Internalizing emotions: Self-determination as an antecedent of emotional intelligence

Enduring education and employment: Examining motivation and mechanisms of psychological resilience

Resilience, the ability to bounce back from difficult events, is critical for an individual to negotiate stressors and adversity. Despite being widely studied, little is known about the processes involved in the development of resilience. The goal of the studies are to investigate the relationship between motivation orientation, emotional intelligence, cognitive appraisals, and psychological resilience. Two studies, using self-report questionnaires were conducted with employed young adults also enrolled in post-secondary studies (pre- and during the pandemic) to test the tenability of our proposed models. Study 1 and Study 2 showed that emotional intelligence and challenge appraisals were mediators of autonomous motivation and resilience. Study 2 revealed statistically significant differences in mean scores of autonomous motivation and emotional intelligence between non-pandemic students and pandemic students. Based on the findings, it is suggested that autonomous motivation, emotional intelligence, and challenge appraisals are important aptitudes for the development of resilience. Furthermore, findings suggest that social isolation caused by the pandemic may have affected levels of emotional intelligence. Ultimately, the research expands the literature on both self-determination theory and resilience by offering a unique multiple mediation model for predicting the development of resilience within the employed undergraduate population.

How past trauma impacts emotional intelligence: Examining the connection

Backed by both research and practice, the organizational psychology field has come to value emotional intelligence (EI) as being vital for leader and employee effectiveness. While this field values EI, it has paid little attention to the antecedents of emotional intelligence, leaving the EI domain without clarity on (1) why EI might vary across individuals, and (2) how to best develop EI. In this article, we rely on neuroscience and psychology research to make the case that past psychological trauma impacts later EI capabilities. Specifically, we present evidence that psychological trauma impairs the brain areas and functions that support EI. Establishing psychological trauma has valuable theoretical and practical implications that include providing an explanation of why EI might vary across individuals and providing a focus for improving EI: healing from past trauma. Further theoretical and practical implications for the field of organizational psychology are provided.

Introducing an attitude-based approach to emotional intelligence

Emotional intelligence (EI) was originally conceived as an ability, followed soon after by mixed, competency and trait theoretical models, broadly described as emotional efficacies (EE). Several models have attempted to integrate both approaches, with different views on whether EI and EE operate in sequence or parallel. One reason for this may be that EE constructs are given the same ontological status whether they represent underlying attitudes, such as self-regard, or behavioral competencies, such as assertiveness. In this paper, it is proposed that attitudes may predominantly act as underlying antecedents of ability-EI and behavioral-EE. Five benefits of this approach are drawn out that help to address some key concerns with current models and measures of EI and EE. First, the inclusion of implicit and explicit attitudes within integrated models of EI/EE would support the dual-processing of conscious and automated processes. From this, an attitude-based dual-processing framework for EI/EE is recommended. Second, the concept of Unconditional Positive Regard (UPR) for self and others, is identified as a potential attitude that may underpin the two core pillars of intrapersonal and interpersonal EI/EE. Third, UPR attitudes would provide an ethical basis for EI/EE that may support ethical and prosocial behavior. Fourth, UPR attitudes may differentiate between the optimal and sub-optimal elements of EI/EE. Fifth, an attitude-based approach to EI/EE may be more aligned with EI/EE being developmental than are the more static ability or trait-based models of EI/EE.

Metacognition and Self-determination, Impulsivity and Emotional intelligence, and its relation with wellbeing and health indicators in young adults

Background: From the evidence, it is inferred the influence of cognitive or motivational variables over the emotional ones and from these on the perception and self-reported wellbeing and health, with direct implications for health promotion and prevention. Method: a quantitative approach, descriptive, correlational cross-sectional with statistical explanatory analysis investigation was conducted, analyzing the data through path modeling of the partial least squares approach of the structural equations model, by using the Smart PLS software 3.3.2 version, analyzing consequently the convergent and discriminant validity of the model. A total 223 undergraduate university young adult students was evaluated, 41 men (18,4%) and 182 women (81,6%) with ages between 18 and 30 years old (µ= 24,26 y σ=±3,30), from Bogotá Colombia participated. Results: The results allowed to significant relations between the self – determination with the impulsivity and emotional intelligence, and from these with the psychological well-being and healthy habits. There were not identified significant relations between the metacognition and the impulsivity, although there are between metacognition and emotional intelligence. Conclusions: The proposed model about the significant relations between metacognition and self-determination with impulsivity and emotional intelligence and between these and the psychological well-being and healthy habits was confirmed. The specific result related to the absence of significant relations between metacognition and the impulsivity suggest for futures research, to emphasize on the metacognitive process implicated on the emotional components. The results are discussed, its implications and the necessity to be considered more determinants for the promotion of health.

Physically active undergraduates: Motivational and emotional profiles

Objectives: The aim was to determine the motivational profiles - including variables from the theory of self-determination and emotional intelligence - of active undergraduates, and to examine their relationship with physical activity. Participants: Six hundred and fifteen undergraduates participated in the study. Methods: Trait Meta-Mood Scale, Basic Psychological Needs in Exercise Scale, Behavioral Regulation in Exercise Questionnaire and Habitual Physical Activity Questionnaire were administered. Cluster analysis was used to identify the motivational profiles. Results: Two motivational profiles were found. One of the motivational profiles included the participants with high levels of satisfaction of the basic psychological needs and self-determined motivation; moderately high levels of emotional clarity and repair; and low levels of non-self-determined motivation. Further, this group showed the highest rates of physical practice than its counterpart. Conclusions: The combination of self-determination theory and emotional intelligence should be considered when examining adherence to physical activity.

Are More Intelligent People Happier? Emotional Intelligence as Mediator between Need for Relatedness, Happiness and Flourishing

The psychology of sustainability and sustainable development aims to study the personal characteristics that promote effective and sustainable well-being for individuals and environments from a psychological research perspective. According to the self-determination theory, the psychological need for relatedness is positively associated with happiness and flourishing. In turn, emotional intelligence, i.e., understanding and managing one’s own emotions and recognizing others’ emotions, may play a key role in this association. Therefore, the present study investigates the mediating role of emotional intelligence in the relationship between need for relatedness and both happiness and flourishing. Basic Psychological Needs scales (BPNs), Emotional Intelligence Scale (EIS), Flourishing Scale, and Happiness Scale were administered to 216 Italian participants (age range 15–66 years old). A mediation model via a structural equation model for path analysis was tested. The results showed that the psychological need for relatedness positively associated with both happiness and flourishing and that emotional intelligence mediated these associations. These results suggest that important interventions may be performed to promote flourishing and happiness, enhancing emotional intelligence through specific training differently from need for relatedness that, instead, can be considered substantially stable.

Thinking styles and self-determination among university students who are deaf or hard of hearing and hearing university students

This study explores how students' thinking styles are related to their self-determination. The Thinking Styles Inventory-Revised II and the American Institutes for Research (AIR) Self-Determination Scale were administered to 913 university students (480 who were deaf or hard-of-hearing and 433 hearing) in mainland China. Results showed that, among all participants, those with Type I styles (i.e., more creativity-generating, less structured, and cognitively more complex) had higher levels of self-determination, while those with Type II styles (i.e., more norm-favoring, more structured, and cognitively more simplistic) had lower levels of self-determination. The contributions, limitations, and implications of this study are discussed.

The effects of female "Thin Ideal" media on men's appearance schema, cognitive performance, and self-evaluations: A self-determination theory approach

Research has primarily focused on the consequences of the female thin ideal on women and has largely ignored the effects on men. Two studies were designed to investigate the effects of a female thin ideal video on cognitive (Study 1: appearance schema, Study 2: visual-spatial processing) and self-evaluative measures in male viewers. Results revealed that the female thin ideal predicted men's increased appearance schema activation and poorer cognitive performance on a visual-spatial task. Constructs from self-determination theory (i.e., global autonomous and controlled motivation) were included to help explain for whom the video effects might be strongest or weakest. Findings demonstrated that a global autonomous motivation orientation played a protective role against the effects of the female thin ideal. Given that autonomous motivation was a significant moderator, SDT is an area worth exploring further to determine whether motivational strategies can benefit men who are susceptible to media body ideals.

Minimizing counterproductive work behaviors

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is not only to investigate the impact of self-determined motivation on counterproductive work behaviors (CWBs), but also to examine the moderating role of perceived job insecurity in CWB.

Design/methodology/approach

This study utilized Partial Least Squares analysis to examine the data. In total, 292 private bank employees that experienced bank mergers and acquisitions before were invited to participate in this study.

Findings

The study findings have indicated that perceived autonomy will be positively linked to perceived competence and relatedness, and perceived competence and relatedness will be negatively associated with organizational and interpersonal CWB. Moreover, it has been found that perceived job insecurity could play a key role in moderating the link between self-determined motivation and CWB.

Originality/value

Although several researchers have highly focused on the critical roles of self-determined motivation and perceived job insecurity in organizational competitiveness, little is known about whether perceived job insecurity could play a key role in moderating the relationship between self-determined motivation and CWBs.