualization best captures EI. We take the position that trait-based EI is flawed in that the act of endorsing a self-report questionnaire in itself requires self-knowledge. It may not be meaningful for an emotionally unintelligent person to rate their own level of EI. In the current study, we will evaluate this proposition by examining whether ability-based emotional intelligence will moderate self- reported criterion outcome relationships. We anticipate that individuals who score highly on ability-based EI measures will have higher criterion-outcome relationships by virtue of them being able to assess themselves more accurately. Our criterion variables will include trait-EI and personality, while our outcomes will include academic performance, trust, and coping strategies. |
