EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE,
TEAMWORK EFFECTIVENESS, AND
JOB PERFORMANCE: THE
MODERATING ROLE OF JOB
CONTEXT
By David Yastremsky
QUESTIONS ABOUT EMOTIONAL
INTELLIGENCE (EI)
How do you define EI?
 Is EI characteristic-based or ability-based?
 How do you measure EI?
 How does EI vary from country to country and
industry to industry?
 What moderators and mediators are involved in
the relationship between EI and outcomes?


BIG ONE: Is emotional intelligence important in
leadership?
EI IN THE CONTEXT OF THIS RESEARCH
Definition: “Ability to monitor one’s own and
other’s feelings and emotions, to discriminate
among them, and use this information to guide
one’s thinking and actions”
 Focus on Mayer’s and Salovey’s ability-based
model of EI


Four emotional competencies
Emotional perception: accurately perceiving own and
others’ emotions
 Emotional facilitation: using emotions to facilitate thinking
 Emotional understanding: understanding emotions,
emotional language, and the signals conveyed by emotions
 Emotional regulation: managing emotions to attain specific
goals

OTHER CORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE
STUDY

Trait Activation (TAT) Framework


Why emotional perception is important
Definition of managerial work demands (MWD):
Jobs requiring the management of diverse
individuals, functions and lines of business
HYPOTHESES




Hypothesis 1A: An MWD job context moderates the
positive relationship between EI and teamwork
effectiveness, such that the relationship is stronger for
employees working in higher rather lower MWD job
contexts
Hypothesis 1B: Of the four dimensions of the EI,
emotional perception ability relates most strongly to
teamwork effectiveness under a high-MWD job context
Hypothesis 2A: The moderating effect of an MWD job
context on the relationship between EI and job
performance is mediated by teamwork effectiveness.
Hypothesis 2B: The moderating effect of an MWD job
context on the relationship between emotional
perception ability and job performance is mediated by
teamwork effectiveness.
SAMPLE INFORMATION

346 full-time professionals in a United States’
masters program
Each identified at least one supervisor to provide
feedback
 657 supervisors were selected


212 focal participants were selected due to their
supervisors reporting that they felt high familiar
with participant’s work
TESTING

Focal participants completed two Web-based
surveys:
Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelleigence Test
(MSCEIT)
 Test asking about control variables (demographics)
and questions about MWD


Supervisors rated teamwork effectiveness and job
performance
QUESTIONS ABOUT MWD JOB CONTEXT
“You are responsible for numerous different
products or technologies or services.”
 “You are responsible for multiple functions or
groups.”
 “This job is a dramatic increase in scope
(managing significantly more people, dollars,
sites, functions, etc.).”

CONTROLS
Age
 Gender
 Supervisory status
 Job tenure (in years)
 Big-five characteristics
 Cognitive ability (GMAT scores)

RESULTS
Results are consistent with…
 Hypothesis 1A
 Hypothesis 1B
 Hypothesis 2A
 Hypothesis 2B
GRAPH A
GRAPH B
INTERESTING RELATIONSHIPS FOUND

TAT analysis
MWD positively correlated with active emotion
 Active emotions negatively correlated with EI/EP
 Emotional perception only helps in cases of MWD job
context; no relationship with other facets of EI

DISCUSSION

Even after controls, emotional intelligence
related more positively to team effectiveness
under a high-MWD job context

Emotional perception contributed the most but did
not relate to other facets of EI, showing perceiving
emotion is critical
Future research
 Impact

WORKS CONSULTED



Cavazotte, Flavia, Valter Moreno, and Mateus Hickmann.
"Effects of Leader Intelligence, Personality and Emotional
Intelligence on Transformational Leadership and
Managerial Performance." The Leadership Quarterly 23
(2012): 443-55. Elsevier. Elsevier B.V., 1 Dec. 2011. Web. 3
Oct. 2013.
Chien Farh, Crystal I. C., Myeong-Gu Seo, and Paul E.
Tesluk. "Emotional Intelligence, Teamwork Effectiveness,
and Job Performance: The Moderating Role of Job
Context." Journal of Applied Psychology 97.4 (2012): 890900. EBSCOhost. Web. 7 Oct. 2013.
Smollan, R., and K. Parry. "Follower Perceptions of the
Emotional Intelligence of Change Leaders: A Qualitative
Study." Leadership 7.4 (2011): 435-62. Sage Journals.
SAGE Publications, 10 Nov. 2011. Web. 3 Oct. 2013.