the relationship between cognitive ability, emotional

217 Pages·2010·0.85 MB·English

by  Dennis Dahl

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN COGNITIVE ABILITY, EMOTIONAL
INTELLIGENCE AND NEGATIVE CAREER THOUGHTS:
A STUDY OF CAREER-EXPLORING ADULTS

by

ARTHUR DENNIS DAHL

submitted in accordance with the requirements
for the degree of

DOCTOR OF LITERATURE AND PHILOSOPHY

in the subject of

INDUSTRIAL AND ORGANISATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY

at the

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH AFRICA

PROMOTOR: PROF FRANS VAN N CILLIERS
CO-PROMOTOR: DR. RENÉ VAN EEDEN

JUNE 2010
Acknowledgements

No man is an island and without the support and encouragement of others I would not have
been able to complete this project. There are a number of family, friends, and colleagues,
past and present, who have played an unsuspecting role in this endeavour, and to them I am
grateful.

Special appreciation goes to my family, whose faith in my ability to accomplish this thesis
has been a tremendous source of strength and motivation. In particular to my wife Elaine,
whose patience and quiet encouragement has not waivered, many thanks.

I am grateful to my friends and colleagues: Dr. Kirk Austin, for having blazed the trail
making this process much easier, Bruce Wagner, for his insight and words of wisdom, and
Dr. Cory Pedersen for her statistical knowledge. Thanks as well to Dr. Kathy Skau, whose
friendship, support and advice have always been valued.

Last, but not least, I would like to thank my thesis promotors, Professor Frans Cilliers and
Dr. René van Eeden, for their guidance in bringing order to chaos.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER 1 SCIENTIFIC OVERVIEW OF THE RESEARCH 1

1.1 BACKGROUND AND MOTIVATION FOR THE RESEARCH 1
1.2 PROBLEM STATEMENT 3
1.3 AIMS OF THE RESEARCH 5
1.3.1 General aim 5
1.3.2 Specific aims 5
1.4 PARADIGM PERSPECTIVE 5
1.4.1 The disciplinary relationship 6
1.4.2 The dimensional paradigm 6
1.4.3 The cognitive paradigm 6
1.4.4 The positive psychology paradigm 7
1.4.5 The functionalist paradigm 8
1.5 RESEARCH DESIGN 8
1.6 RESEARCH METHOD 9
1.7 CHAPTER DIVISION 12
1.8 CHAPTER SUMMARY 13

CHAPTER 2 THE CONSTRUCT OF INTELLIGENCE 14

2.1 INTRODUCTION 14
2.2 IMPLICIT THEORIES OF INTELLIGENCE 15
2.3 EXPLICIT THEORIES OF INTELLIGENCE 17
2.3.1 Psychometric theories of intelligence 17
2.3.2 Complex systems theories of intelligence 22
2.3.2.1 Gardner’s multiple intelligences theory 23
2.3.2.2 Sternberg’s triarchic theory of intelligence 24
2.3.3 Biological (neuro-physiological) theories of intelligence 26
2.3.4 Summary of theoretical approaches to intelligence 30
2.4 BEHAVIOURAL DIMENSIONS OF INTELLIGENCE 31
2.5 CHAPTER SUMMARY 33
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CHAPTER 3 EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE 35

3.1 INTRODUCTION 35
3.2 CONCEPTUALIZING EMOTION 36
3.2.1 Interaction of emotion and cognition 38
3.2.2 Emotional skills and abilities 40
3.3 CONCEPTUALIZING EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE (EI) 43
3.3.1 Approaches to conceptualizing EI 44
3.3.1.1 Mixed-model approaches: Goleman, Bar-On,
and trait models 44
3.3.1.2 Ability model 48
3.3.1.3 Behavioural dimensions 50
3.3.2 Approaches to assessing EI 52
3.3.2.1 Self-report measurement techniques 52
3.3.2.2 Performance (objective) measurement techniques 53
3.4 RELATIONSHIP OF ABILITY EI WITH OTHER CONSTRUCTS 54
3.4.1 EI and everyday behaviour 55
3.4.2 EI and education 57
3.4.3 EI as a personal resource in stress and coping 57
3.4.4 EI and the workplace 59
3.5 CHAPTER SUMMARY 60

CHAPTER 4 NEGATIVE CAREER THOUGHTS 62

4.1 INTRODUCTION 62
4.2 DYSFUNCTIONAL THINKING 62
4.3 CONCEPTUALIZATION OF NEGATIVE CAREER THINKING 63
4.3.1 The Cognitive Information Processing model 64
4.3.2 Dimensions of negative career thoughts 66
4.4 RESEARCH REGARDING NEGATIVE CAREER THOUGHTS 68
4.4.1 Negative career thoughts in vulnerable populations 68
4.4.2 Negative career thoughts change as a result of intervention 70
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4.4.3 Negative career thoughts related to other constructs 72
4.4.3.1 Negative career thoughts and attachment style 72
4.4.3.2 Negative career thoughts and Sense of Coherence 73
4.4.3.3 Negative career thoughts and Psychological
Well Being 74
4.4.4 Change in negative career thoughts across the life span 76
4.5 CHAPTER SUMMARY 77

CHAPTER 5 INTEGRATION OF THE LITERATURE 79

5.1 INTRODUCTION 79
5.2 CONTEXTUALIZATION 79
5.2.1 Context within Industrial/Organisational Psychology 79
5.2.2 Context of the current research 80
5.3 RESEARCH PAIRING VARIABLES 81
5.4 CONCEPTUALIZATION OF RESEARCH VARIABLES 84
5.5 DIMENSIONS AND BEHAVIOURAL DYNAMICS 86
5.6 RESTATEMENT OF THE EMPIRICAL RESEARCH QUESTIONS 87
5.7 CHAPTER SUMMARY 88

CHAPTER 6 THE EMPIRICAL STUDY 89

6.1 INTRODUCTION 89
6.2 POPULATION AND SAMPLE 89
6.2.1 Population 89
6.2.2 Sampling technique 90
6.2.3 Sample characteristics 91
6.2.4 Program description 91
6.3 MEASURING INSTRUMENTS 92
6.3.1 Wonderlic Personnel Test (WPT) 92
6.3.1.1 Rationale 92
6.3.1.2 Aim 93
6.3.1.3 Development 93
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6.3.1.4 Dimensions 93
6.3.1.5 Administration 94
6.3.1.6 Reliability and validity 95
6.3.1.7 Justification 95
6.3.2 Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT) 96
6.3.2.1 Rationale 96
6.3.2.2 Aim 96
6.3.2.3 Development 97
6.3.2.4 Dimensions 97
6.3.2.5 Administration 99
6.3.2.6 Interpretation of scores 100
6.3.2.7 Reliability and validity 101
6.3.2.8 Justification 101
6.3.3 Career Thoughts Inventory (CTI) 103
6.3.3.1 Rationale 103
6.3.3.2 Aim 103
6.3.3.3 Development 104
6.3.3.4 Dimensions 104
6.3.3.5 Administration 105
6.3.3.6 Reliability and validity 106
6.3.3.7 Justification 107
6.4 DATA COLLECTION 107
6.5 HYPOTHESES 108
6.6 DATA PROCESSING 109
6.7 CHAPTER SUMMARY 115

CHAPTER 7 RESULTS 117

7.1 INTRODUCTION 117
7.2 ASSUMPTIONS 117
7.3 DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS 119
7.3.1 Wonderlic Personnel Test (WPT) 119
7.3.2 Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test V2 (MSCEIT) 120
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7.3.3 Career Thoughts Inventory (CTI) 120
7.3.4 Biographical variables 124
7.4 RELIABILITY OF THE MEASURING INSTRUMENTS 125
7.5 CORRELATIONS 126
7.5.1 Correlations within constructs 126
7.5.1.1 Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test 126
7.5.1.2 Career Thoughts Inventory 128
7.5.2 Correlations with biographical variables 130
7.5.3 Correlations between constructs 132
7.5.3.1 IQ and EI 132
7.5.3.2 IQ and CTI pre-program, post-program and change 134
7.5.3.3 EI and CTI pre-program 135
7.5.3.4 EI and CTI post-program 136
7.5.3.5 EI and CTI change 137
7.6 PREDICTIVE VALUE OF CONSTRUCTS 137
7.6.1 Predicting CTI pre-test scores from IQ and EI 139
7.6.2 Predicting CTI post-test scores from IQ and EI 141
7.6.3 Predicting CTI change scores from IQ and EI 143
7.7 CHAPTER SUMMARY 145

CHAPTER 8 CONCLUSIONS, LIMITATIONS, AND
RECOMMENDATIONS 146

8.1 INTRODUCTION 145
8.2 CONCLUSIONS 145
8.2.1 Cognitive ability 145
8.2.2 Emotional intelligence 147
8.2.3 Negative career thoughts 150
8.2.4 Integration of cognitive ability, emotional intelligence, and
negative career thoughts 154
8.2.4.1 Cognitive ability and emotional intelligence 154
8.2.4.2 Cognitive ability and negative career thoughts 155
8.2.4.3 Emotional intelligence and negative career thoughts 156
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8.2.4.4 Predicting negative career thoughts 157
8.3 LIMITATIONS 162
8.3.1 Other variables 162
8.3.2 Research sample 162
8.3.3 Data gathering 164
8.3.4 Instrumentation 164
8.4 RECOMMENDATIONS 165
8.4.1 Recommendations for practitioners 166
8.4.2 Recommendations for further research 167
8.5 SUMMARY OF VALUE OF THE STUDY 170
8.6 CHAPTER SUMMARY 170

REFERENCES 171

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LIST OF TABLES

Table
7.1 Descriptive Statistics for the WPT 119

7.2 Descriptive Statistics for the MSCEIT 120

7.3 Descriptive Statistics for the CTI – Pre-test 121

7.4 Descriptive Statistics for the CTI – Post-test 122

7.5 Descriptive Statistics for the CTI Change – Pretest minus Posttest 123

7.6 Descriptive Statistics for Biographical Variables 124

7.7 Internal Consistency Alpha Reliabilities for CTI Pre- and Post-tests 125

7.8 Intercorrelations Between EI Total and Branch Scores 126

7.9 Correlation Matrix: CTI Pre-program, Post-program and Change 128

7.10 Correlations of Biographical Variables and IQ, EI, and CTI 130

7.11 Correlations of IQ and EI 132

7.12 Correlations of EI with Low and High IQ 133

7.13 Correlations of IQ with CTI Pre-test, Post-test and Change 134

7.14 Correlations of EI and CTI Pre-program 135

7.15 Correlations of EI and CTI Post-program 136

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7.16 Correlations of EI and CTI Change 137

7.17 Regression Analysis for Variables Predicting Negative Career Thoughts
Pre-program (IQ, EI total) 139

7.18 Regression Analysis for Negative Career Thoughts Pre- program
(IQ, EI branches) 140

7.19 Regression Analysis for Variables Predicting Negative Career Thoughts
Post-program (IQ, EI total) 141

7.20 Regression Analysis for Negative Career Thoughts Post-program
(IQ, EI branches) 142

7.21 Regression Analysis for Variables Predicting Negative Career Thoughts
Change (IQ, EI total) 143

7.22 Regression Analysis for Variables Predicting Negative Career Thoughts
Change (IQ, EI branches) 144

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