Research Project - Emotional Intelligence in the Workplace.

The significance of emotional intelligence in everyday life

In a journal article published by Brackett and others in the journal of Social and Personality Psychology Compass (2011), emotions are influenced by cognitive abilities including thinking and focusing processes. There is a strong relationship between emotional intelligence and other intelligences such as, verbal-propositional intelligence. Studies have also shown that there is a link among verbal and spatial intelligence (Van Rooey et al., 2005). It has been used a measurement of emotional intelligence to gauge patients with disorders. It is called “Mayer-Solvay-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test”. The purpose of MSCEIT is to find the amount of cognitive effort as well as performance on emotion-laden social problems. It has been found that individuals who scored better in MSCEIT were cognitively effortless, and were affective in solving social problems.

Psychotherapy is a well respected approach for treating personal problems, especially anxiety and depression. To bring personal growth and well-being, emotional intelligence skills are utilized for patients with negative emotions. Participants who were tested on depression and anxiety scored negatively in MSCEIT (David, 2005; O’Connor and Little, 2003). Likewise, schizophrenics and other patients who were diagnosed with other illnesses, got lower scores in MSCEIT. However, undergraduates scored better in psychological well-being of MSCEIT (Brackett & Mayer, 2003; Lopes et al., 2003). Therefore, if needed, they may benefit from psychotherapy (Goldenberg, Matheson, & Mantler, 2006). Furthermore, these students were less likely to be reported by teachers that they have conduct, personal, and school issues. Adults with serious psychological problems can benefit from emotional intelligence.

Social functioning might be a positive outcome of emotional intelligence. Greater level of social competency, secure attachment styles, and rapport were exhibited with the respondents who scored higher in MSCEIT (Brackett, Warner, & Bosco, 2005; Brackett et al., 2006a; Lopes, Salvoey, Cote, & Beers, 2005; Lopes et al., 2003, 2004) & (Kafetsios, 2004). Conversely, those with low emotional intelligence tend to be aggressive and were engaged in alcoholism as well as smoking (Mayer, Perkins, Caruso, & Solvey, 2001a, Rubin, 1999), (Brackett et al., 2004; Mayer et al. 2004) & (Trinidad & Johnson, 2002). Individuals should know that emotional intelligence can keep them away from involving themselves in harmful activities, and living life to the fullest.

It is proposed that exam anxiety and overall academic performance can be enhanced by emotional intelligence. In addition, it also affects employees interaction with colleagues, and job performance (Ashkanasy & Daus, 2005; Lopes, Cote, & Salovey, 2006a).

Leadership success and the emotional intelligence in the UAE

        Amongst the Middle East nations, United Arab Emirates (UAE) is the leading business capital. A study was conducted by Freedman et al. (2010) based on the Six Seconds Emotional Intelligence Assessment (SEI). Various leaders with job positions were selected from different sectors including freelance, employee, manager, executive, and entrepreneur within the Middle East context. The results below revealed that there is a strong association between emotional intelligence (EI) and performance, especially between the group of entrepreneurs of over 70%.

  

It is obvious that the top performers scored 1.2 times higher on EI than those with low performance rate. We can conclude that the professional success can be brought by emotional intelligence skills, in addition to performance factors such as, Decision Making, Effectiveness, and Influence.

         

Research Methodology        

A survey was distributed to 16 participants including female students as well as a teacher. It was conducted on people with different backgrounds and ages ranging from 17 – 50. The questionnaire has 10 questions and they are multiple choices, ranging from 2 to 6 choices. One question contains a short answer which tries to address the anticipation of poor knowledge of EI in the UAE. This survey is designed to provide validity of peoples’ perception about emotional intelligence, especially Emiratis.

A previous version of survey was too complicated for gathering data and representing it in simple graphs. Therefore, a newer version was developed in order not to confuse participants similar to the 10-point Likert scale. There are also some questions which were omitted because they are frivolous and do not have a special meaning or irrelevant to the research. The survey intentionally kept to 10 questions to obtain enough responses from people with no formal awareness of emotional intelligence. In addition, participants will have the choice of completing the survey either in hardcopy or softcopy formats. Alternatively, surveys were selected instead of interviews for respondents who wish to remain anonymous and to ensure confidentiality. Another reason for choosing a survey is because inventories are easy and short whereas interviews require longer time to assess the information.

        

Results

        

Most of the participants were female Emirati undergraduates who are aged between 20 – 29 years old. In addition, there is 1 Japanese professor whose ranged between 47 years old, holding a PhD degree. As shown below in figure 1, nearly all of the participants (68.8%) agreed that emotional intelligence is critical for daily life because of mental health and well-being, social functioning, academic and work performance. While some students answered equally (12.5%) for each factor of EQ. That represents as preliminary evidence that people are aware of the factors which lead to happiness and joy.

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 2 illustrates that the majority of respondents (40%) answered that self-awareness makes emotional intelligence unique. In fact, it is one of the characteristics that make EI stands out from the crowd. However (33.3%) of the participants responded correctly by saying that self-awareness, and motivation are both related to EQ.  

Figure 3

It can be clearly seen that 53.3% of students wish to acquire emotional intelligence skills. Whereas some students (46.7%) chose to when it is necessary. That indicates that not everybody is the same, because some people are eager to develop themselves in various aspects of life, others might not be open to or simply are fearful of change.

Figure 4

Figure 4 elaborates that students (93.3%) agreed mostly that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is one of the leading business centers among the Middle East nations. Whereas a couple of students thought that KSA is a major business center.

Figure 5

In the last question, participants were asked whether Emiratis, in general, are knowledgeable of what emotional intelligence is. 6 students stated that Emiratis are aware of EI in UAE nowadays, a student suggested that it is prospering in both life and business aspects. Another respondent said that it is because UAE is a collectivist country, which means that people in this country care about each other. On the contrary, the number of those who said Emiratis do not have a superficial awareness of EI is equal to those who claimed that they do not know.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Emiratis actually have a moderate awareness of emotional intelligence. EI is considered as a wonderful tool for anyone who needs to be successful. It has been noted that emotional intelligence usually has a strong correlation between several variables, especially performance to achieve success. It is noteworthy that to acquire a new skill such as, emotional intelligence needs courage, patience, and consistency. As a result, an emotional intelligent employee can have a close relationship with his/her fellows. The research shows that self-awareness is one of the unique characteristics of emotional intelligence. Lower levels of EI may lead to serious bad habits including aggressiveness. Several positive outcomes can result from emotional intelligence enhancing mental health, relationships, academic, and workplace performance.

References

Brackett, M. A., Rivers, S. E., & Salovey, P. (2011). Emotional Intelligence: Implications for Personal, Social, Academic, and Workplace Success. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 5(1), 88-103. doi: 10.1111/j.1751-9004.2010.00334.x. Retrieved December 6, 2012, from

Bressert, S. (2007). What is Emotional Intelligence (EQ)?. Psych Central. Retrieved November 16, 2012, from

Devon, M. (2006). The Origin of Emotions. Charleston, South Carolina, USA. Retrieved November 16, 2012.

EQ of Highest & Lowest Performers [Graphic]. (2010). Retrieved December 6, 2012, from

EQ vs Performance [Graphic]. (2010). Retrieved December 6, 2012, from

Freedman, J., Morrison, J., & Olsson, A. (2010). Leadership Success and Emotional Intelligence in the Middle East. Retrieved December 6, 2012, from

Merriam-Webster.com. (2012). Emotion. Retrieved November 16, 2012, from

Appendix

Emotional Intelligence survey

Dear respondent,

I’m a PSY 212 student at Zayed University (ZU) carrying out a research project on Emotional Intelligence/Emotional Quotient (EI/EQ). I would be grateful if you could answer the following questions below. Your responses will remain anonymous.

Thank you,

Huda Abdalla

1. Circle which age group do you belong to?

1. 8-13
2. 13-19
3. 20-29
4. 30-40
5. 40-50
6. Above 50

2. Please tick the box if you are a:

• Male                                                    
•   Female

3. Nationality:

1. Algerian
2. American
3. Japanese
4. Emirati
5. Other. Please specify ------------------------------------------------

4. Profession:

1. Student
2. Teacher
3. Counselor
4. Other. Please specify ------------------------------------------------

5. Qualification:

1. Less than diploma
2. Bachelor
3. Diploma
4. Master

e. PhD

6. Why is the emotional intelligence crucial for daily life?

1. Mental health and well-being purposes
2. Social functioning
3. Academic performance
4. Workplace performance
5. All of the above
6. Other. Please specify ------------------------------------------------

7. In your point of view, what are the characteristics that make emotional intelligence unique?

1. Self-awareness
2. Motivation
3. Inability to regulate emotions
4. Difficulty in dealing with people
5. Only a and b

8. Would you like to have a higher level of emotional quotient (EQ)?

1. Absolutely. I wish to be an emotionally intelligent person and I’m looking for ways to improving this magnificent skill through training.
2. Never. I do not deserve to be because I have low self-esteem.
3. Sometimes, when it needs to/needed.
4. Seldom. Who cares?

9. Circle the most common – Which country amongst the Middle East nations is considered as one of the leading business centers?

1. KSA
2. Oman
3. Kuwait
4. UAE
5. Bahrain

10. Do you think Emirati people have a superficial perception of applying emotional intelligence especially in the workplace? Why?

…………………………………………………………………………………

Thank you for answering my questionnaire.

Survey web link:

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