Incremental validity of the Mayer–Salovey–Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test Version 2.0 (MSCEIT) after controlling for personality and intelligence

Abstract

This study examined the incremental validity of the Mayer–Salovey–Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test Version 2.0 after controlling for general cognitive ability and the Big 5 personality factors. The criterion measures used were academic achievement, psychological well-being, peer attachment, positive relations with others, and alcohol use. Results of these analyses suggest that emotional intelligence (EI) explains a significant and moderate to large amount of unique variance for alcohol use and positive relations with others after controlling for cognitive ability and personality. Implications of these results for theory and future research on the ability model of EI are discussed.