Emotional Competence Inventory (ECI)

The Emotional Competence Inventory (ECI) is a 360-degree tool designed to assess the emotional competencies of individuals and organizations. It is based on emotional competencies identified by Dr. Daniel Goleman in Working with Emotional Intelligence (1998), and on competencies from Hay/McBer’s Generic Competency Dictionary (1996) as well as Dr. Richard Boyatzis’s Self-Assessment Questionnaire (SAQ).

The Emotional Competence Inventory 2.0 (ECI) measures 18 competencies organized into four clusters: Self-Awareness, Self-Management, Social Awareness, and Relationship Management. The Emotional Competence Inventory takes approximately 30-45 minutes to complete.

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Authors:

Hay Group, McClelland Center for Research and Innovation

Reliability of Scale

Internal consistency reliability (Cronbach’s alpha) of the instrument has been found to be good for “total others” ratings. The reliabilities range from .68 (Transparency) to .87 (Emotional Self Awareness) with an overall average reliability of .78. The reliabilities of the “self” rating were not as good and ranged from .47 (Conflict Management) to .76 (Inspirational Leadership) with an overall average reliability of .63.

Validity of Scale

A number of studies highlight the criterion and construct validity of the Emotional Competence Inventory instrument. Research shows that the Emotional Competence Inventory is related to outcomes such as an individual’s life success (Sevinc, 2001), department performance (Nel, 2001), perceptions of leadership in a group (Humphrey, Sleeth & Kellet, 2001), sales performance (Lloyd, 2001), fire fighter performance (Stagg & Gunter, 2002), softball coaches win/loss record (VanSickle, 2004), and parishioner satisfaction (Brizz, 2004).

The Emotional Competence Inventory also shows good construct validity and is related to measures such as the MBTI sensing/intuiting and thinking/feeling dimensions but not the introversion/extraversion and judging/perceiving dimensions as expected (Burckle, 2000). The ECI is correlated with affiliative and coaching leadership styles but not coercive and authoritative styles (Carulli & Com, 2003). It has also been shown that ECI is related to climate (Sala, 2003) although there is also evidence that ECI may not be directly related to climate but rather it affects climate through leadership style. Other research shows the ECI related to group emotional intelligence (Stubbs, 2005), and negatively related to irrational beliefs as hypothesized (Welpe, Tumasjan, Stich et al., 2005).

Two studies examined the discriminant validity of the ECI, i.e., that it is different from other concepts. The research shows that the ECI is not correlated with either critical thinking (Murensky, 2000) or personality traits as measured by Eysenck’s Personality Questionnaire (Zadel, 2004). Byrne (2003) conducted an overall validity study of the ECI using the self-scored version. He concluded the instrument shows good construct, discriminant, and criterion validity.

Information on Obtaining the ECI

Consortium for Research on Emotional Intelligence in Organizations

Administration, Analysis and Reporting

Statistics Solutions consists of a team of professional methodologists and statisticians that can assist the student or professional researcher in administering the survey instrument, collecting the data, conducting the analyses and explaining the results.

For additional information on these services, click here.

References:

Boyatzis, R.E., Goleman, D., & Rhee, K. (1999). Clustering competence in emotional intelligence: Insights from the Emotional Competence Inventory (ECI). In R. Bar-On & J.D. Parker (Eds.), Handbook of Emotional Intelligence. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Boyatzis, R. E. & Sala, F. (in press). The assessment of emotional intelligence competencies. In Glenn Geher (Ed.), The measurement of emotional intelligence. Hauppauge, NY: Nova Science Publishers.

Brizz, T. J. (2004). Parish vibrancy: A reflection of pastoral leadership on parishioner support and parishioner satisfaction. Unpublished Research Thesis. Cleveland: Case Western Reserve University.

Burckle, M. (2000). ECI and MBTI, Hay/McBer Research Report.

Byrne, J. C. (2003). The role of emotional intelligence in predicting leadership and related work behavior. Hoboken: Stevens Institute of Technology, Technology Management.

Byrne, J. C., Dominick, P. G., Smither, J. W. & Reilly, R. R. (2007). Examination of the discriminant, convergent, and criterion-related validity of self-ratings on the emotional competence inventory. International Journal of Selection and Assessment, 15(3), 341-353.

Carulli & Com (2003). A study of emotional intelligence and organizational leadership in Asia Pacific. Unpublished Master’s Thesis. University of Hull.

Cavallo, K. & Brienza, D. (2002). Emotional competence and leadership excellence at Johnson & Johnson: The emotional intelligence and leadership study. New Brunswick, NJ: Consortium for Research on Emotional Intelligence in Organizations, Rutgers University.

Goleman, D. (1998). Working with emotional intelligence. New York, Bantam Books. View

Hay Group, McClelland Center for Research and Innovation, & Wolff, S. B. (2005).The emotional competence inventory (ECI) technical manual. Retrieved on May 19, 2009 from: http://www.eiconsortium.org/pdf/ECI_2_0_Technical_Manual_v2.pdf

Hay/McBer (1996). Generic competency dictionary. Boston, Hay/McBer.

Hopkins, M. M., & Bilimoria, D. (in press). Social and emotional competencies predicting success for male and female executives. Journal of Management Development.

Humphrey, R. H., Sleeth, R. G. & Kellet, J. B. (2001). Emotional competence, complex task choice, and leadership emergence. Virginia Commonwealth University, School of Business. Unpublished Paper.

Koman, E. S., & Wolff, S. B. (in press). Emotional intelligence competencies in the team and team leader: A multi-level examination of the impact of emotional intelligence on team performance. Journal of Management Development.

Lloyd, M. (2001). Emotional intelligence and Bass Brewers Ltd. Unpublished Dissertation. Nottingham: Nottingham Business School.

Murensky, C. L. (2000). The relationships between emotional intelligence, personality, critical thinking ability and organizational leadership performance at upper levels of management. Unpublished Dissertation. George Mason University.

Nel (2001). An industrial psychological investigation into the relationship between emotional intelligence and performance in the call centre environment. Unpublished Master’s Thesis. University of Stellenbosch, Department of Industrial Psychology.

Offermann, L. R., Bailey, J. R., Vasilopoulos, N. L., Seal, C., & Sass, M. (2004). The relative contribution of emotional competence and cognitive ability to individual and team performance. Human Performance, 17(2), 219-243.

Sala, F. (2003). Leadership in education: Effective UK college principals. Nonprofit Management & Leadership 14(2): 171-189.

Sala, F. (2005). Making the business case: Emotional intelligence competencies and important business outcomes. In V. Druskat, F. Sala, & G. Mount (Eds.), Linking emotional intelligence and performance at work: Current research evidence. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Sevinc, L. (2001). The effect of emotional intelligence on career success: Research on the 1990 graduates of Business Administration Faculty of Istanbul University. Unpublished Master’s Thesis. Istanbul: Istanbul University.

Singh, S. K. (2007). Role of emotional intelligence in organizational learning: An empirical study. Singapore Management Review, 29(2), 55-74.

Singh, S. K. (2007). Emotional intelligence and organizational leadership: A gender study in Indian context. International Journal of Indian Culture and Business Management 1 (1/2), 48-63.

Stagg, G. & Gunter, D. (2002). Emotional intelligence in the fire service. London Fire Brigade. Unpublished Paper.

Stubbs, C. E. (2005). Emotional intelligence competencies in the team and team leader: A multi-level examination of the impact of emotional intelligence on group performance. Unpublished Dissertation. Cleveland: Case Western Reserve University, Organizational Behavior.

VanSickle, J. L. (2004). The relationship between emotional intelligence and coaching effectiveness in Division I head softball coaches. Unpublished Dissertation. Lexington, KY: University of Kentucky, College of Education.

Welpe, I., Tumasjan, A., Stich, J., Spörrle, M. & Försterling, F. (2005). Emotional Intelligence and its consequences for occupational and life satisfaction: Emotional Intelligence in the context of irrational beliefs. 47th conference of experimentally working psychologists. Lengerich: Pabst Science Publishers.

Zadel, A. (2004). Impact of personality and emotional intelligence on successful training in competences. Unpublished Paper.