Emotional Intelligence and Psychological Distress: Testing the Mediatory Role of Affectivity

The study tested the extent to which positive and negative affect at work mediate emotional intelligence effects on psychological distress. Participants were 200 middle-level managers who completed the Wong and Law Emotional Intelligence Scale, 20-item affectivity scale, and a measure of psychological distress. Results using covariance based structural equation modeling indicated that only negative affect fully mediated the relationship between emotional intelligence and psychological distress. Furthermore, the direct effect of emotional intelligence was stronger for positive affect as compared to its influence on negative affect. Finally, negative affect had a significant direct influence on psychological distress, whereas the relationship between positive affect and psychological distress was insignificant.