Enhancing the intentional self‐regulation skills of Chinese adolescents living in orphanages: A school‐based intervention

Improving self-perceived emotional–social competencies with relational outcomes through the strength deployment inventory

Purpose

This paper aims to determine whether performing an emotional intelligence (EI) intervention improves employees’ self-perceived emotional–social competencies (ESC) to achieve relational outcomes in firms based in China.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on a qualitative, interpretive approach through purposive sampling, this paper explored the impacts the Strengths Deployment Inventory (SDI) 2.0 intervention might have upon Chinese employees regarding ESC and relational outcomes. Data was collected from 18 semi-structured interviews with Chinese executives and individual contributors.

Findings

The findings suggested that ESC could be developed and improved in Chinese employees. The SDI 2.0 intervention may effectively bring about positive EI shifts and relevant attitudinal and behavioral changes related to work relationships.

Practical implications

The developed ESC and relational outcomes provide practitioners with insight to better understand the role training plays in organizational effectiveness, as well as to implement the SDI 2.0 program in human resource practices of Chinese organizations to develop personnel and promote high-quality work relationships.

Originality/value

This study gains significance by highlighting the effectiveness of the SDI 2.0 intervention in enhancing respondents’ ESC with relational outcomes from the perspectives of Chinese firms. Thus, supporting the effectiveness of EI training in the Chinese workplace and introducing the EI training literature the SDI 2.0 tool.

A trial of an emotional intelligence intervention in an Iranian residential institution for adolescents

AIMS

As a vulnerable group in society, orphaned and abandoned adolescents are faced with various social issues as well as lack of healthy social skills that can lead to high-risk behaviors. The objective of this study was to examine the effect of emotional intelligence skills training on the social skills of orphaned and abandoned adolescents.

METHODS

The present study was an interventional research with a pretest-posttest design. The sample included 30 orphaned and abandoned male teen-agers, residing in a care center, who were randomly selected and divided into intervention and control groups. The intervention group had four emotional intelligence-based training sessions. In this study, the Matson Evaluation of Social Skills with Youngsters (MESSY) was used to evaluate the variables. The results were analyzed, using SPSS Statistics 22.

RESULTS

The results showed significant difference between the mean MESSY scores in the intervention group before and after the intervention (p < .05). There was also a significant difference between the mean scores of the intervention and control group, following the intervention.

CONCLUSION

An emotional intelligence-based training program can be effective in improving the social skill levels amongst orphaned and abandoned adolescents as a vulnerable social group.