Emotional Intelligence and Transformational Leadership: A Meta-analysis

1. Emotional Intelligence and Transformational Leadership: A Meta-analysis P.D. Harms, University of Nebraska at Lincoln Marcus Credé, State University of New York at Albany

2. Beginnings • Began as a meta-analysis of the process behind transformational leadership • Transformational => Job Attitudes => Performance • While coding noticed large # of studies on the relationship of emotional intelligence (EI) to transformational leadership (TFL) • Nearly all began by stating that the relationship was in doubt, but the goal was to show a link • Meta-analysis? No. • Time to resolve the controversy

3. Why EI? • Hyperbolic claims about predictive power of EI from both researchers and distributors • What is the basis for looking to EI? 1) Relationships between TFL and Big Five have been called disappointing 2) False assumption that there has been a great deal of research attempting to link IQ and TFL - comments by Bass suggesting small relationship 3) Prior meta-analyses linking EI with performance and mental and physical health outcomes

4. So What is EI? • Positioned as an alternative to cognitive ability • An ability to generate, recognize, express, understand and evaluate emotions in self and others and to use them to guide thinking and action • Trait-based: lower-level personality characteristic • Ability-based: comprehending and regulating emotions • Measures range from self-report to projection tasks to situational judgment tasks • Often scored according to consensus or expert ratings

5. Why Should We Expect EI to be Related to TFL? • Full-Range Leadership Theory • One of the most widely researched areas of leadership theory • Theoretically reflects the difference between extremely high-performing leaders and ordinary leaders • 5 components of TFL • Contingent Reward • Management-by-Exception • Laissez-Faire • Linked with leader performance as well as subordinate satisfaction and motivation

6. Why Should We Expect EI to be Related to TFL? • Use of emotions by primates in dominance displays • Self-confidence, self-awareness, transparency, and empathy may be necessary for communicating visions • Emotional appeals for inspirational visions • Sosik & Megarian (1999) • Empathy needed for individualized consideration • Emotion management promotes positive affect in followers which may lead to more idea generation and expression • Self-aware leaders may have greater sense of purpose • Those skilled at emotional management may be more likely to put others’ needs before their own

7. Hypothesized Relationships • H1: EI should be positively related to higher TFL • H2: EI should be positively related to higher CR • CR should be related to perceiving what others feel is equitable • H3: EI should be negatively related to MBE-P and LF • Higher EI is theoretically linked with greater initiative-taking and self-efficacy for action

8. Why is There a Controversy? • Cult-like atmosphere surrounding EI • Simplistic assumptions • “there must be more than just IQ” • Hyperbolic claims contrasted with data to the contrary • Meta-analysis on EI-performance showed no incremental effect • No studies have found incremental validity beyond B5 and IQ • Lack of consensus within EI community over definitions and proper way to assess it • Lack of any well-done validation research

9. Attempt at Resolution: Meta-Analysis • Initial search yielded 106 possible articles • Coded only those with explicit EI measures that had data reported that could be translated into zero-order correlations • 62 independent samples • 38 used the MLQ • 7145 leaders • Hunter and Schmidt (2004) meta-analytic method

10. Results: Overall • Ocular test revealed clear differences between effect sizes of studies with same-source data and those with multi-source data

11. Search for Moderators: Effect of Leader Rank • Higher level execs more strategic (higher O) • Lower level execs more production-focused (higher C) • May require greater EI to ascend to upper-levels

12. Search for Moderators: Effect of Type of Emotional Intelligence • Relationships between types are not substantial • Also, it was recently proposed that trait-based EI mediates ability-based EI

13. Search for Moderators: Effect of Publication Type • Large number of dissertations attempting to uncover link between EI and TFL • Many of these from “diploma mill” schools

14. Search for Moderators: Effect of Emotional Intelligence Inventory • Prior research has noted that correlations between different measures are not high • Ability measures were all MSCEIT

15. Search for Moderators: Effect of TFL Inventory • It is possible that certain measures of TFL are better at capturing the emotional element

16. Subcomponents of Full-Range Leadership • The 5 components of transformational leadership and contingent reward all showed the same pattern of decreasing validities • Some decreased to zero • MBE-P and LF had negative relationships • Also showed decreasing validities • Largest relationship found when multi-source ratings were used was for Laissez-Faire (-.17)

17. Other Issues: Inter-rater Agreement • Inter-rater agreement important for determining whether or not sources are rating the same behaviors • Accuracy vs. Bias

18. Incremental Validity • Constructs live and (ought to) die based on whether or not they can add incremental predictive power to existing constructs • IQ and Big 5 • Prior meta-analytic estimates used to create correlation matrix • No IQ-TFL estimate was found • Lack of sufficient studies available to estimate reliably

19. Incremental Validity

20. Discussion • It appears that the mixed findings in past research were largely due to method effects • Moderate relationship between EI and TFL decreased to being very small when multiple sources were used • No other moderators found • Absolutely no incremental validity was found over Big Five traits • Any existing predictive validity due to construct overlap

21. Limitations • Some have argued that it is unfair to judge EI based on its merits because it has only been around a short time • 100’s of studies thus far. More than most other constructs. • There exists no well-designed validation study for any EI measure • It is hard to evaluate the utility of a construct when we aren’t sure we are actually assessing it • Majority of studies were poorly designed • Majority of studies came from unpublished sources

22. Future Directions • Future for EI? • The present results do not mean that EI as a construct should be written off • Better measures should be designed and used • Better studies are needed (sample size and source) • Zombie-like quality • Eats other constructs over time and can’t be killed • Do we need to learn to live with it? Is it the new MBTI? • Future of the TFL? • IRT-based measures are needed

23. Future Directions • The irony of a meta-analysis about EI and Transformational Leadership is… • It indicates the need for more research relating IQ to Transformational Leadership • NOTE: We’re really not bad at predicting leadership • Other personality variables • Look to the Neo-Socioanalytic Model • Attachment • Motives, Goals, Values, Interests • Narratives • Perceptions