Managing own and others' emotions: A weekly diary study on the enactment of emotional intelligence

The present study tests a process model of emotional intelligence (EI) which distinguishes how individuals deal with their own and others' emotions during work – from week to week. Using dynamic EI theory, we hypothesize that the appraisal of self-emotions versus other-emotions elicits different emotion management strategies, respectively proactively seeking social job resources (job crafting) or self- or other-focused emotion regulation. These strategies, in turn, are expected to affect one's level of energy and active learning behavior. In addition, we predict that self-focused emotion regulation qualifies these self- and other-focused EI processes. Multilevel path analyses of 638 weekly diaries filled out by 226 trainees revealed that weekly appraisal of others' emotions was positively related to weekly active learning, through (a) other-focused emotion regulation and (b) crafting social job resources. Further, weekly appraisal of trainees' own emotions was positively related to their weekly level of energy, through (a) self-focused emotion regulation and (b) crafting social job resources. Consistent with the proposed model, the appraisal of own emotions only fostered job crafting when trainees regulated their emotions. These findings contribute to the literature by showing the enactment of EI during weekly working life.