Emotional intelligence (EI) has long been a hot topic in the personnel selection literature and the media. While there are many available measures of EI, approaches to its measurement can be organized into two general categories: (1) self-report questionnaires and (2) performance-based measures. Self-report EI questionnaires are similar to personality measures in that they treat EI as non-cognitive traits and temperaments. Performance or ability-based EI measures, on the other hand, treat EI as a largely ability-based trait that reflects how people process information related to their emotions and the emotions of others. These two general approaches are both intended to measure EI.
THE RESEARCH STUDY
In a recent study, researchers (Christiansen, Janovics, & Siers, 2010) compared two popular self-report measures of EI (TMMS and SREIT) to a performance-based EI measure (MSCEIT). They found evidence that the performance-based and self-report approaches operate quite differently and appear not to measure the same thing. For instance, the self-report measures were very strongly related to measures of personality, whereas the performance-based measure was not.
Conversely, the performance-based measures of EI were much more strongly related to cognitive ability than were the self-report measures. The researchers even note that it may not be appropriate to label self-report measures of EI as measures of “intelligence” at all. Another difference is that supervisory ratings of employee performance were predicted by scores on the performance-based EI measure but not by scores on the self-report measures. Finally, self-report measures of EI tend to be more easily “fakeable” than performance-based measures. That is, with the self-report measures, it is quite easy for job applicants to choose the “best” answer and endorse it – even if it is not representative of their typical behavior.
PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS
Overall, the findings of this study suggest that measures of EI – even performance-based measures – offer very little additional information about job applicants when measures of cognitive ability and personality are already used in the selection process. Self-report measures of EI are largely redundant when measures of personality are already present, and performance-based EI measures add little predictive power beyond cognitive ability and conscientiousness. This calls into question some claims in the popular press about the power of EI for predicting job performance and career success, for example, the claim that emotional intelligence is even more important than cognitive ability. These findings may also pose a dilemma for organizations currently using EI for employee selection.
Christiansen, N.D., Janovics, J. E., & Siers, B. P. (2010). Emotional intelligence in selection contexts: measurement method, criterion-related validity, and vulnerability to response distortion. International Journal of Selection and Assessment, 18, 87-101.
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