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Personality and Individual Differences 55 (2013) 909914

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Personality and Individual Differences


journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/paid

Emotional intelligence and resilience


Tamera R. Schneider a,, Joseph B. Lyons b, Steven Khazon a
a
Wright State University, 3640 Col. Glenn Hwy., Dayton, OH 45435, United States
b
Air Force Research Laboratory, 875 N. Randolph St., Arlington, VA, United States

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: This study examined the relationship between emotional intelligence (EI) and the stress process. Partic-
Received 30 January 2013 ipants (N = 126) completed an ability-based measure of EI and then engaged with two stressors. We
Received in revised form 10 July 2013 assessed stressor appraisals, emotions, and physiological stress responses over time. We expected that
Accepted 15 July 2013
higher EI would facilitate stress responses in the direction of challenge, rather than threat. As expected,
Available online 6 August 2013
EI facets were related to lower threat appraisals, more modest declines in positive affect, less negative
affect and challenge physiological responses to stress. However, ndings differed for men and women.
Keywords:
This study provides predictive validity that EI facilitates stress resilience.
Emotional intelligence
Appraisal
2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Affect
Physiology
Positive psychology

1. Emotional intelligence and resilience Emotional intelligence comprises a set of four emotional skills
including accurately perceiving emotions, integrating emotions
Emotional intelligence (EI), ones ability to perceive, integrate, with cognition, understanding emotional causes and conse-
understand, and manage emotions, has received a great deal of quences, and managing emotions for personal adjustment (Mayer
attention (Zeidner, Roberts, & Matthews, 2004). Popular literature & Salovey, 1997; Salovey, Bedell, Detweiler, & Mayer, 1999; Salo-
promises benets of EI (Goleman, 1995), but these have not been vey, Kokkonen, Lopes, & Mayer, 2004). These skills build hierarchi-
established (Landy, 2005; Zeidner et al., 2004). Debates over con- cally, from the ability to perceive emotions up to managing
ceptualization and measurement have delayed research (Davies, emotions. Perceiving emotions includes the ability to accurately
Stankov, & Roberts, 1998; Matthews, Zeidner, & Roberts, 2007). identify and express emotions, which helps to discriminate be-
Mixed (trait) models describe EI as skills, personality, and well- tween hospitable and hostile situations. The ability to generate
being (Bar-On, 1997; Goleman, 1995), whereas ability-based mod- and use emotions to enhance thinking includes altering emotion
els describe EI as an intelligence comprising emotional abilities to redirect cognitive processes, obtain new perspectives, and en-
(Mayer, Caruso, & Salovey, 1999, 2000). To be labeled intelligence hance problem-solving or creativity. Emotional understanding in-
a construct must be dened as a set of abilities, related to other cludes the ability to understand emotional information, the
measures of cognitive ability, and develop with age (Carroll, manner in which they combine, and their causes and conse-
1993). Trait-based conceptualizations do not meet these criteria quences. Emotional management includes the ability to be open
(e.g., Roberts, MacCann, Matthews, & Zeidner, 2010; Schulze, Wil- to feelings and modulate them to facilitate growth, even during
helm, & Kyllonen, 2007), but ability-based conceptualizations do duress. People experiencing specic and intense emotional
(Austin, 2010; Mayer, Caruso, & Salovey, 1999). The MSCEIT is changes should benet from EI (Barrett, Gross, Christensen, & Ben-
the most validated ability measure (Matthews et al., 2007; Roberts venuto, 2001), however research on EI and stress outcomes is
et al., 2010), and its four-factor framework stems from theory (e.g., lacking.
MacCann & Roberts, 2008). We examined the inuence of ability- The stress process begins with evaluations, or appraisals, denot-
based EI on stress responses appraisals, emotions, and physiology ing our interpretation of an impending stressful situation (Lazarus,
as the stress process unfolds over time. 1999; Lazarus & Folkman, 1984). Primary appraisals are evalua-
tions about the personal relevance of the situation whether it
threatens goals, resources, or values. Secondary appraisals are be-
liefs about potential resources available for meeting stressor de-
Corresponding author. Address: Wright State University, Department of
mands. Given an impending stressor, primary and secondary
Psychology, 335 Fawcett, Dayton, OH 45435, United States. Tel.: +1 (937) 775
2391; fax: +1 (937) 775 3347. appraisals interact, resulting in a continuum ranging from chal-
E-mail address: tamera.schneider@wright.edu (T.R. Schneider). lenge to threat. Challenge occurs when adequate resources are

0191-8869/$ - see front matter 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2013.07.460
910 T.R. Schneider et al. / Personality and Individual Differences 55 (2013) 909914

deemed to meet situational demands, whereas threat results when adaptive functioning during stressful situations for men and wo-
situational demands outweigh resources (Lazarus & Folkman, men. Given the paucity of research we did not offer predictions
1984). Challenge and threat appraisals are differently related to for specic facets or different genders. Instead, we expected that
physiological responses, performance (Schneider, 2004; Tomaka, men and women who score higher in EI would appraise an
Blascovich, Kelsey, & Leitten, 1993), and emotions (Schneider, impending stressor as a challenge, experience more positive and
2004, 2008). Physiologically, both threatened and challenged less negative affect, and exhibit challenge physiology (greater car-
groups are mobilized with increased heart rate (HR) and some in- diac reactivity coupled with vasodilation), compared to those low-
crease in cardiac output (CO; the amount of blood pumped out of er in EI who were expected to appraise the stressors with greater
the heart over time), however the pattern of blood ow differs threat, less positive and more negative affect, and threat physiol-
(Schneider, 2004, 2008). Challenge appraisals evoke increases in ogy (modest increase in cardiac reactivity coupled with vasocon-
cardiac reactivity (increased HR and CO) coupled with peripheral striction). This hypothesis was examined by branch, for men and
vasodilation (vasculature is more accepting of blood ow) (Schnei- women separately because of gender differences in EI (Day & Car-
der, 2004, 2008; Tomaka et al., 1993). Threatened participants have roll, 2004; Mayer, Salovey, & Caruso, 2000) and the primary goal of
a smaller increase in cardiac reactivity coupled with enhanced this research was to investigate EI and stress resilience, not control
vasoconstriction (vasculature is less accepting of blood ow). Chal- for EI to examine gender differences in stress responses.
lenged participants outperform threatened participants on moti-
vated performance, active coping tasks (Schneider, 2004; Tomaka
2. Method
et al., 1993), and on complex skills training and transfer (Gildea,
Schneider, & Shebilske, 2007). Challenged participants also experi-
2.1. Participants
ence more positive affect and less negative affect than threatened
participants (Schneider, 2004, 2008). Most psychophysiological
Undergraduate psychology students (N = 126) attending a mid-
stress research focuses on a single stressor, but we investigated
western university participated in exchange for course credit. The
the role of ability-based EI on stress responses over time.
average age was 20 (SD = 4.6). Most were female (60%), freshman
People appraise situations differently, with some more vulnera-
(67%), and Caucasian (70%).
ble to negative stress outcomes (Basic Behavioral Science Task
Force of the National Advisory Mental Health Council Basic Behav-
ioral Science Task Force of the National Advisory Mental Health 2.2. Stress manipulations
Council Basic Behavioral Science Task Force of the National Advi-
sory Mental Health Council Basic Behavioral Science Task Force We used two motivated performances, active coping stressors,
of the National Advisory Mental Health Council Basic Behavioral where people actively construct responses rather than sit passively
Science Task Force of the National Advisory Mental Health Council and endure some stimulus (e.g., cold pressor, slide viewing). Both
BBSTFNAMHC, 1996; Blascovich & Tomaka, 1996; Schneider, 2004; commonly used tasks are validated psychophysiological stressors
Vollrath & Torgersen, 2000). Appraisals should be inuenced by (Kelsey et al., 2000, 1999; Saab, Matthews, Stoney, & McDonald,
dispositions (Lazarus, 1999; Lyons & Schneider, 2005; Schneider 1989). The rationale for the use of two stressors was to counteract
2004). Past research has found that high assertiveness predicts psychophysiological habituation responses (Kelsey et al., 1999).
challenge appraisals of a speech stressor (Tomaka et al., 1993),
and higher just world beliefs (beliefs that the world is just and fair) 2.2.1. Mental arithmetic task
predict challenge appraisals of a math stressor (Tomaka & Blasco- For three minutes participants were to count backward from a
vich, 1994). Although EI has clear implications for emotional re- four-digit number by sevens, aloud, as quickly and accurately as
sponses, it has yet to be examined with these robust stress possible. They were told their responses would be evaluated.
outcomes. Emotions play a fundamental role in shaping our reac-
tions to external stimuli and help to focus our attention, aid in
2.2.2. Speech task
interpreting harms or benets, and motivate us to respond to
In the role of middle manager, participants delivered a video-
anticipated or actual events that are personally relevant (Salovey
taped speech (1 min preparation, 2 min delivery) in which they de-
et al., 2004; Zajonc, 1998).
fended themselves against an employees sexual harassment
Emotional intelligence should confer benets during duress
accusation.
(Brackett, Palomera, Mojsa-Kaja, Reyes, & Salovey, 2010; Ciarrochi,
Deane, & Anderson, 2002; Matthews & Zeidner, 2000; Nikolaou &
Tsaousis, 2002; Ramos, Fernandez-Berrocal, & Extremera, 2007; 2.3. Materials
Salovey et al., 1999; Stroud, Salovey, Woolery, & Epel, 2002). Most
EI-stress research has focused on self-reported, trait EI. It has been 2.3.1. Emotional intelligence
linked to actively coping with stressors (Stroud et al., 2002), lower The MSCEIT V2.0 is a 141-item, ability-based measure with four
subjective work stress (Nikolaou & Tsaousis, 2002), and a benecial subscales (Mayer et al., 2000). Emotional perception has partici-
moderator of the link between stress and health (EP and EM; Ciar- pants identify emotions in faces and pictures. Facilitating cognition
rochi et al., 2002). These studies suggest that EI may foster resil- has participants compare emotions to sensations and discern the
ience, although self-reported EI lacks validity (Davies et al., 1998; usefulness of emotions in different situations. Emotional under-
Schulze et al., 2007). Examining ability EI, Brackett et al. (2010) standing has participants reduce numerous emotions down to
found that emotional regulation predicts burnout and job satisfac- one and identify the result of conicting emotions. Emotional man-
tion in secondary school teachers. Research examining ability EI agement has participants discern the emotions of different charac-
and stress responses is lacking (Salovey et al., 2004). Furthermore, ters in stories. Test manual as are .91, .90, .77, and .87,
females outperform males on ability EI measures (Day & Carroll, respectively. The publisher provided branch scores.
2004; Kafetsios, 2004; Lyons & Schneider, 2005). Little is known
about the inuence of ability EI on stress responses, and for men 2.3.2. Stress appraisals
and women separately. Two-items assessed appraisals: How threatening do you ex-
We examined the role of ability EI on psychophysiological stress pect the upcoming task to be (primary)? and How able are you
responses. We posited that EI should promote resilient and to handle the burden of the task (secondary)? These were
T.R. Schneider et al. / Personality and Individual Differences 55 (2013) 909914 911

combined in a ratio (primary/secondary) where higher scores de- Table 2


note threat (Schneider, 2004). Means (SD) for mens appraisals and affect over time, by EI branch (measured at
baseline).

2.3.3. Positive and negative affect Baseline Time 1 Time 2

The PANAS assessed positive and negative affect (Watson, Clark, Appraisals
& Tellegen, 1988). Participants rated their experience of emotions, Low emotional management .74 (.50) .94 (.83)
High emotional management .72 (.42) .65 (.34)
at that moment, at baseline and after both tasks. Ten items as-
sessed positive affect (e.g., attentive, excited, inspired; as = .83, Positive affect
Low emotional understanding 2.50 (.69) 2.20 (.65) 1.96 (.75)
.87, and .91, respectively), and ten assessed negative affect (e.g.,
High emotional understanding 3.00 (.68) 2.86 (.80) 2.63 (.88)
distressed, hostile, afraid; as = .83, .79, and .84, respectively).
Negative affect
Low emotional perception 1.77 (.63) 1.96 (.75) 2.02 (.76)
2.3.4. Physiological measures High emotional perception 1.29 (.34) 1.51 (.44) 1.45 (.40)
An impedance cardiograph and continuous blood pressure
monitor provided data to derive cardiac output and total periphe-
ral resistance. Data collection was in accordance with published
standards (Sherwood et al., 1990). Data were reduced ofine with rather than dichotomized (MacCallum, Zhang, Preacher, & Rucker,
interactive software. Baseline equivalence of groups was 2002). In summary, repeated-measures ANCOVAs or the MANCO-
established. VA were conducted with emotional perception (EP), facilitating
cognition (FC), emotional understanding (EU), and emotional man-
2.4. Procedure agement (EM) as covariates and stress reactions (appraisals, affec-
tive responses, and physiology) over time as dependent variables,
After obtaining consent, participants completed the MSCEIT on- for men and for women separately.
line. They were seated in a sound-dampened chamber and physio- First, preliminary analyses investigated order effects, using re-
logical sensors were attached, followed by a 10-min physiological peated-measures M/ANOVAs with order (math rst or speech rst)
baseline. A baseline PANAS was completed. Random assignment as the independent variable and stress responses as dependent
to task was followed by task instruction. After instruction, apprais- variables, for each gender. As expected, responses to the stressors
als were assessed, the task commenced, and state affect was were equivalent, order had no effect on appraisals, emotions, or
assessed. A 2-min recovery separated tasks. Then, task 2 instruc- physiology for men or women, ns. Subsequent analyses are col-
tions were given, and the sequence repeated. Sensors were lapsed across order. Descriptive ndings are in Table 1. Women
detached and participants debriefed. scored higher on EI branches than men, signicantly so for EM,
as in past research (Lopes, Salovey, Cote, & Beers, 2005). Thus, we
3. Results conducted analyses for men and women separately. Table 1 also
shows that relative to men, women reported signicantly more
This study examined stress reactions (appraisals, affect, physi- threat before and less positive affect after the rst task, more neg-
ology) over time. Repeated measures ANOVAs were used to test ative affect after both tasks, and had lower cardiac output at
the hypotheses pertaining to appraisals and affect. Physiological baseline.
data were analyzed using a MANOVA. The task order was counter- Four (EI branch) repeated-measures ANCOVAs were conducted
balanced (math rst or speech rst) and this served as an indepen- with EI branch as the covariate and appraisals as the repeated
dent variable in preliminary analysis. With the exception of DV (time 1 and 2), for men and women separately. For both data-
descriptive analyses using gender as an IV (see Table 1), analyses sets (men, women), there were no main effects of time, or branch
examining the inuence of EI on stress responses were conducted with time interactions, ns. EM had a signicant covariate effect on
for men and women separately (using two gender datasets). Lastly, appraisals, but only for men. Table 2 shows that men higher in EM
to maximize power, EI branches were examined as covariates were more challenged than those lower in EM, F(1, 49) = 4.78,

Table 1
Means (SD) for EI facets, appraisals, affect, and physiology, for men and women separately.

Overall mean Females (n = 75) Males (n = 51)


Emotional perception 98.45 (15.46) 100.23 (14.80) 95.83 (16.16)
Facilitating cognition 95.26 (15.00) 97.20 (14.42) 92.41 (15.52)
Emotional understanding 89.32 (8.71) 90.47 (8.85) 87.63 (8.30)
Emotional management 90.62 (10.37) 92.59 (10.04)a 87.73 (10.27)b
Appraisals: time 1 .94 (.58) 1.09 (.60)a .73 (.48)b
Appraisals: time 2 1.01 (.83) 1.12 (.89) .86 (.73)
Positive affect: baseline 2.57 (.71) 2.47 (.69) 2.71 (.72)
Positive affect: time 1 2.31 (.76) 2.19 (.72)a 2.47 (.78)b
Positive affect: time 2 2.12 (.87) 2.03 (.88) 2.24 (.86)
Negative affect: baseline 1.58 (.52) 1.58 (.49) 1.58 (.58)
Negative affect: time 1 1.95 (.69) 2.07 (.68)a 1.78 (.68)b
Negative affect: time 2 1.97 (.78) 2.10 (.80)a 1.80 (.72)b
Cardiac output: baseline 42.49 (11.74) 39.99 (8.96)a 46.11 (14.28)b
Cardiac output: time 1 47.47 (16.30) 45.27 (11.01) 52.06 (19.65)
Cardiac output: time 2 46.81 (16.71) 47.20 (11.69) 47.72 (20.68)
TPR: baseline 158.97 (54.54) 161.02 (48.42) 156.27 (62.45)
TPR: time 1 146.11 (87.82) 146.84 (70.50) 149.65 (106.78)
TPR: time 2 147.73 (86.28) 136.20 (56.31) 168.56 (112.46)

Note. Different superscripts denote signicant differences, p < .05. TPR = Total Peripheral Resistance. Cardiac output and TPR means are from 77 participants (45 females, 32
males).
912 T.R. Schneider et al. / Personality and Individual Differences 55 (2013) 909914

60 4. Discussion
a
We expected that the four EI abilities would facilitate resilient
50 stress responses including challenge appraisals, more positive
and less negative affect, and challenge physiology for men and wo-
CO (liters/min)

High EM men. We found that the inuence of EI on stress responses is not


40 Low EM ubiquitous, but generally that EI conferred stress resilience. We
discuss each EI branch in turn.
Emotional perception (EP) facilitated signicantly lower nega-
30 tive affect for men across the course of stressor exposures. Using
a cross-sectional design, EP has been related to self-reported
depression, hopelessness, and suicidal ideation (Ciarrochi et al.,
20 2002), suggesting that EP enhances negative affectivity during
Baseline Time 1 Time 2 stress. However, our research shows that men with EP ability have
reduced negative affective stress responses over time. We demon-
strated that negative affect remains low during stressful transac-
200 tions for those higher in EP. Perhaps the ability to recognize
b emotional responses brought on by an external stressor evokes a
correction in reports of emotional experience that is sustained over
180
time.
TPR (dyne-sec/cm^ )
5

The facilitating cognition (FC) facet was not related to stress re-
160 sponses in the present study. Negative emotions narrow attention
High EM
(Craske, 1999), but positive emotions evoke openness and creativ-
Low EM
140 ity (Isen, Daubman, & Nowicki, 1987). The stressors in this study
were motivated performance tasks with an evaluative component
that may have made them unrelated to FC. Performance metrics
120 (not obtained in this study) are differently related to stressor
appraisals (Schneider, 2004, 2008; Tomaka et al., 1993), and may
100 have been related to FC a query for future research.
Baseline Time 1 Time 2 Emotional understanding (EU) facilitated resilience. Higher EU
in men was associated with more positive affect across the stress-
Fig. 1. Mean cardiac output (a) and Total Peripheral Resistance (b) over time for ors than lower EU. EU should allow for rened identication of and
females high or low in emotional management. precise attributions about emotional experiences. Although we
introduced salient causes for emotional change, the higher positive
affect of men higher in EU was sustained over time. These men no-
p < .05. No EI branches were signicantly related to appraisals for ticed and reported higher positive affect, and may have attributed
women. affective changes to the transient stressors. Maintaining mood may
Four repeated-measures ANCOVAs were conducted with branch be an active affect control process (Forgas & Ciarrochi, 2002).
as the covariate, and affective responses as the DV over time (base- Whether EU confers a mood maintenance effect, or reduces the ef-
line, time 1, time 2), for men and women datasets. Positive and fort to maintain affect is a question for future research.
negative affect are separate dependent variables because they are We expected that higher EI ability would evoke challenge
orthogonal (Watson et al., 1988). For each DV and dataset, there appraisals. Men higher in EM reported challenge relative to their
were no main effects of time, or branch with time interactions, low EM counterparts. High EM men had benign stressor appraisals
ns. Table 2 shows that relative to their low EI counterparts, men that remained, whereas low EM men were more threatened that
higher in EU reported more positive affect, F(1, 49) = 5.51, p < .05, was sustained. EM is the highest EI ability (Salovey et al., 1999)
and men higher in EP reported less negative affect, F(1, and should inuence the integration of responses for situations
49) = 5.31, p < .05. involving social interactions (Lopes et al., 2005) and stress adapta-
Four repeated-measures MANCOVAs were conducted with EI tion. Examining more than two stressors may have revealed signif-
covaried, and CO and TRP as the DV over time (baseline, time 1, icant effects on appraisals over time. Appraisals set the stress
time 2), for each dataset. CO and TPR are interdependent physio- process in motion (Schneider, 2004; Tomaka et al., 1993) and are
logical responses dictating MANOVA. For each dataset there were most open to modication. Further investigation could point to
no effects of time, or branch with time interactions, ns. For women ways in which high EM builds or low EM reduces resilience, sug-
there was a signicant multivariate main effect for EM, Wilks F(2, gested by the pattern of appraisals obtained in the present study.
38) = 9.02, p < .001. Figure 1a and b shows that relative to those Despite women having higher EM ability than men, they did not
lower in EM, women higher in EM had challenge physiology: great- benet from reduced stressor or benecial emotional reactions.
er CO, F(1, 39) = 12.99, p < .001, coupled with decreased TPR, F(1, Descriptive analyses (Table 1) revealed that after the rst task
39) = 18.52, p < .0011. exposure, women were more threatened than men, and reported
lower positive affect initially and higher negative affect across both
tasks, than men. Past research shows that threat appraisals predict
lower positive and higher negative affect (Schneider, 2004). De-
spite experiencing the stressor more intensely (in terms of apprais-
1
Figure 1a displays inated values for cardiac output. Cardiac output is derived als and affect), women higher in EM did experience greater
from heart rate and stroke volume. Heart rate values were appropriate, but stroke
physiological challenge. It may be that their higher EM ability facil-
volume values were inated. Stroke volume is inuenced by several factors, and
largely by changes in the position of the person (e.g., supine versus seated). Because itated a more salubrious physiological response (greater CO cou-
all participants were seated for the duration of the experiment, these inated values pled with decreased TRP), a physiological challenge response
are likely consistent across participants.
T.R. Schneider et al. / Personality and Individual Differences 55 (2013) 909914 913

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We thank an anonymous reviewer for this comment.
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