Assessing Workplace Emotional Intelligence: Development and Validation of an Ability-based Measure

ABSTRACT

Existing measures of Emotional Intelligence (EI), defined as the ability to perceive, understand, and manage emotions for productive purposes, have displayed limitations in predicting workplace outcomes, likely in part because they do not target this context. Such considerations led to the development of an ability EI measure with work-related scenarios in which respondents infer the likely emotions (perception) and combinations of emotion (understanding) that would occur to protagonists while rating the effectiveness of ways of responding (management). Study 1 (n = 290 undergraduates) used item-total correlations to select scenarios from a larger pool and Study 2 (n = 578) reduced the measure—termed the NEAT—to 30 scenarios on the basis of structural equation modeling. Study 3 (n = 96) then showed that the NEAT had expected correlations with personality and cognitive ability and Study 4 (n = 85) demonstrated convergent validity with other ability EI measures. Last, study 5 (n = 91) established that the NEAT had predictive validity with respect to job satisfaction, job stress, and job performance. The findings affirm the importance of EI in the workplace in the context of a valid new instrument for assessing relevant skills.

Keywords:

• emotional intelligence
• emotions
• measure
• validation
• workplace

Author Notes

Sukumarakurup (Kumar) Krishnakumar is an assistant professor of management at North Dakota State University. His current research interests are scale development, workplace socio-emotional abilities, mindfulness, and prosocial behaviors.

Kay Hopkins is a professional academic advisor at North Dakota State University. Her current research interests are educational and psychological measurement, adult learning, college student development, and instrument development.

Joseph G. Szmerekovsky is a professor of management at North Dakota State University. His current research interests are project management and scheduling, supply chain management, and complex systems.

Michael D. Robinson is a professor of Psychology at North Dakota State University. He is a prolific researcher in the areas of personality, assessment, self-regulation, cognition, and emotion.