Trait emotional intelligence and social capital: The emotionally unintelligent may occasionally be better off

The relationship of trait emotional intelligence (EI) with workplace social capital was investigated in 172 individuals in middle and middle-upper organizational ranks. Social capital was operationalized as: mentoring provision for protégés, expressive networking ties, and instrumental network ties. Two out of the three identified relationships were quadratic. In particular, the relationship of mentoring provision and expressive network ties with EI were of U-shaped nature with overall positive linear trends, while that of instrumental network ties with EI was purely linear and positive. The findings suggest that though in most cases the strongest social capital is possessed by those with high scores on trait EI, low EI may also often offer advantages. Extant knowledge about trait EI is utilized to provide an account for the findings, while there is brief discussion of their implications for theory and future research.