Swinburne University Emotional Intelligence Test Research Articles

Emotional intelligence and risky driving behaviour in adults

BackgroundRisky driving is considered a key predictive factor in road traffic accidents resulting in morbidity and mortality. Intra-individual emotional and personality factors have been shown to influence risk-taking behaviours among drivers. Despite this, there is limited research investigating the individual dimensions of these constructs and their relationship to risky driving behaviour (RDB). The current study therefore aimed to assess whether the individual dimensions of Emotional Intelligence (EI) were implicated in RDB. MethodsThe sample comprised 179 adults (55% male) aged between 18 and 64years (M=29.85, SD=11.46) and who currently held a valid driver’s licence completed an online survey. Emotional Intelligence was assessed via self-report using the Swinburne University Emotional Intelligence Test (SUEIT), and RDB was measured using both the Brief Distracted Driving Scale (BDDS) and the Dula Dangerous Driving Index (DDDI). ResultsRegression analyses revealed that ‘Risky Driving’ was related to greater levels of Emotional Recognition and Expression and lesser Age [F(6, 172)=2.27, p<0.05: R2=7.3%], and the Negative Emotions sub-scale of DDDI, was significantly predicted by Emotional Control and Age [F(6, 172)=6.41, p<0.05: R2=18.3%]. A mediation model incorporating Age, Emotional Control scores and the Negative Emotions driving behaviour score indicated that a significant indirect effect of Age through Emotional Control (K2=0.08, 95% CI [−0.02, −0.03]). (H [3]=10.98, p=0.012). ConclusionsLower scores on specific indices of EI are associated with increased rates of RDB, suggesting that poor emotional control may impede an individuals’ ability to make safe behavioural decisions when driving. The effect sizes for these models were small, however, and further research is needed to explore the contributory components in this association. Greater awareness of the role of emotional regulation and driving behaviours may be useful in preventing RDB in adults.

Functional Cortical networks associated with personality, emotional intelligence and decision making

Background: Many studies have investigated the neural correlates associated with personality by using a variety of neuroimaging techniques and psychometrics (Kennis et al., 2013). Previous electroencephalogram (EEG) studies have examined the relationship between emotional traits (Stenberg 1995) and personality traits (Takahashi et al 2005). In this EEG based pilot study, a multidisciplinary strategy of combining brain imaging techniques (LORETA) and EEG coherence analysis with psychological constructs was applied to explore the relationships between personality traits. In particular, the relationship between emotional intelligence with participants’ reactions and decision making to rich complex stimuli such as advertising videos was examined. Methods: A preliminary study group of 45 participants, (Mean age 30.8 years SD 11.9 years, Education = 14.8 years SD 1.5 years ) had their EEG recorded with a Quikcap electrode system while watching a series of videos which were selected based on various marketing categories such as, food & drink, community interests, celebrities and social issues. Using the Swinburne University Emotional Intelligence Test or SUEIT (Stough, Palmer 2001), individuals were categorized into two groupings; those who scored high and low in emotional intelligence (EI). EEG was analyzed offline to remove muscle and ocular artifact. Results: Selected epochs of EEG were then analyzed to produce LORETA and EEG coherence data during decision making. Preliminary findings suggest that participants with high or low emotional intelligence (EI) were receptive to certain types of social issues or visual imagery. This was validated by the associated brain functional connectivity networks for each group. Also, correlations with other personality scales (NEO-PI Costa & McCrae 1992) demonstrated personality types react differently to imagery, content and humor. Discussion/Conclusion: Both LORETA and EEG coherence data demonstrated distinct functional connectivity associated with each group and may help to explain their associated perceptions and behaviors. More specifically, the high EI group demonstrated clear preferences in specific video material when contrasted with the low EI group. The NEO-PI has been used in previous psychophysiology studies of emotional arousability but not with complex social stimuli. The use of a multidisciplinary approach can assist in the identification of the neural networks associated with personality and provide insights into individual differences in perception.

Emotional intelligence, victimisation, bullying behaviours and attitudes

Emotional intelligence (EI) and pro-victim attitudes play an important role in adolescent bullying and victimisation. We recruited 284 male and female adolescents attending secondary school in Australia. All participants completed the adolescent version of the Swinburne University Emotional Intelligence Test, the Peer Relations Questionnaire and the Revised Pro-victim Scale. Results revealed significant associations between bullying, victimisation, pro-victim attitudes and the EI dimensions. Regression analyses revealed greater Understanding Emotions, lower Emotional Management and Control, being male and having weaker Pro-Victim Attitudes to be significant predictors of engaging in bullying. Investigation of the influence of EI and pro-victim attitudes on victimisation revealed significant independent contributions to the prediction model of victimisation by lesser Emotional Management and Control and stronger Pro-Victim Attitudes. Pro-Social behaviours were predicted by the female gender and greater Understanding Emotions. Results have implications for management and intervention practices of school based adolescent bullying focussed on EI development.

Emotional intelligence and academic achievement in preadolescent students from Australian schools

A newly developed measure of ability EI, the Swinburne University Emotional Intelligence Test—Early Years (SUEIT-EY) has enabled the role of EI in the preadolescent years to be examined. This presentation will outline a study of children from four Australian Primary schools in which the predictive validity of EI was assessed. The study was the first to empirically examine whether scores on an ability EI measure and scholastic achievement were related in preadolescence. Results found ‘Understanding and Analysing Emotions’ to be the most robust predictor of scholastic achievement for both girls and boys. The findings and implications of this study will be discussed in detail. Finally, the utility of understanding the role of EI in early childhood and preadolescence will briefly be explored.

Emotional Intelligence and scholastic achievement in pre-adolescent children

Previous research has reported an association between Emotional Intelligence (EI) and scholastic achievement in adolescent samples; however, this relationship has not yet been studied in pre-adolescent samples. The current study was the first to explore the relationship between ability EI and scholastic achievement in pre-adolescent children, using a newly created measure of EI for younger children – the Swinburne University Emotional Intelligence Test – Early Years (SUEIT-EY). Four hundred and seven girls and boys between the ages of 9 and 13years were assessed on the SUEIT-EY, and scholastic results were collected for literacy and numeracy ability. Results indicated that a significant relationship existed between the ‘Understanding and Analysing Emotions’ (UAE) branch of the SUEIT-EY and measures of achievement in literacy and achievement in numeracy, for boys and girls, over and above the effect of age. Sequential Multiple Linear Regression Analyses found earlier developing UAE abilities to better predict scholastic achievement variables than the more complex UAE abilities, and accounted for 11% of the variation of both literacy and numeracy scores.

Emotional intelligence as a moderator in the stress–burnout relationship: a questionnaire study on nurses

To investigate inter-relationships between emotional intelligence (EI), work stress and burnout in a group of nurses in the Western Cape Province, South Africa. The moderating effect of EI in the stress-burnout relationship and group differences (nurses working in different wards) in burnout were also investigated. Stress and subsequent burnout commonly threaten the occupational health and well-being of nurses in South Africa and elsewhere. Developing EI in nurses may increase individual stress resistance and combat burnout. A cross-sectional research design with anonymous questionnaires was conducted. Self-report data were used. Survey data were collected from 122 nurses working in different wards at four hospitals from a private hospital group. The Swinburne University Emotional Intelligence Test, Sources of Work Stress Inventory and Maslach Burnout Inventory were used to measure EI, stress and burnout, respectively. Consistent inverse relationships between emotional control and management as dimensions of EI, and stress and burnout emerged. A differential effect of high vs. low EI on the stress-burnout relationship was evident. Workload and the work/family interface emerged as significant predictors of burnout. Respondents working in maternity, paediatric and ER wards reported more feelings of personal accomplishment than those working in general wards. Higher EI is significantly related with lower stress and burnout in a sample of South African nurses. The moderator effect of EI in the stress-burnout relationship suggests that enhanced EI may help diminish burnout development when chronic stress is experienced. EI developmental interventions, if introduced in nursing curricula, may increase emotional coping resources and enhanced social skills, which may benefit the long-term occupational health of nurses. This may be relevant in developing countries, where environmental stressors related to the organisational context (budget constraints) and wider social factors (shortage of qualified nurses) are difficult to address.

Assessing Emotional Intelligence and Organizational Citizenship Behavior among Executives: Examples from Bruneian SMEs

Emotional Intelligence (El) is emerging paradigm discussed and researched widely within the domain of organizational behavior and leadership research continuum in the workplace. This has further been recognized as an effective tool along with Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB) in enhancing the organizational productivity. Keeping in view the relative importance and the potential of these two domains; El and OCB on the management of SMEs, this pioneering study was conducted among the executives of 101 SMEs in Brunei Darussalam. The study uses the Swinburne University Emotional Intelligence Test (SUEIT) and standard instrument to measure organizational citizenship behavior. The study using survey methodology aims not only to establish empirical evidence of examining executives' relationship between El and OCB but also to find out the role of demographical and organizational variables such as gender, age, educational qualifications, no. of years of experience, job title and types of business with the El among these executives. The result indicates that both El and OCB are significantly correlated and there exists a significant relationship between all contextual variables excluding gender and EL The results are discussed and recommendations are made based upon the data analysis and conclusion.

Recruitment Consultant Revenue: Relationships with IQ, personality, and emotional intelligence

The objective of this paper is to address the predictive validity of the workplace Swinburne University Emotional Intelligence Test. The first aim of this research project was to identify whether financial revenue earned by consultants in an Australian professional recruitment company were related to their levels of emotional intelligence (EI). The second aim was to assess whether EI competencies were more strongly related to revenue performance than measures of IQ and personality. The study consisted of 100 recruitment consultants from a large Australian-based company who had their IQ assessed and completed a questionnaire battery consisting of measures of personality and EI. Revenue accrued by the recruitment consultants was also collected and related to the psychometric measures. Results showed that emotional competencies and personality traits are valuable predictors of job performance as measured by the revenue accrued by recruitment consultants. Further to this, the EI competencies were observed to be more strongly related to this measure of performance, and were able to predict a significant proportion of variance in performance in comparison to IQ and personality.

Leader emotional intelligence, transformational leadership, trust and team commitment: Testing a model within a team context

This exploratory study tested a model within a team context consisting of transformational-leadership behaviour, team-leader emotional intelligence, trust (both in the team leader and in the team members) and team commitment. It was conducted within six manufacturing plants, with 25 teams participating. Of the 320 surveys distributed to these teams, 178 were received (which equals a 56% response rate). The surveys consisted of the multi-factor leadership questionnaire (MLQ), the Swinburne University emotional intelligence test (SUEIT), the organisational-commitment scale (OCS) (adapted for team commitment) and the workplace trust survey (WTS). The validity of these scales was established using exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confrmatory factor analysis (CFA). The Cronbach alpha was used to assess the reliability of the scales. The model was tested using structural equation modelling (SEM); an acceptable level of model ft was found. Signifcant positive relationships were further found among all the constructs. Such an integrated model has not been tested in a team context before and the positive fndings therefore add to existing teamwork literature. The fnding that transformational leadership and leader emotional intelligence are positively related to team commitment and trust further emphasises the importance of effective leadership behaviour in team dynamics and performance.

The relationship between leader emotional intelligence and psychological climate: An exploratory study

This study, which was conducted in a clothing manufacturing plant, investigated the relationship between two important constructs for organisations, namely: leader emotional intelligence and psychological climate. A random cluster sample of 600 participants were drawn from a total employee population of 1725 and 297 completed responses were returned for analyses (49,5% response rate). An Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) was conducted on both the Swinburne University Emotional Intelligence Test (SUEIT) and the Organisational Climate Questionnaire of Koys and DeCotiis (1991). Both scales were found to be valid and reliable. Stepwise Discriminant analysis provided evidence that a single psychological climate existed in the organisation. The results of a Pearson correlation analysis and Hierarchical Multiple Regression further indicated that leader emotional intelligence is significantly positively related to the psychological climate.

Emotional intelligence and scholastic achievement in Australian adolescents

The current study examined the relationship between emotional intelligence (EI) and scholastic achievement in Australian adolescents. Two hundred and nine secondary school students (86 males and 123 females) each completed the Adolescent Swinburne University Emotional Intelligence Test (SUEIT) and academic achievement data was collected for all subjects from year seven to eleven. Academic success was found to be associated with higher levels of total EI, via assessment of the EI of different academic levels (80th percentile, 20th percentile, and middle groups). Regression analyses also revealed that dimensions of the Adolescent SUEIT differentially predicted secondary school subject grades: Emotional Management and Control was found to significantly predict Maths (r2 = 0.06) and Science (r2 = 0.04); the Understanding Emotions sub-scale significantly predicted scores for Art (r2 = 0.12) and Geography (r2 = 0.08). It was concluded that the development of EI may offer educators significant opportunities to improve scholastic performance and emotional competencies.

Assessing Emotional Intelligence in the Indian workplace: a preliminary reliability study

The concept of Emotional Intelligence (EI) has recently attracted a great amount of interest from HR practitioners and academics alike. Whilst the majority of research in this area has been conducted in Western countries, recent studies have begun to assess the generalisability and validity of the EI concept in cross-cultural settings. The purpose of this paper was to assess the reliability of the Workplace version of the Swinburne University Emotional Intelligence Test (Workplace SUEIT) in an Indian population. The Workplace SUEIT demonstrated adequate reliability in the sample of 110 participants in India, although the mean scores for the sub-scales were significantly lower than in the Australian normative population. The results are discussed in the context that EI tests need to undergo cross-cultural examination to assess their validity and cultural relevance. Researchers using Indian workplace samples are needed to evaluate the predictive validity of tests of EI in the Indian context.

An Exploration of the Utility of a Self-Report Emotional Intelligence Measure

The purpose of this research was to address the need for evidence regarding the practical utility of the Swinburne University Emotional Intelligence Test (SUEIT, Palmer & Stough, 2001). More specifically, the predictive, as well as incremental validity of Emotional Intelligence (EI) over personality in leadership competence was explored. The EI, personality and Assessment Centre (AC) leadership competency constructs were operationalised through the SUEIT, Occupational Personality Questionnaire (OPQ32i) and leadership AC technology, respectively. EI data was collected with an online version of the SUEIT from a sample of 111 middle managers from a life assurance company in South Africa. The OPQ32i and AC data was extracted from archival records of the company. Correlational and multivariate data analysis procedures were employed. The results revealed significant relationships between various EI dimensions and the Customer Focus, Building Working Relationships, Gaining Commitment, Developing Others, Problem Solving and Stress Tolerance leadership competencies. Various dimensions of the SUEIT demonstrated incremental validity above personality in predicting variance in numerous leadership competencies (e.g. Building Working Relationships, Developing Others etc.). The results are discussed and recommendations for further research are made.

The Impact of Social Desirability and Expectation of Feedback on Emotional Intelligence in the Workplace

The use of Emotional Intelligence (EI) questionnaires and scales in the workplace has been growing rapidly over the last decade. EI has been a popular measure to develop key competencies in staff in the workplace and has started to be used in guiding staff recruitment and selection. Because most questionnaires involve self report assessment, the use of EI scales to assist in employee recruitment may be compromised if test-takers are able to fake good responses to the scales or to show social desirability. The current study investigated the relationship between emotional intelligence (EI) as measured by the Workplace version of the Swinburne University Emotional Intelligence Test (SUEIT), and a new social desirability scale designed specifically for the Workplace – the Social Desirability Questionnaire (WSDQ) in 79 participants. A weak relationship between EI and social desirability was observed, and this relationship was stronger with the SUEIT dimensions of Emotional Control and Emotional Management than with the other dimensions. Social desirability was experimentally manipulated by examining the relationship between EI and WSDQ in two groups. The first group (N=34) completed the questionnaires anonymously and were told that no feedback was to be provided. The second group of participants (N=45) were informed that they would receive detailed feedback about their EI. EI did not significantly differ between the two feedback conditions. The results indicated that there is not significant or substantial relationships between self report EI and social desirability. The results of this study have significant implications for the use of self-report EI scales in employee recruitment.

The development of an adolescent measure of EI

The purpose of this paper was to evaluate the reliability and validity of a modified adolescent version of the Swinburne University Emotional Intelligence Test (Adolescent SUEIT). Study 1 identified qualitative changes and rewording of items necessary to make the SUEIT more ‘adolescent friendly’. In Study 2 the adolescent modified version of the SUEIT was administered to a larger sample of adolescents ( N = 1002) to gather information on internal reliability, and to perform validity testing via exploratory factor analysis. The sub-scale reliability of the Adolescent SUEIT was found to be moderate to high, and a four-factor model was most representative of the adolescent sample. It was also noted that the more basic emotional intelligence (EI) abilities were positively related to age; females reported higher levels of emotional perception; and mean scores for the adolescent sample were below the norm for an adult population. With the amount of EI research with adolescents increasing, it is important to have valid and reliable tests available for research into important social and educational outcomes for adolescents. This initial evidence suggests the Adolescent SUEIT is a reliable and valid tool, and should be used to further understand the role of EI in adolescence, and how EI relates to important life criteria.

Examining the relationship between leadership, emotional intelligence and intuition in senior female managers

PurposeTo assess the relationship between leadership style, intuition, and emotional intelligence (EI) measured by a general and a workplace specific measure of EI in female managers.Design/methodology/approachThe study consisted of 176 female managers from several industries across Australia who completed a questionnaire battery consisting of the multifactor leadership questionnaire (MLQ), the cognitive style index (CSI), the trait meta‐mood scale (TMMS), and the workplace Swinburne University Emotional Intelligence Test (workplace SUEIT).FindingsThe results indicated that female managers displaying transformational leadership behaviours were more likely to display higher levels of EI and intuition than female managers displaying less transformational leadership behaviours. The workplace measure of EI was found to be the better predictor of transformational leadership behaviours than the general measure of EI, which was attributed to the workplace specific nature of the workplace SUEIT.Research limitations/implicationsThe implications of this research suggested the greater utility of workplace specific EI measures when concurrently assessing workplace outcomes. Research into leadership, EI and intuition may increase our understanding of effective leadership and could lead to the development of better tools for the selection, training and development of leaders.Originality/valueThis paper extends upon prior research that has identified a relationship between transformational leadership and EI, and also explores their relationship to the construct of intuition in female managers. It also addresses the important issue of the utility of two measures of EI in light of the workplace nature of the research.

Examining the relationship between leadership and emotional intelligence in senior level managers

Investigates whether emotional intelligence measured by the Swinburne University Emotional Intelligence Test predicted transformational, transactional and laissez‐faire leadership styles measured by the multifactor leadership questionnaire in 110 senior level managers. Effective leaders were identified as those who reported transformational rather than transactional behaviours. Emotional intelligence correlated highly with all components of transformational leadership, with the components of understanding of emotions (external) and emotional management the best predictors of this type of leadership style. The utility of emotional intelligence testing in leadership selection and development is discussed.