TY - JOUR

T1 - Does Leadership Still Not Need Emotional Intelligence?

T2 - Continuing “The Great EI Debate”

AU - Dasborough, Marie

AU - Ashkanasy, Neal

AU - Humphrey, Ronald

AU - Harms, Peter

AU - Crede, Marcus

AU - Wood, Dustin

N1 - This is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Leadership Quarterly. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Leadership Quarterly, 33, 6, 2022 DOI: 10.1016/j.leaqua.2021.101539

PY - 2022/12/31

Y1 - 2022/12/31

N2 - The study of emotional intelligence (EI) in the field of leadership, and in the organizational sciences in general, has often been characterized by controversy and criticism. But the study of EI has nonetheless persisted by developing new measures and models to address these concerns. In a prior letter exchange by Antonakis, Ashkanasy, and Dasborough (2009), two author teams debated the role of EI in the leadership literature, but also set an agenda for research and reconciliation for the future. The present exchange revisits these arguments using evidence accumulated over the past decade. Specifically, the authors debate not only the evidence for the predictive power of EI for workplace outcomes, but also the validity of EI as a construct, the measurement of EI, and the appropriateness of analytical tests for establishing the value of EI. Although the author teams agree on the value of the study of emotions and the need for rigorous research in this area, they nonetheless propose alternative agendas and priorities for the future. Further, they conclude that the issues identified in this exchange are not unique to the study of EI; but should also serve to inform the study of other personality factors and leadership more broadly.

AB - The study of emotional intelligence (EI) in the field of leadership, and in the organizational sciences in general, has often been characterized by controversy and criticism. But the study of EI has nonetheless persisted by developing new measures and models to address these concerns. In a prior letter exchange by Antonakis, Ashkanasy, and Dasborough (2009), two author teams debated the role of EI in the leadership literature, but also set an agenda for research and reconciliation for the future. The present exchange revisits these arguments using evidence accumulated over the past decade. Specifically, the authors debate not only the evidence for the predictive power of EI for workplace outcomes, but also the validity of EI as a construct, the measurement of EI, and the appropriateness of analytical tests for establishing the value of EI. Although the author teams agree on the value of the study of emotions and the need for rigorous research in this area, they nonetheless propose alternative agendas and priorities for the future. Further, they conclude that the issues identified in this exchange are not unique to the study of EI; but should also serve to inform the study of other personality factors and leadership more broadly.

KW - Emotional intelligence

KW - Debate

KW - Leadership

KW - Meta-analysis

U2 - 10.1016/j.leaqua.2021.101539

DO - 10.1016/j.leaqua.2021.101539

M3 - Journal article

VL - 33

JO - The Leadership Quarterly

JF - The Leadership Quarterly

SN - 1048-9843

IS - 6

M1 - 101539

ER -