Emotional intelligence and subjective well-being revisited

This study aims at extending previous research on the predictive validity of “maximum performance” measures of emotional intelligence (EI) in relation to cognitive and affective facets of well-being, by way of a prospective research design. Participants were 202 Israeli adolescents who were administered the following three predictor measures at time one: (a) the MSCEIT, an ability-based measure of EI, (b) the OCEANIC, a measure of the “Big-Five” factors of personality, and (c) the Vocabulary subtest of the WISC-R, as measure of verbal ability. At time two, data were gathered on cognitive and affective facets of well-being, as criterion measures. Overall, the MSCEIT failed to demonstrate predictive validity against affective criterion. The null outcomes were discussed and explicated.