The Geneva Emotional Competence Test (GECo): An ability measure of workplace emotional intelligence

Schlegel, Katja; Mortillaro, Marcello (2019). The Geneva Emotional Competence Test (GECo): An ability measure of workplace emotional intelligence. Journal of applied psychology, 104(4), pp. 559-580. American Psychological Association 10.1037/apl0000365

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Emotional intelligence (EI) has been frequently studied as a predictor of work criteria, but disparate approaches to defining and measuring EI have produced rather inconsistent findings. The conceptualization of EI as an ability to be measured with performance-based tests is by many considered the most appropriate approach, but only few tests developed in this tradition exist, and none of them is designed to specifically assess EI in the workplace. The present research introduces the Geneva Emotional Competence test (GECo)—a new ability EI test measuring emotion recognition (assessed using video clips of actors), emotion understanding, emotion regulation in oneself, and emotion management in others (all assessed with situational judgment items of work-related scenarios). For the situational judgment items, correct and incorrect response options were developed using established theories from the emotion and organizational field. Five studies (total N = 888) showed that all subtests had high measurement precision (as assessed with Item Response Theory), and correlated in expected ways with other EI tests, cognitive intelligence, personality, and demographic variables. Further, the GECo predicted performance in computerized assessment center tasks in a sample of professionals, and explained academic performance in students incrementally above another ability EI test. Because of its theory-based scoring, good psychometric properties, and focus on the workplace, the GECo represents a promising tool for studying the role of four major EI components in organizational outcomes.

Item Type:	Journal Article (Original Article)
Division/Institute:	07 Faculty of Human Sciences > Institute of Psychology 07 Faculty of Human Sciences > Institute of Psychology > Personality Psychology, Differential Psychology and Diagnostics
UniBE Contributor:	Schlegel, Katja
Subjects:	100 Philosophy > 150 Psychology 300 Social sciences, sociology & anthropology > 370 Education
ISSN:	0021-9010
Publisher:	American Psychological Association
Language:	English
Submitter:	Karin Dubler
Date Deposited:	13 May 2019 10:41
Last Modified:	05 Dec 2022 15:27
Publisher DOI:	10.1037/apl0000365
PubMed ID:	30346195
URI:	https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/127833