Predicting trait emotional intelligence from HEXACO personality: Domains, facets, and the general factor of personality

Abstract

The current study provides a comprehensive analysis of the overlap between trait emotional intelligence (EI) and personality. This overlap was examined using the HEXACO personality framework at both the domain and the facet levels, and through varying methods of deriving a general factor of personality (GFP). A sample of 1,370 Australian adults (51% male, age in years M=45.5, SD=11.7, range: 21-71) completed the 200-item HEXACO Personality Inventory-Revised and the Modified Assessing Emotions Scale measure of self-reported Trait EI. The strongest domain correlations with Total EI emerged for Extraversion (r=.67) followed by Openness (r=.39), Conscientiousness (r=.35), and Agreeableness (r=.26). Large adjusted multiple correlations were obtained when predicting Total EI from HEXACO domains (.74) and facets (.81). The correlations of the GFP and Total EI ranged from .53 to .64 depending on how the GFP was operationalized. Trait EI is largely captured by the HEXACO personality framework, whereby Extraversion or the GFP provides a rough initial approximation, but composites of domains and facets provide progressively better representations.