Emotional Intelligence:

“Design an intervention that will (hopefully) improve the subjective experience of a group

of people – your target group”

1
Positive Psychology – Intervention Study

For many years, psychologists have studied the personal attributes and cognitive abilities of

individuals that enable them to thrive in various contexts and to achieve numerous successful life

outcomes in terms of their education, vocation, personal relationships, happiness, physical and

mental health, increased extraversion, agreeableness and emotional stability (Cherniss, Extein,

Goleman & Weissberg, 2006; Schutte, Malouff & Thornsteinsson, 2013; Petrides, 2017; Zeidner

& Matthews, 2017). The researcher will first examine the historical roots of the relatively new

psychological construct and theory: Emotional Intelligence (EI), which emphasises the

importance of both intrapersonal and interpersonal intelligence for adaptive emotional

functioning and wellbeing throughout life. The researcher will go on to examine the current

research evidence which supports the existence and validity of EI and also discuss criticisms of

EI. Finally, the researcher will discuss the rationale for the proposed EI intervention, and the

final section will outline the intervention’s details and discuss its shortcomings and overall

effectiveness.

Petrides (2017) suggests that even before psychologists began to study intelligence, Darwin had

emphasised the importance of emotions for survival and the adaptive functioning of both humans

and animals (for example, to signal important information to other members of the social group,

and to motivate activity). In the first part of the twentieth century, Thorndike (1920, as cited in

Petrides, 2017) wrote about “social intelligence”, and Weschler (1943, as cited in Petrides, 2017)

wrote that definitions of general intelligence should be expanded to include “affective” and
Positive Psychology – Intervention Study

“conative abilities” because of the role they play in guiding intelligent behaviour (Petrides,

2017). When psychologists first began to measure intelligence, they also recognised that

traditional conceptions of intelligence were too constrained as they were not predictive of many

life outcomes, and that these needed to encompass more than just cognitive abilities.

Psychologists have also identified that certain personal attributes involving perception,

expression and emotion management, such as empathy (to understand another's feelings and take

their perspective), tend to facilitate effectiveness in a variety of different contexts, and identified

that empathy, along with other emotional "competencies" (such as social skills), contributes to

success in life (Petrides, 2017). One of these sets of constructs is EI. Originating from research

by Salovey and Mayer (1990) and garnering widespread appeal as a result of Goleman’s (1995)

book (“Emotional Intelligence: Why it may matter more than IQ”), EI theory emphasises the

roles of intrapersonal and interpersonal skills, and is widely considered to relate “to measurable

individual differences in the experiencing and processing of emotion and emotion-related

information” (Hodzic Scharfen, Ripoll, Holling & Zenasni, 2018, p.4).

Proponents of EI recognise that it has two major components that refer to an individual's

emotional awareness and how effectively they manage their emotions and those of others,

although there are many social and emotional "competencies" that are thought to comprise these

core abilities (Cherniss et al., 2006). Previous research has investigated the link between EI,

personality and IQ, and indicate that EI is a construct that is distinct from both personality traits

and cognitive ability. However, its critics have dismissed the idea of EI, arguing that it involves

many conflicting constructs and that it must, therefore, be invalid (Waterhouse, 2006, as cited in

Cherniss et al., 2006). Although there was greater criticism of the EI construct during the first
Positive Psychology – Intervention Study

decade or so after its inception, and before the multitude of EI studies provided a body of

empirical evidence in support of its validity, in recent years, a few studies have produced

contrary findings with results that suggest there is no significant relationship between EI and

certain positive life outcomes, such as academic achievement (e.g. Kashani, Azimi & Vaziri,

2012). Recent meta-analyses of EI studies by Hodzic et al. (2018) also suggest that there is a

substantial publication bias in favour of the publication of studies which support the validity of

EI construct.

Models of EI

There are several major models of EI, among which there is considerable overlap owing to their

similarities; however, all of the models agree that EI has two main components involving

emotion management and awareness (Cherniss et al., 2006). The most common theoretical

approaches are the ability model and the trait model of EI. Ability EI is typically assessed using

performance criteria involving the identification of different emotional expressions, whereas trait

EI is mostly assessed using self-report or observer-report, and requires the respondent or

observer to state what he or she usually does and how he or she manages his or her emotions in

everyday life. Salovey & Mayer’s (1990) ability model is composed of specific emotional

abilities that are related in a hierarchical way and distinguish between (a) accurate perception of

emotions, (b) awareness of emotions and the capacity to induce emotions to facilitate thinking,

(c) understanding one's own emotions and those of others, and (d) emotional management and

regulation (Salovey & Mayer, 1990). Ability EI refers to an individual's emotional capabilities;

however, whether he or she behaves in emotionally adaptive ways depends upon his or her

motivation and the demands of individual situations (Schutte et al. 2013). Trait (or "emotional

self-efficacy") EI refers to the extent to which an individual displays these emotional

Positive Psychology – Intervention Study

competencies in his or her everyday life (Schutte et al. 2013), as well as various personal

dispositions such as impulsivity and empathy (Petrides, Frederickson & Furnham, 2004).

Some researchers view ability and trait EI as different constructs, and studies have found that the

relationship between the two is only moderate (Petrides, 2017). Zeidner and Matthews (2017)

suggest that different conceptualisations of EI dictate the competencies targeted and would lead

to other types of training programmes, methods, assessments, and different consequences. An

intervention based on the ability model of EI might attempt to enhance emotional awareness,

differentiation and monitoring, emotional expression and utilisation, and emotional regulation.

On the other hand, if the trait model of EI is used, the intervention might "focus on broad traits

and specific competencies, such as well-being (self-esteem, trait-happiness, trait-optimism), self-

control (emotional regulation, stress management, impulsiveness), emotionality (emotion

perception, emotion expression, trait empathy, relationship) and sociability (social awareness,

emotion management, assertiveness)” (Zeidner & Matthews, 2017, p.172). As research indicates

that higher EI is associated with adaptive emotional functioning and a variety of positive life

outcomes, researchers and practitioners in many different fields (such as mental health,

organisational management, sports science and education) have implemented training

programmes and interventions over the last twenty years that aim to increase EI. The findings of

recent meta-analyses provide evidence of the effectiveness of such interventions, and also

increase confidence in the validity of EI (Schutte et al., 2013; Hodzic et al., 2018).

Castillo et al. (2013) conducted an EI (social, emotional learning (SEL)) intervention (based on

the ability model of EI) over a two-year period with 590 Spanish adolescents aged 11 to 17. The

intervention was comprised of twenty-four, hour-long sessions, which required the adolescents to

engage in emotion-focused and reflective activities such as games, role-playing, art and film
Positive Psychology – Intervention Study

discussion groups. After the intervention, they found that aggression had significantly reduced,

and the researchers reasoned that by encouraging alternative strategies to manage the thoughts

and physical sensations that accompany aggressive behaviour, the intervention had moderated

many of the adolescents’ aggressive tendencies, and also provided skills to help them resolve

difficult situations more peacefully and effectively. Castillo et al. also found that empathic

abilities had also significantly increased, especially amongst males, whose fantasy scores

(associated with social dysfunction) had decreased, as had their personal distress (negatively

associated with pro-social behaviour) scores, whereas empathic concern had increased. As there

have been many studies of the effectiveness of EI interventions, the proposed intervention will

also focus on fostering EI in adolescents, as this has the potential to produce positive life

outcomes for individuals from an early age and is likely to have long-term, positive implications

for the wider society.

The proposed intervention

We have adapted the proposed intervention from two such programmes by Castillo et al. (2013)

and Gilar-Corbi, Pozo-Rico, Sanchez & Castejon (2018), and also use the “Intrapersonal

Emotion Regulation Questionnaire” (IERQ) developed by Hofman, Carpenter & Curtiss (2016),

for one of its activities. As previously described, Castillo et al. conducted an intervention using

ability EI on adolescents, whereas Gilar-Corbi et al. conducted their "Emotional Intelligence

Training Programme" on undergraduate and postgraduate students, which successfully integrated

both ability and trait models of EI. However, Zeidner and Matthews (2017) propose that EI

interventions should be based on a well-defined model and theory of EI, and, therefore, based on

the effectiveness of previous interventions such as Castillo et al.'s, and because interventions
Positive Psychology – Intervention Study

using ability models have had significantly better outcomes than trait or mixed models (Hodzic

et al., 2018), the proposed intervention will be based on the ability model of EI.

Participants

Unlike Castillo et al.'s intervention (whose participants were aged between 11 and 17), the

proposed intervention's participants will be aged between 11 and 14 to include a longitudinal

measure of the effects of EI, which will be taken one year after the final session has been

completed in order to ensure that the oldest participants would still be in high school. There will

be 24, one-hour sessions over the course of two years, during school hours.

Pre and post-intervention measures of EI

As in Gilar-Corbi et al.'s (2013) intervention, participants’ EI levels will be measured one week

before the first training session and one week after the intervention, and then again a year later to

measure the extent to which participants' EI capacities have endured over time. The instruments

the researcher will use to measure EI are the “Situational Test of Emotional Understanding”

(STEU), and the “Situational Test of Emotion Management” (STEM), both designed by

MacGann & Roberts (2008). While these questionnaires are intended for adults, they could

arguably also be used for younger adolescents, although several of the situations will be adapted

to make them more comparable to the everyday experiences of adolescents. The items in both

questionnaires describe everyday situations and ask respondents to choose from four responses,

one of which represents the ideal response. As in Gilar-Corbi et al.'s intervention, we will reduce

the number of questions we ask (25 STEU items and 20 STEM items) in order to minimise

fatigue effects in the proposed intervention's adolescent sample.

Positive Psychology – Intervention Study

The following is a STEM item that we have adapted for our adolescent participants (the ideal

answer is in brackets):

“Andrew tries to help Tracey (a classmate he doesn’t know that well) with a math’s problem. Tracey says

that his answers are not very good and are probably wrong. Andrew tells Tracey that she should be

grateful he is trying to help her. They have an argument. What would be the best thing that Andrew could

do in this situation?

(a) Say sorry to Tracey, (b) Don’t help Tracey again, (c) Try harder to help Tracey, [(d) Ask for

Tracey’s advice in order to distract her].” (Macgann & Roberts, 2008).

The following question is from the STEU:

“There is great weather on the day Jill is going on an outdoor picnic. Jill is most likely to feel...?

(a) pride, [(b) joy], (c) relief (d) guilt (e) hope” (Macgann & Roberts, 2008).

Examples of EI activities

The proposed intervention's classroom EI activities are loosely based on those used in Castillo et

al.'s (2013) intervention, and each type of activity is intended to enhance one of the four types of

emotional abilities specified by Salovey and Mayer (1990). Below are some examples of

activities that will take place in each of the 24 sessions:

(a) Improving the perception and expression of emotion

Students will be played short (silent) clips of actors expressing different emotions in imaginary

scenarios and must then write down their thoughts. The students then work in small groups to
Positive Psychology – Intervention Study

identify the emotions portrayed. Once the researcher has revealed what the real emotions and

scenarios portrayed in the clips were, participants are asked to discuss how appropriate the

actors’ responses were for the scenarios, and whether they could think of better ways in which to

respond.

(b) Learning about the function of emotions and how to use them effectively.

Working in small groups, students examine works of abstract art. They are asked to discuss the

specific emotions induced within themselves by the art, and how and why emotions can be

useful. Next, the students are shown video clips of people in different professions (e.g. the

Police) effectively resolving conflicts, then they engage in role-plays with similar hypothetical

scenarios and discuss why particular emotions are more useful for resolving conflict than others.

(c) Understanding emotions and using emotional knowledge

Students are asked to write a short story or play based on a particular emotion, creating a back

story that explains why their characters feel particular emotions and behave the way they do.

Students are then asked to evaluate how the characters’ emotions affected the outcomes of their

stories. In small groups, students are then invited to discuss any similar emotional experiences

they may have had and the consequences of their responses, and if or how they might respond

differently in the future.

(d) Learning to manage and regulate emotions

Positive Psychology – Intervention Study

To make participants aware of their emotional regulation (ER) strategies, they will be asked to

complete the IERQ (which contains 20 items). Respondents are asked to give ratings between 1

and 5, to indicate how typical it is of them to use a particular strategy (5 indicating the most

typical). Afterwards, they will grade and analyse their answers in groups, and discuss the

importance of such strategies, before engaging in role-plays which focus on how to use ideal ER

strategies in different social situations.

The intervention’s effectiveness will be measured by the differences between students’ pre and

post-intervention scores, and the differences between post-intervention scores and students’

scores a year later will be the gauge of how well the effects of the EI intervention have endured

over time. In order to address any potential shortcomings, session content and activities will be

pitched to students' age levels, and both a teacher and a researcher will be present during sessions

so that more personal attention and time can be given to individual participants. Both teacher and

researcher will ensure that participants fully understand all of the activities and that they engage

in them appropriately, and will encourage a supportive classroom atmosphere. If the proposed

intervention were to be effective, previous studies have shown that it would improve emotional,

adaptive functioning in adolescents, and improve outcomes in an array of areas in their lives (e.g.

academic, personal relationships, physical and mental health). The intervention has the potential

to encourage their optimal emotional functioning across their lifespans, and it could be applied in

a range of settings (such as clinical and occupational) to a range of age groups in the future.

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Positive Psychology – Intervention Study

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