Revisiting the predictive validity of emotional intelligence: self-report versus ability-based measures

In response to general press assertions that training emotionally intelligent children will lead to great rewards, this study examined the relationship between emotional intelligence (EI) and academic achievement in college students, using both self-report and ability-based measures of EI. Specifically, the Mayer, Salovey, Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT, an ability-based measure) and the Bar-On Emotional Quotient Inventory (EQ-i, a self-report measure) were used to predict academic achievement. Achievement was operationalized as the respondents’ cumulative GPA. Results indicated that EI is not a strong predictor of academic achievement regardless of the type of instrument used to measure it. However, a construct validity examination revealed that the MSCEIT correlated highly with indices of cognitive ability but minimally with personality dimensions. In contrast, the EQ-i failed to correlate with indices of cognitive ability but correlated substantially with numerous personality dimensions.     

Emotional intelligence, personality and the decoding of non-verbal expressions of emotion

Previous research has highlighted theoretical and empirical links between measures of both personality and trait emotional intelligence (EI), and the ability to decode facial expressions of emotion. Research has also found that the posed, static characteristics of the photographic stimuli used to explore these links affects the decoding process and differentiates them from the natural expressions they represent. This undermines the ecological validity of established trait-emotion decoding relationships.This study addresses these methodological shortcomings by testing relationships between the reliability of participant ratings of dynamic, spontaneously elicited expressions of emotion with personality and trait EI. Fifty participants completed personality and self-report EI questionnaires, and used a computer-logging program to continuously rate change in emotional intensity expressed in video clips. Each clip was rated twice to obtain an intra-rater reliability score. The results provide limited support for links between both trait EI and personality variables and how reliably we decode natural expressions of emotion. Limitations and future directions are discussed.     

The relationship between emotional intelligence and the dark triad personality traits: A meta-analytic review

This is a meta-analysis of emotional intelligence (EI) and Dark Triad traits. EI is significantly and negatively related to Machiavellianism (overall EI:

= −0.29; ability EI:

= −0.31; trait EI:

= −0.27) and to psychopathy (overall EI:

= −0.17; ability EI:

= −0.21; trait EI:

= −0.16). EI is not related to narcissism (overall EI:

= 0.02; ability EI:

= −0.10; trait EI:

= 0.05). The types of EI did not moderate the relationships between EI and Dark Triad traits. EI measures and measures of narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy exhibited significant moderator effects. Using EI scales may be a practical way to screen out candidates high in Machiavellianism and psychopathy.     

Personality and physical activity: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Whether personality determines physical activity or its outcomes is relevant for theory and public health but has been understudied. We estimated the population correlations between Big-Five personality factors and physical activity and examined whether they varied according to sample characteristics and study features. Database searches were conducted according to PRISMA guidelines, for articles published in the English language prior to November 1st, 2013. Sixty-four studies including a total of 88,400 participants yielded effects (k) for Extraversion (88), Neuroticism (82), Conscientiousness (69), Openness (51) and Agreeableness (52). Significant mean r was found for Extraversion (r = .1076), Neuroticism (r = −.0710), Conscientiousness (r = .1037) and Openness (r = .0344), but not Agreeableness (r = .0020). Effects were moderately heterogeneous (I² range = 44–65%) and varied by sample characteristics (e.g., age, gender, or clinical status) and/or study features (e.g., measure quality or item format). This analysis expands results of previous reviews and provides new support for a relationship between physical activity and Openness. Future studies should use better measures of physical activity and prospective designs, adjust for statistical artifacts, and consider advances in the conceptualization of personality.     

The five factor model of personality and alexithymia: A meta-analysis

The main objective of the study was to examine the relationship between the Five Factor Model of Personality and alexithymia. Data were collected from 25 studies, which included 30 independent samples, 1384 effect sizes, and 7440 participants. All analyses were conducted with random effects models. Greater neuroticism and lower extraversion, openness to experience, agreeableness, and conscientiousness were associated with higher cognitive alexithymia. Greater neuroticism and openness to experience were linked to lower affective alexithymia. Additionally, age moderated the relationship between the Five Factor Model of Personality and cognitive alexithymia, in that the association between neuroticism and alexithymia became stronger with age whereas the relations of extraversion, openness to experience, agreeableness, and conscientiousness with alexithymia became weaker with age.     

Emotional competence in children with autism: Diagnostic criteria and empirical evidence

The diagnostic criteria of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) include emotional impairments. However, scientific evidence for these impairments is varied and subtle. In this contribution, recent empirical studies that examined the emotional competence in children and adolescents with ASD are reviewed. Four aspects of emotional competence that are important to children’s daily social functioning (expression, perception, responding, and understanding) are discussed, differentiating between mentally retarded and normally intelligent children and adolescents with and without ASD in natural and structured contexts. On various accounts, the emotional impairments of children with ASD that are found in scientific studies provide a more differentiated view on the impairments suggested by the diagnostic literature. Consistent empirical findings and gaps in the field are discussed. Theoretical and clinical recommendations for assessment procedures are suggested.     

Great expectations: A meta-analytic examination of optimism and hope

Optimism and hope—two psychological constructs reflecting positive expectations about one’s future—have garnered considerable research attention and each has been the subject of several narrative reviews. In the current meta-analysis, we examined the optimism–hope relationship and we examined several potential correlates and consequences of optimism and hope. Our results suggest that optimism and hope are distinguishable from each other. Furthermore, both are related to several indices of psychological and physical well-being and both are empirically distinguishable from other personality traits, such as the Five Factor Model characteristics and trait affectivity. We conclude by discussing directions for future research on optimism and hope.     

Intensity of positive and negative emotions: Explaining the association between personality and depressive symptoms

The aim was to examine to what extent emotional intensity accounted for associations between the Big Five personality dimensions and depressive symptoms. Study 1 tested the model cross-sectionally, using survey data of 266 Dutch social science students. Study 2 experimentally examined how personality dimensions were related to emotional reactivity after exposure to various emotional stimuli. Dutch psychology students (N = 130) reported on their personality and viewed an amusing or sad film clip, after which the change in intensity of experienced positive and negative emotions was assessed. Individuals scoring higher on neuroticism generally experienced more intense negative emotions, through which they experienced a higher level of depressive symptoms. Individuals who were more agreeable experienced a lower level of depressive symptoms indirectly through higher general intensity of positive emotions. More agreeable individuals showed stronger increase in negative emotions and stronger decrease in positive emotions, though after exposure to the sad stimulus only. Although replication is needed, our results offer empirical support for a more taylor-made approach in decreasing nonclinical depressive symptoms taking into account both personality characteristics and emotion regulation.     

Personality aspects of entrepreneurship: A look at five meta-analyses

Research on personality aspects of entrepreneurship, recently summarized in five meta-analyses, has intensified during the past two decades. Internationally, entrepreneurship has been recognized as highly important for socio-economic prosperity. After discussing a few basic concepts relating task and context of entrepreneurship to personality characteristics the main results of the meta-analyses are reported. In the system of the Big Five, personality traits make a difference when entrepreneurs are compared with managers (C+, O+, E+, N−, A−). They are also relevant in predicting entrepreneurial intention (C+, O+, N−, E+) and entrepreneurs’ performance (C+, O+, E+, N−). For other more specific scales that have frequently enough been used and could therefore be included in meta-analyses (e.g., readiness for innovation, proactive personality, generalized self-efficacy, stress tolerance, need for autonomy, locus of control) have also been reported significant correlations with business creation and business success. Risk propensity supports business foundation, but not necessarily business success. Achievement motivation is favourable both for business foundation and business success. The effect sizes are mostly small, some moderate. Complementing the results of the meta-analyses, some recent single studies on mediator or moderator effects are briefly reviewed.     

A General Factor of Personality (GFP) from two meta-analyses of the Big Five: and

In two studies, we used structural equation models to test the hypothesis that a General Factor of Personality (GFP) occupies the apex of the hierarchy of personality. In Study 1, we found a GFP that explained 45% of the reliable variance in a model that went from the Big Five to the Big Two to the Big One in the 14 studies of inter-scale correlations (N = 4496) assembled by Digman (1997). A higher order factor of Alpha/Stability was defined by Conscientiousness, Emotional Stability, and Agreeableness, with loadings of from 0.61 to 0.70, while Beta/Plasticity was defined by Openness and Extraversion with loadings of 0.55 and 0.77. In turn, the GFP was defined by Alpha and Beta with loadings of 0.67. In Study 2, a GFP explained 44% of the reliable variance in a similar model using data from a published meta-analysis of the Big Five (N = 4000) by Mount, Barrick, Scullen, and Rounds (2005). Strong general factors such as these, based on large data sets with good model fits that cross validate perfectly, are unlikely to be due to artifacts and response sets.     

The Five Factor Model of personality and social support: A meta-analysis

ObjectiveThe aim of the study was to evaluate the relation between the Big Five personality traits and social support.MethodData for the meta-analysis were collected from 72 studies, which included 84 independent samples, 624 effect sizes, and 37 678 participants.ResultsLower neuroticism and higher extraversion, openness to experience, agreeableness, and conscientiousness were associated with greater perceived availability of social support. Higher extraversion was related to greater perceived received social support. The personality traits-social support relationship was stronger for samples reporting perceived availability of social support from many people than it was for samples reporting perceived availability of social support from concrete people.ConclusionThe study extends current knowledge on the associations between personality traits and social support.     

The General Factor of Personality and peer-rated social status: A rejoinder to de Vries (2011)

In a previous study we showed that self-reported Big Five scores and the General Factor of Personality (GFP) were related to peer-ratings of likeability and popularity (van der Linden, Scholte, et al., 2010). de Vries (2011a) re-analyzed our data and concluded that (i) there was no evidence of a GFP, and (ii) the GFP we used was latent factor of Extraversion. In this rejoinder I present arguments that compromise the re-analysis and conclusions as described by de Vries (2011a) and emphasize the relevance of the GFP.     

The Golombok Rust Inventory of Sexual Satisfaction (GRISS): predictive validity and construct validity in a Dutch population

The discriminant and predictive validity of the Dutch translation of the Golombok Rust Inventory of Sexual Satisfaction (GRISS; Rust and Golombok, 1985, Rust and Golombok, 1986a, Rust and Golombok, 1986b; Ter Kuile et al., (1993); Ter Kuile et al., accepted for publication) was examined in independent samples comprising sexological (357 males and 380 females) and gynaecological outpatients (156 males and 209 females). Prediction of the presence of sexual complaints with the GRISS differed in these samples. The best performance was found in the male sexology sample in which sensitivity and specificity, as well as the predictive values both positive and negative were satisfactory. The predictive characteristics in the other three samples were found to be less satisfactory and were confounded with sample characteristics concerning the presence or absence of individual sexual problems. The availability of the other partners' GRISS scores enhanced the GRISS' predictive capacities for males and females in these samples. In 320 female and 300 male sexology patients and their partners, the convergent and divergent construct validity of the GRISS scales was investigated using other instruments measuring psychological distress, marital, sexual and general life maladjustment, personality traits of psychoticism, extraversion and neuroticism and social desirability. No correlations of the GRISS with social desirability were found. GRISS subscales were found to represent relatively independent constructs. These findings were confirmed by higher-order factor analyses of subscale scores of males and females.     

On the myth and the reality of the temporal validity degradation of general mental ability test scores

Claims of changes in the validity coefficients associated with general mental ability (GMA) tests due to the passage of time (i.e., temporal validity degradation) have been the focus of an on-going debate in applied psychology. To evaluate whether and, if so, under what conditions this degradation may occur, we integrate evidence from multiple sub-disciplines of psychology. The temporal stability of construct validity is considered in light of the evidence regarding the differential stability of g and the invariance of measurement properties of GMA tests over the adult life-span. The temporal stability of criterion-related validity is considered in light of evidence from long-term predictive validity studies in educational and occupational realms. The evidence gained from this broad-ranging review suggests that temporal degradation of the construct- and criterion-related validity of ability test scores may not be as ubiquitous as some have previously concluded. Rather, it appears that both construct and criterion-related validity coefficients are reasonably robust over time and that any apparent degradation of criterion-related validity coefficients has more to do with changes in the determinants of task performance and changes in the nature of the criterion domain rather temporal degradation per se (i.e., the age of the test scores). A key exception to the conclusion that temporal validity degradation is more myth than reality concerns decision validity. Although the evidence is sparse, it is likely that the utility of a given GMA test score for making diagnostic decisions about an individual deteriorates over time. Importantly, we also note several areas in need of additional and more rigorous research before strong conclusions can be supported.     

On the validity of narrow and broad personality traits: A response to

Salgado, Moscoso, and Berges (2013) have recently commented on the issue of the comparative validity of broad factor-level personality traits and narrow facet-level personality traits, providing arguments and data suggesting superior validity for the former. In response, we first clarify some of our previous points that were discussed by Salgado et al. and comment on some other aspects of their article. We then provide an empirical example in which a facet-level personality scale does better in predicting a delinquency criterion than does the factor-level personality scale that contains that facet. We also use CFA to demonstrate that it was the specific trait variance in our narrow predictor that added significantly to predictive validity, above and beyond the validity achieved by the common factor variance contained within the trait measure. These results support our previous conclusion that exclusive reliance on broad factor measures can be counterproductive for understanding and predicting behavior.     

Evaluating the predictive validity of personality trait judgments using a naturalistic behavioral criterion: A preliminary test of the self-other knowledge asymmetry model

We tracked 87 participants over two days using the Electronically Activated Recorder (EAR). Coded variables included expressions of mood, amount of talking in various situations (e.g., with one other person, with a friend, etc.), locations, and behavioral markers of the Big Five. Collection of self-, informant-, and stranger-ratings on markers of the Big Five allowed for a unique test of the Self-Other Knowledge Asymmetry (SOKA) model. Although effect sizes were modest, there was evidence for the validity of both self- and informant-ratings across most trait dimensions. Stranger-ratings showed evidence of validity in the domain of Extraversion. Predictions derived from the SOKA model were partially supported, though more research with larger samples is needed to provide stronger tests of SOKA.     

情绪智力与工作相关变量关系的元分析：以中国样本为例

以中国样本为例,运用元分析方法对个体和团队层面情绪智力与工作相关变量的关系进行了探讨。来源于46项研究的59个独立样本满足了元分析标准(N=11578)。元分析结果发现,个体情绪智力与领导行为有高度正相关,与任务绩效、背景绩效、自我效能感有中高度正相关,与工作满意、组织承诺、创新行为有中低度正相关,与工作倦怠有中高度负相关,与工作压力有中低度负相关,与员工离职和凝聚力的相关不显著。团队情绪智力与团队绩效高度正相关。结果表明,情绪智力是工作场所有价值的变量,它对有效的工作变量有不同程度的预测性。     

Born to burnout: A meta-analytic path model of personality, job burnout, and work outcomes

We quantitatively summarized the relationship between Five-Factor Model personality traits, job burnout dimensions (emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and personal accomplishment), and absenteeism, turnover, and job performance. All five of the Five-Factor Model personality traits had multiple true score correlations of .57 with emotional exhaustion, .46 with depersonalization, and .52 with personal accomplishment. Also, all three dimensions of job burnout had multiple correlations of .23 with absenteeism, .33 with turnover, and .36 with job performance. Meta-analytic path modeling indicated that the sequential ordering of job burnout dimensions was contingent on the focal outcome, supporting three different models of the burnout process. Finally, job burnout partially mediated the relationships between Five-Factor Model personality traits and turnover and job performance while fully mediating the relationships with absenteeism.     

Emotional intelligence and employee innovation: Sequential mediating effect of person-group fit and adaptive performance

IntroductionHow emotional intelligence interrelates with employee innovation becomes a timely and crucial topic for research, for human resource and organizational psychology practitioners and academicians alike.ObjectiveThe study examined the mediating effect of person-group fit and adaptive performance on employee innovation. A sequential mediation framework explaining the relationship between emotional intelligence and employee innovation was constructed. This study differentiates itself from other similar studies on emotional intelligence and employee innovation since it suggests a novel approach to enhance employee innovation.MethodsElectronic as well as paper-based surveys were conducted to collect the data and the analysis of 417 responses revealed that the hypotheses were strongly supported by the data.ResultsWe found that a sequential mediation effect exists between person-group fit and adaptive performance. The findings offer a significant contribution to the field of human resources, since prior research has examined neither the simple mediating effect nor the sequential mediating effect of person-group fit and adaptive performance between emotional intelligence and employee innovation.ConclusionThe theoretical and practical implications of the findings were explored which have substantial value for human resources especially, for recruitment and training teams.