I know how you'd feel: Friends' relational emotional ...

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Friends' relational emotional intelligence predicts empathic accuracy. Valerie Guilbault & Frederick L. Philippe. University of Quebec at Montreal. Research ...
I know how you’d feel: Friends’ relational emotional intelligence predicts empathic accuracy Valerie Guilbault & Frederick L. Philippe University of Quebec at Montreal

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The case of emotional intelligence ¡ Trait emotional intelligence (EI)à emotion perception ¡ EI = a dyadic phenomenon? ¡ Relational EI as a key concept

¡ In friends’ relationships, relational EI should be associated with better inferences (Brody, 2004; Zeidner, Roberts, & Matthews, 2008)

Method ¡  51 mixed-gendered friend dyads Participant •  Trait EI •  Relational EI •  Hypothetical scenarios •  How would you react? •  How would your friend react?

Friend •  Trait EI •  Relational EI •  Hypothetical scenarios •  How would you react? •  How would your friend react?

(Péloquin & Lafontaine, 2010; Petrides & Furnham, 2001).

Method ¡  Hypothetical scenarios “Your boss announces you that you did not get theFriend position of higher responsibility you long Participant desired in the enterprise. How do reactEIto this news? •  Trait EI •  you Trait •  Relational EI •  Relational EI •  I cry in front of my boss. • •  Hypothetical scenarios •  order Hypothetical scenarios I reflect on the reasons I did not get the position in to better understand the direction’s •  How would you react? •  How would you react? decision. •  I’m I feel incompetent. •  ashamed, How would your friend react? •  How would your friend react?

(Péloquin & Lafontaine, 2010; Petrides & Furnham, 2001).

Method ¡  51 mixed-gendered friend dyads Participant •  Hypothetical scenarios •  How would you react? •  How would your friend react?

Friend •  Hypothetical scenarios •  How would you react? •  How would your friend react?

Assumed similarity Empathic accuracy Assumed similarity = abs(participant’s reaction – participant’s inference of friend’s reaction). Empathic accuracy = abs(friend’s reaction - participant’s inference of friend’s reaction).

Results Using Multilevel Modeling with Undistinguishable dyads…

Relational EI Relational EI of friend Trait EI

Standardized betas are presented.

Trait EI of friend

.06

.04

Empathic accuracy

Assumed similarity *p < .05, **p < .01

Assumed similarity of friend

(Kenny, Kashy, & Cook, 2006)

Take home messages ¡ Trait EI was not associated with better inferences, but relational EI was. ¡ EI seems to be more of a motivational factor than a general personality trait. ¡ EI should be studied in context, not only as a general trait.