Increasing emotional competence improves psychological and physical well-being, social relationships, and employability.

Abstract

This study builds on earlier work showing that adult emotional competencies (EC) could be improved through a relatively brief training. In a set of 2 controlled experimental studies, the authors investigated whether developing EC could lead to improved emotional functioning; long-term personality changes; and important positive implications for physical, psychological, social, and work adjustment. Results of Study 1 showed that 18 hr of training with e-mail follow-up was sufficient to significantly improve emotion regulation, emotion understanding, and overall EC. These changes led in turn to long-term significant increases in extraversion and agreeableness as well as a decrease in neuroticism. Results of Study 2 showed that the development of EC brought about positive changes in psychological well-being, subjective health, quality of social relationships, and employability. The effect sizes were sufficiently large for the changes to be considered as meaningful in people's lives.

Changing personality traits: Some considerations from psychotherapy process-outcome research for intervention efforts on intentional personality change.

“…For example, mindfulness training (Krasner et al, 2009), skills trainings (Nelis et al, 2011;Piedmont, 2001), and meditation (Sedlmeier et al, 2012) were related to change in some personality traits in addition to the intended outcome variables. As another example, a study demonstrated that cognitive training with the intent to change cognitive skills showed an increase in openness to experience over time in a group of older adults (Jackson, Hill, Payne, Roberts, & Stine-Morrow, 2012).…”

The influence of emotional intelligence (EI) on coping and mental health in adolescence: Divergent roles for trait and ability EI

“…Interest in emotional intelligence (EI) -a construct that captures individual differences in identifying, processing and regulating emotion (Zeidner, Matthews, & Roberts, 2009) -continues to intensify given empirical links to a variety of adaptational outcomes (Brackett, Rivers, & Salovey, 2011) and recent evidence suggesting that EI can be improved via targeted training in adults (Nelis et al, 2011) and through school-based programmes in youth (Durlak, Weissberg, Dymnicki, Taylor, & Schellinger, 2011). The broader construct can be differentiated in line with two distinct methods of assessment; considered as a cluster of emotion-related self-perceptions/dispositions evaluated via self-report, EI is termed 'trait' emotional intelligence (TEI) (Petrides, Pita, & Kokkinaki, 2007), whereas direct assessment of actual proficiency in perceiving, understanding, using and managing emotion through measures of maximal performance, is considered reflective of 'ability' emotional intelligence (AEI) (Mayer, Salovey, & Caruso, 2008).…”

Using emotional intelligence in coaching high-performance athletes: a randomised controlled trial

“…Emotional intelligence is associated with improved social relationships (Nelis et al, 2011). The interpersonal component of the EQ-i provides information about empathy and establishing relationships.…”