| TITLE |
Across contexts comparison of emotional intelligence competencies: A
discovery of gender differences |
| AUTHOR |
Rivera Cruz, Beatriz Virgina |
| SCHOOL |
CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY |
| DEGREE |
| Ph.D. |
| DATE |
| 2004 |
| PAGES |
| 167 |
| ADVISOR |
Boyatzis, Richard E. |
| ABSTRACT |
This study documents people's difference in the display of emotional
intelligence competencies at home and at work Emotional intelligence is
life-centric;, it can be shown and engaged regardless of
context. Work and home are the two most important aspects of people's live,
therefore the logical contexts for comparison. Behavior in these two
contexts can provide a more comprehensive idea of how people use their
competencies and help organizations in their effort to enhance and benefit
from them. The work and personal life contexts replicate the public vs.
private dichotomy in which people have been socialized. Organizations
reinforce such ideas along with a gender role issue present in daily
interaction at home and at work. The study is founded on the premise that
the gender role dynamics affect emotional intelligence behavior differently
for men and women and that the degree and features of the difference is
affected by cultural factors primarily. The analysis reveals a difference in
emotional intelligence behavior between work and the personal context. When
the analysis is performed by gender the difference increases. Women show a
significant difference in seven and men in six of the 21 competencies of the
emotional intelligence competency framework used in the study. It also shows
that women display a higher level of their competencies at home, an men at
work, behavior that is in line with the gender role dynamics and the
cultural characteristics of the sample. A correlation analysis revealed that
the difference in behavior is related to the masculinity/femininity
dimension of culture and human values in the case of women (Hofstede, 1997;
Boyatzis et al. 1999). Self-confidence is believed to be at the center of
the difference in behavior especially for women, whose differential in
behavior is evident at the social competence level. Men show a difference in
display at the Personal competence level of the model. This has implications
for today's organizations in terms of training, retention, practices and policies. More importantly, it has implications for men and women's
development in the organization and the potential to live more abundantly.
Cross-cultural research on emotional intelligence can enhance both fields.
|
