INTERVIEW

Emotional Intelligence
& Job Performance
ERNEST OBOYLE, PH.D., IS AN ASSISTANT PROFESSOR AT LONGWOOD UNIVERSITY
IN THE COLLEGE OF BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS, AND RONALD H. HUMPHREY IS
A PROFESSOR IN VIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH UNIVERSITYS (VCU) DEPARTMENT
OF MANAGEMENT.

In this interview, OBoyle and Humphrey discuss their roles in VCUs study of emotion-
al intelligence and job performance and explain how the studys results can be used to
improve safety performance within an organization.

MPS: Please provide a
brief description of your
professional backgrounds
and of your roles in
Virginia Commonwealth
Universitys (VCU) study,
The Relation Between
Emotional Intelligence
and Job Performance: A
Meta-Analysis.
EB: I received my
Ph.D. from VCU in 2010.
I am currently an assistant
Ernest OBoyle
professor at Longwood
University in the College
of Business and Econo-
mics. I study counterpro-
ductive work behavior,
business ethics, predictors
of job performance and
research methodology. My
primary contribution to the
project on emotional intel-
ligence (EI) was as the
data analyst.
RH: I am a professor in
VCUs Department of
Ronald H. Humphrey Management. I teach orga-
nizational behavior and leadership
courses at the undergraduate, M.B.A.
and doctoral levels. I am on the edito-
rial board of Leadership Quarterly,
and I am currently writing a textbook
to be called Modern Leadership. I also
recently edited Affect and Emotion:
New Directions in Management
Theory and Research (2008).
I have been conducting research performance. How did the study
on emotions in the workplace, empa- define emotional intelligence and
thy and EI for a long time, so I was strong job performance?
happy to join Ernest and some of EB/RH: We examined three
VCUs other outstanding former major ways in which EI and compe-
graduate students (Jeff Pollack, Tom tencies were defined. First, EI can
Hawver, Paul Story) in the EI meta- be defined as a set of abilities similar
analysis study. My role in the meta- to cognitive intelligence. Mayer,
analysis study was to help develop Salovey, Caruso and Sitarenios stated
the overall framework for the study that EI consists of four inter-related
and to write most of the literature abilities: 1) the ability to perceive
review and conclusions. emotions, 2) the ability to use emo-
tions to facilitate thought, 3) the abil-
MPS: Why was this study con- ity to understand the social meaning
ducted? and importance of emotion and 4)
EB/RH: The major controversy the ability to manage emotions.
in the field of EI is this: does having A second approach uses this same
high EI/competencies improve four-branch model of the dimensions
employees job performance? Many of emotions but argues that emotions
studies have shown that employees
can be measured in the same way as
with high EI/competencies have bet- personality traits can be measured by
ter job performance than employees using self- and peer reports. Thus,
with low EI/competencies.
this approach views EI more like a
However, controversy over the personality trait than like a cognitive
subject still remained because
intelligence.
researchers wanted to know if
The third approach examines
EI/competency increases our ability
emotional competencies as a set of
to explain job performance when
skills, abilities and competencies
we also control for cognitive ability
related to affect and emotions and
and personality factors. Our study
includes a broader set of variables,
answers this question by statistically
such as the ability to manage social
summarizing the available research
relationships.
while using the latest procedures to
For job performance, we used a
control for cognitive ability and per-
broad definition and included a vari-
sonality measures.
ety of behaviors, such as supervisor
MPS: The studys results indicated ratings, objective performance meas-
that high EI is related to strong job ures (e.g., sales), 360 evaluations

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The Compass www.asse.org 2011
and customer feedback. We believe objective answers. The second EB/RH: We entered the project
this is one of the strengths of the approach, the trait approach fairly confident that EI would relate
paper as we were able to show that described above, has people rate positively to job performance but not
the relation between EI and job per- themselves on the four branches of entirely clear whether it would be
formance was remarkably consistent EI, or it has peers, supervisors, co- able to predict job performance after
across these definitions. workers, etc. to rate someone on his taking into account general intelli-
or her EI. The third approach, the gence and the five-factor model of
MPS: What methodology was used competency approach, also uses self- personality. Traditionally, IQ scores
to conduct the study? ratings and peer/other ratings. All and traits, such as conscientiousness
EB/RH: The methodology was three methods predict job perform- and agreeableness, have dominated
a meta-analysis. This technique sum- ance, and the consistent pattern the research on trait predictors of job
marizes the existing knowledge on across all three ways of measuring performance, and some doubted
a given topic and provides an accu- emotional intelligence/competencies whether EI could compete in such
rate estimate of a true relationship further demonstrates the value of rarified air. The surprise was that
between two constructs, such as EI emotional intelligence/competency to overall, not only did EI hold its own,
and job performance. The primary job performance. However, the self- it was the second strongest predictor.
advantage of this technique is its report and peer report trait and com- Another surprising finding was
ability to control for sampling error. petency measures are somewhat how robust the relation between EI
For example, if I flip a fair coin better predictors of job performance and job performance was. We found
ten times, then I would expect it to than the ability measures when con- this positive relation across a variety
land on heads five of those times. trolling for cognitive intelligence and of industries, measures and cultures.
However, sometimes it will land on personality.
heads four times, sometimes six, and MPS: Why do some dispute the
every once in a while it may not land MPS: How might the results of legitimacy of EI?
on heads at all. However, if we look this study be adapted to safety EB/RH: Much skepticism comes
across all of these trials, we will get performance? from those who believe that EI is sim-
an average of five. Although more EB/RH: Many measures of job ply a proxy for general intelligence.
complicated than this, a meta-analy- performance used in our study includ- This belief is somewhat flawed as
sis is able to accomplish the same ed aspects related to following compa- anecdotally we all know people with
thing. Some authors found weak ny procedures and completing high IQs who are still unable to emo-
relationships between EI and job per- activities in the proscribed way. tionally connect with others or to fully
formance, some found strong rela- Extrapolating from these results, our control their own emotions. However,
tionships and some even found study suggests that those with higher our commonsense anecdotal under-
negative relationships. We were able EI are less likely to cut corners, ignore standing of the difference between EI
to look across all of these studies and safety guidelines or put others in dan- and cognitive intelligence still needed
to find the true relationship. ger. In addition, past research has to be verified empirically. Our find-
Using some relatively new proce- shown that many traffic accidents ings clarified the relationship between
dures in meta-analysis, we identified occur while drivers experience high EI and general intelligence and found
that not only was EI related to job negative emotions (i.e., anger, frustra- that the two constructs were most
performance, it also predicted job tion). We see clear parallels to the definitely distinct. In addition, our
performance above and beyond the workplace with emotionally intelligent results also demonstrate that EI/com-
five-factor model of personality (at individuals being better able to recog- petencies are also distinct from other
present, the most prominent person- nize and control negative emotions personality traits like extraversion and
ality theory) and cognitive ability and thus reduce accidents. conscientiousness.
(a.k.a. IQ). In other words, EI and In addition, we can also extend
emotional competencies improve job our findings to increasingly problem- MPS: How can employers, business
performance. atic area of workplace violence. consultants and managers best make
Emotionally intelligent workers are use of the studys results, especially if
MPS: What are the three promi- more likely to recognize emotionally they are trying to improve safety per-
nent testing procedures for emotion- charged situations, control their own formance within an organization?
al intelligence? How do they predict emotions and diffuse highly charged EB/RH: Given that EI relates to
job performance? situations. This can have profound job performance, the next step is to
EB/RH: The first method, impact on lowering what many see integrate these tests into the selection
known as the ability method, uses a as one of the most important safety process. At present, very few em-
series of objective right or wrong issues in todays workplace. ployers use EI as a screening instru-
questions to measure test-takers ment, and we believe that EI may
emotional intelligence. This method MPS: Did the study yield any sur- allow managers to make more accu-
is similar to an IQ test in that it has prising results? rate hiring decisions.

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The Compass www.asse.org 2011
 In addition, one of the great things
about EI and emotional competen-
cies is its malleability as compared
to general intelligence. Individuals
can be trained to behave in more
emotional intelligent ways. As such,
consultants and managers attempting
to improve safety performance or
performance in general can look to
EI as an additional tool to improving
their workforce.
MPS: What new research on
emotional intelligence and job per-
formance is on the horizon?
EB/RH: Much research is cur-
rently underway examining EI, job
performance and a variety of other
outcomes. The management field is
increasingly recognizing the impor-
tance of emotions in todays world,
and we have seen an explosion of
research on the topic in recent years
linking EI to a variety of work out-
comes, including emotional labor.
We are next taking EI into stressful
environments, such as operating
rooms and high-stakes businesses.
We hypothesize that EI and emotion-
al competencies will play a pivotal
role in important outcomes, such as
job burnout, workplace deviance,
critical errors and safety records.
In addition, a just-published
review by Walter, Cole and
Humphrey (2011) found that EI is
also very important to leadership.
This review found that emotionally
intelligent leaders can improve their
team members performance but that
studies in this area need to include
more relevant control variables like
cognitive intelligence and personality
measures. 
Ernest OBoyle, Ph.D., is an Assistant
Professor at Longwood University in the
College of Business and Economics. He
studies counterproductive work behavior,
business ethics, predictors of job perform-
ance and research methodology.
Ronald H. Humphrey is a Professor in
Virginia Commonwealth Universitys
Department of Management. He teaches
organizational behavior and leadership
courses at the undergraduate, M.B.A. and
doctoral levels.

Kuwait Chapter to
Hold 6th Annual PDC
A
SSEs Kuwait Chapter will hold its sixth annu-
al professional development conference and
exhibition on health, safety, security and envi-
ronment (HSSE) from Nov. 29-Dec. 1, 2011.
The conference is intended to gather HSSE profession-
als from across the globe to participate in workshops,
presentations and discussions to further the safety
community.
ASSEs Kuwait Chapter invites individuals as well
as public and private sector organizations with inter-
ests in:
workforce safety and safety management;
occupational health and hygiene;
ergonomics;
environmental protection;
fire safety;
loss prevention;
industrial security;
emergency management and business continuity;
sustainability and corporate social responsibility;
regulatory compliance;
behavioral-based safety;
safety culture;
training and performance measurement.
EXHIBITION & SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES
The conference is planned to be one of the biggest
HSSE gatherings in the region. Organizations will gain
the attention of more than 500 attending delegates,
potential customers and decision makers. Opportunities
exist for buying stands in the exhibition and other
advertising.
PROPOSALS FOR TRAINING
WORKSHOPS & CONFERENCE ACTIVITIES
The Kuwait Chapter also welcomes proposals from
individuals and agencies offering relevant training
workshops, motivational speaking and engaging con-
ference activities.
CONTACT INFORMATION
info@assekuwaitconference.com
Phone: +965 66846040, + 965 2445588, ext. 311
Fax: +965 2428148
American Society of Safety Engineers
Kuwait Society of Engineers Building
P.O. Box 4047
Safat 13041, Kuwait 

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The Compass www.asse.org 2011