Implicit theories and ability emotional intelligence

Frontiers in Psychology

Rosario Cabello¹ 

关键词: emotional intelligence;    MSCEIT;    implicit theories;    gender;    age;    mediation;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00700

学科分类：心理学（综合）

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

Previous research has shown that people differ in their implicit theories about the essential characteristics of intelligence and emotions. Some people believe these characteristics to be predetermined and immutable (entity theorists), whereas others believe that these characteristics can be changed through learning and behavior training (incremental theorists). The present study provides evidence that in healthy adults (N = 688), implicit beliefs about emotions and emotional intelligence (EI) may influence performance on the ability-based Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT). Adults in our sample with incremental theories about emotions and EI scored higher on the MSCEIT than entity theorists, with implicit theories about EI showing a stronger relationship to scores than theories about emotions. Although our participants perceived both emotion and EI as malleable, they viewed emotions as more malleable than EI. Women and young adults in general were more likely to be incremental theorists than men and older adults. Furthermore, we found that emotion and EI theories mediated the relationship of gender and age with ability EI. Our findings suggest that people’s implicit theories about EI may influence their emotional abilities, which may have important consequences for personal and professional EI training.

【 授权许可】

CC BY