Across contexts comparison of emotional intelligence competencies: A discovery of gender differences

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.