Emotional intelligence: A promise unfulfilled?

Emotional intelligence (EI) is a relatively new construct in differential psychology. Proponents of EI have made strong claims for its importance in basic and applied psychology. This article considers whether the promise of EI has been fulfilled. We examine various fundamental challenges to establishing EI as a major individual differences factor, including cross‐cultural issues. We then examine strategies for assessing EI as a personal quality distinct from general intelligence and personality, and evaluate leading tests and scales for EI. Various sources of validity evidence demonstrate the value of research on EI, but we also identify various weaknesses of existing instruments. It appears that there is no strong, over‐arching general factor of EI that shapes human emotional functioning across a range of diverse contexts. Instead, we advocate a “multipolar” conception of EI that discriminates temperament, information‐processing, emotion‐regulation and acquired skills. Focusing research on more narrowly defined but conceptually coherent research domains may be a more productive strategy than seeking to define an all‐embracing general EI.     

The Role of Self‐Identity,Past Behavior,and Their Interaction in Predicting Intention to Purchase Fresh and Processed Organic Food1

This study examined the impact of moral norms, self‐identity, and past behavior on intention to buy organic tomatoes and organic tomato sauce, using the theory of planned behavior (TPB). The questionnaire, which included measures of attitudes, subjective norm, perceived behavioral control, moral norms, past behavior, and self‐identity was completed by approximately 500 people for each food. Multiple regressions showed that for both foods, moral norms and self‐identity added significantly to the prediction of intention over and above the other variables, even when the effect of past behavior was included. There was some evidence of past behavior moderating the self‐identity/intention relationship for processed organic tomato sauce, but not for fresh organic tomatoes. Implications of the findings are discussed.     

CONVERSION AND THE NEW EVANGELIZATION: A PERSPECTIVE FROM LONERGAN

A key legacy of the pontificate of Pope John Paul II was the concept of the new evangelization. This, amongst other things, was seen as a response to rising levels of religious indifference especially in countries that share a Western culture. This paper discusses the new evangelization in the light of two seminal ideas from the work of Lonergan, namely conversion and transcendence. It argues that these perspectives help explain and enrich the concept of the new evangelization. The second part of the paper explores some of the factors that can assist conversion, especially religious conversion.     

THE EFFECTS OF RANGE RESTRICTION ON ESTIMATES OF CRITERION INTERRATER RELIABILITY: IMPLICATIONS FOR VALIDATION RESEARCH

This paper explores the implications of the fact that range restriction affects reliability coefficients as well as validity coefficients. Of concern was the possibility that, if range restriction produced an underestimate of criterion reliability, the use of such an estimate in correcting observed validity coefficients for attenuation could result in overestimating population validity, lb address this issue, 3 scenarios were considered: truncation on the predictor, truncation on an unobserved variable, and truncation on the criterion. The 3 scenarios were found to have substantial differences in their consequences for reliability and validity estimation. Although range restriction did result in an underestimate of criterion reliability, it is generally not the case that these underestimates will result in overestimates of validity if researchers make effective use of available information about the presence and degree of range restriction.     

IS MODAL FICTIONALISM ARTIFICIAL?

This article examines a popular complaint against the fictionalist account of possible objects bruited by Gideon Rosen. This is the complaint that modal fictionalism is, in some sense or other, hopelessly artificial. I shall separate two different strands to this worry and examine each in turn. As we shall see, neither strand to the objection is intractable.