Emotional Intelligence and Emotional Responses to Hypothetical and Actual Frustrating Stressors

TLDR

The authors examined the link between ability‑based EI (MSCEIT) and initial emotional responses in two studies, one with imagined frustrating scenarios and one with actual experiences. Both studies found that higher MSCEIT scores predicted greater self‑reported frustration, indicating that individuals with higher EI react more intensely to frustrating stressors.

Abstract

The relationship between emotional intelligence (EI)measured as an ability and an individual's initial emotional responses to hypothetical and actual frustrating stressors was examined in 2 studies. In Study 1, participants imagined they had to repeat an experiment due to an error by the experimenter. In Study 2, participants experienced the situation described in Study 1. In both studies, higher scores on the MSCEIT, an ability-based measure of EI, were associated with greater self-reported frustration. The present studies provide the first step in understanding how individuals high in EI react to frustrating stressors.