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The effects of emotional intelligence on job performance and life satisfaction for the research and development scientists in China

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Abstract

To demonstrate the utility of the emotional intelligence (EI) construct in organizational studies, this study focuses on the effect of EI on job performance among research and development scientists in China. We argue that EI is a significant predictor of job performance beyond the effect of the General Mental Ability (GMA) battery on performance. This predictor effect is supported by results on a study of research and development scientists working for a large computer company in China. Our results also show that a self-reported EI scale developed for Chinese respondents, the WLEIS, is a better predictor of job performance than the scale developed in the U.S., the MSCEIT. Implications of the findings are discussed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Management, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, N.T., Hong Kong, People’s Republic of China

    Kenneth S. Law & Chi-Sum Wong

  2. Hong Kong Baptist University, Kowloon Tong, N.T., Hong Kong, People’s Republic of China

    Guo-Hua Huang

  3. Institute of Policy and Management, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100080, People’s Republic of China

    Xiaoxuan Li

Authors
  1. Kenneth S. Law
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  2. Chi-Sum Wong
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  3. Guo-Hua Huang
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  4. Xiaoxuan Li
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Chi-Sum Wong.

Additional information

The work described in this paper was supported by a grant from the Research Grants Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (Project no. CUHK4038/00H).

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Law, K.S., Wong, CS., Huang, GH. et al. The effects of emotional intelligence on job performance and life satisfaction for the research and development scientists in China. Asia Pacific J Manage 25, 51–69 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10490-007-9062-3

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