Nicola S. Schutte

DEVELOPMENT AND VALIDATION OF A MEASURE OF EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE

This series of studies describes the development of a measure of emotional intelligence based on the model of emotional intelligence developed by Salovey and Mayer [Salovey, P. & Mayer, J. D. (1990). Emotional intelligence. Imagination, Cognition and Personality, 9, 185–211.]. A pool of 62 items represented the different dimensions of the model. A factor analysis of the responses of 346 participants suggested the creation of a 33-item scale. Additional studies showed the 33-item measure to have good internal consistency and testretest reliability. Validation studies showed that scores on the 33-item measure 1. (a) correlated with eight of nine theoretically related constructs, including alexithymia, attention to feelings, clarity of feelings, mood repair, optimism and impulse control; 2. (b) predicted first-year college grades; 3. (c) were significantly higher for therapists than for therapy clients or for prisoners; 4. (d) were significantly higher for females than males, consistent with prior findings in studies of emotional skills; 5. (e) were not related to cognitive ability and 6. (f) were associated with the openness to experience trait of the big five personality dimensions.

Characteristic emotional intelligence and emotional well-being

Both theory and previous research suggest a link between emotional intelligence and emotional well-being. Emotional intelligence includes the ability to understand and regulate emotions; emotional well-being includes positive mood and high self-esteem. Two studies investigated the relationship between emotional intelligence and mood, and between emotional intelligence and self-esteem. The results of these studies indicated that higher emotional intelligence was associated with characteristically positive mood and higher self-esteem. The results of a third study indicated that higher emotional intelligence was associated with a higher positive mood state and greater state self-esteem. The third study also investigated the role of emotional intelligence in mood and self-esteem regulation and found that individuals with higher emotional intelligence showed less of a decrease in positive mood and self-esteem after a negative state induction using the Velten method, and showed more of an increase in positive mood, but not in self-esteem, after a positive state induction. The findings were discussed in the light of previous work on emotional intelligence, and recommendations were made for further study.

Development and evaluation of a measure of the tendency to be goal oriented

Abstract This paper describes the development and evaluation of a 15-item, self-report measure of the tendency to set goals and make plans. A series of studies provided evidence of reliability and validity. The internal consistency of the scale ranged from 0.81 to 0.83; 3-week test-retest reliability was 0.82. Evidence of scale construct validity included significant associations in the expected direction with measures of several theoretically related constructs, including the number of goals one has, impulsivity, need for achievement, instability, hopelessness, depression, and official GPA. Another validity finding indicated that college students receiving psychotherapy had significantly lower goal orientation as measured by the scale than other college students. A treatment study produced evidence that goal orientation and official Grade Point Average (GPA) increased significantly in university counseling center clients who received training in goal setting and planning. The results provide initial evidence that the goal-orientation scale has promise as a measure of a psychologically significant construct.

Shaping Juror Attitudes: Effects of Requesting Different Damage Amounts in Personal Injury Trials

Abstract In almost every personal injury trial the injured persons attorney must decide how much to ask the jury to award in damages. Research regarding attitude change in other settings indicates that the more extreme the persuading message is, the more attitude change occurs. This tendency suggests that the more money requested in damages, the more a jury will award. In an analogue experiment of juror behavior, the effect of amount of damages requested on amount awarded was examined. One hundred fifty-eight American college students read two detailed case summaries of real personal injury cases, with each summary containing one of four amounts requested for damages by the injured persons attorney. The results showed a significant effect of amount requested upon the amount awarded. The effect was consistent across cases and across injured persons of different sexes and ethnic groups.

Effectiveness of a brief group RET treatment for divorce-related dysphoria

This study evaluated the effectiveness of a brief, group rational-emotive (RET) treatment and problem solving treatment for divorce related dysphoria, involving six hours of therapy over 22 days. A waiting list condition was used for comparison. On three measures of dysphoria, RET and Problem-Solving subjects improved significantly more than Waiting List subjects and RET and Problem-Solving subjects maintained their improvement at a one-month follow-up. There was no significant difference in improvement between RET and Problem-Solving treatments. Effectiveness of the treatments could have been due either to specific content, group therapy components, or nonspecific effects.

Incompetency and insanity: feasibility of community evaluation and treatment.

In order to examine the feasibility of doing more sanity and competency evaluations and treatment on an outpatient basis rather than at a state hospital, we gave a feasibility questionnaire to 288 CMHC and state hospital administrators and treatment staff members. The respondents indicated that, given enhanced community evaluation and treatment programs for forensic clients, (a) 41 percent of the sanity evaluations and 45 percent of the competency evaluations done at the hospital could be done in local communities, (b) 35 percent to 38 percent of the clients found incompetent could be treated in local communities, and (c) 39 percent to 50 percent of the clients found insane could be released to outpatient treatment six months earlier than presently. Other findings indicated several specific improvements needed in the community mental health system before it can properly handle more forensic clients.

The Employment Disadvantage of Being a Smoker

Three studies were done to examine the effects of being a tobacco smoker on employment prospects. In Study 1, thirty-two subjects reviewed application forms and rated four applicants as prospective employees. The subjects rated the nonsmoker version of the job applicants significantly more highly for hiring. In Study 2, forty-four subjects stated whether they preferred to hire smokers or nonsmokers and estimated the preference of employers generally. Those who stated a personal preference gave their reasons. Seven personal reasons for preferring a nonsmoker were mentioned by at least two subjects. The reasons ranged from dislike of tobacco smoke to concern about smokers taking more sick leave. In Study 3, which involved forty-six subjects, degree of endorsement of the attitudes underlying four of the seven preference reasons were found to be associated with degree of preference for nonsmokers. The results of the three studies provide potentially useful information for job applicants and for individuals who design smoking prevention interventions.

Impulse-Control Disorders

This scale measures the characteristic impulsiveness of individuals. The latest version of the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale is a 30-item self-report meassure (Patton, Stanford, & Barratt, in press). Barratt developed the first version of the scale in 1959 (Barratt, 1959) and then revised and refined the scale over the years (Barratt, 1985; Barratt, 1993). The eleventh and latest version was created by eliminating from the previous version of the scale those items that did not contribute to the reliability or validity of the scale. Patton et al. (in press) factor analyzed the responses of undergraduate students, psychiatric inpatients, and prisoners in a maximum security facility and found three main second-order factors. These factors were motor impulsiveness, nonplanning impulsiveness, and attentional impulsiveness.

Somatoform Disorders and Measurement of Pain and Related Phenomena

This 62-item self-report measure developed by Pilowsky and Spence (1983) assesses seven aspects of abnormal illness behavior: hypochondriasis, disease conviction, psychological versus somatic concerns, affective inhibition, affective disturbance, denial, and irritability. Lloyd (1990) suggested that the scale be used to evaluate clients in whom there is a discrepancy between medical disorder and behavioral response. An earlier version of the seven subscales was derived from a factor analysis of pain patients’ and psychiatric clients’ responses to 52 items asking about attitudes, feelings, and perceptions relating to illness (Pilowsky & Spence, 1975). Also embedded in the questionnaire was a second measure of hypochondriasis, the Whitley Index. Because this scale seems to measure essentially the same phenomena as the general Hypochondriasis subscale of the questionnaire, no more mention will be made of the Whitley Index in this review. The 62-item questionnaire was developed by adding items to the earlier, 52-item version of the questionnaire so that all subscales consist of at least five items (Pilowsky, 1993; Pilowsky & Spence, 1983). Factor analytic studies of the questionnaire (Main & Waddell, 1987; Pilowsky, 1993; Pilowsky & Spence, 1983; Zonderman, Heft & Costa, 1985) have to varying degrees confirmed the separateness of the seven subscales.

The Psychometric Properties and Clinical Use of Scales

The appropriate clinical or research use of the measures in this book requires a certain amount of psychometric knowledge. For instance, in order to interpret research findings relating to a measure, readers need to understand the usual ways of testing reliability and validity, as well as how to use sample or cutoff scores. The appropriate clinical use of the measures also requires knowledge about clinical assessment strategies in general and ethical standards. In this chapter we provide this basic information for scale users and provide references for more detailed information.