Teaching emotional and social competencies: Efficacy of a work readiness program designed for vulnerable youth

Abstract

BACKGROUND:

As emotional and social competency training proliferates within a work readiness context, concerns remain regarding their efficacy. Data on these programs tends to be scarce and outcome objectives are often poorly defined.

OBJECTIVE:

Authors developed and tested a work readiness emotional and social competency program specifically designed for at-risk young adults, tailored with best practices in mind.

METHOD:

84 clients of a community organization that provides employment support to young adults with disabilities (48 men and 36 women) with a mean age of 28.17 years (SD = 11.64) completed measures of emotional intelligence and alexithymia on either side of the 4-week intervention.

RESULTS:

Men’s interpersonal scores and women’s adaptability scores showed significant improvement across the intervention. In addition, women’s scores in both identifying and describing feelings improved significantly, as did men’s scores in describing feelings.

CONCLUSIONS:

Within the context of work readiness, participants in an intervention to improve emotional and social competencies can see key improvements to competencies linked to occupational attainment.

Keywords

Emotional intelligence adolescent health work readiness

1 Introduction

A young adult’s initial transition into the workforce is a time of great instability and change. Important markers during this period include finding one’s first job, living independently and becoming financially self-sufficient. Achievement of these milestones allows an individual the opportunity for further growth. An employed young adult, for example, can begin to contemplate starting a family of his or her own and chart a pathway to psychosocial stability through the development of extended social networks and pursuit of life satisfaction. In the last few decades, however, this transitional process has become much more challenging [1]. Market globalization and a heightened premium on highly skilled labour place higher demands on new entrants. In addition, the accelerating pace of technological change has increased the number of barriers in the hiring process, frustrating job applicants. As a result, the initial transition into employment has become increasingly prolonged [2]. Not surprisingly, mental health outcomes associated with delayed onset of early employment have begun to manifest among populations of young adults [3].

There is an emerging literature, however, concerned with this transition and the repertoire of emotional and social competencies (ESCs) that promotes or helps this process. Known in the zeitgeist as emotional intelligence (EI), ESCs represent a constellation of dispositions, abilities and habits that pertain to an individual’s comprehension, perception and management of emotions in self and others [4]. Widely popularized in the 1990s, ESCs have deep roots in the academic literature. Well over a century ago, Charles Darwin spoke of the adaptive utility of emotions, drawing connections between evolution and emotional expression [5]. Fifty years later, Edward Thorndike would describe the concept of “social intelligence” as “the ability to understand and manage men and women ... to act wisely in human relations” [6]. More recently, Howard Gardner proposed his theory of multiple intelligences which included intra- and interpersonal abilities not traditionally associated with cognitive intelligence [7]. The idea that emotions may play a role in making good decisions and finding success in life has been an area of scholarly concern for some time.

The 1995 publication of Daniel Goleman’s popular book, Emotional Intelligence popularized the importance of ESCs [8]. The business community, in particular, latched on to Goleman’s ideas, fascinated by their implications for hiring, training and business improvements. Indeed, Time Magazine hailed Goleman’s work as one of the twenty-five most influential business management books of all time [9]. As the popularity of ESCs exploded, so too has the volume of serious scientific literature intent on exploring its value in predicting occupational success, from a variety of perspectives.

Mayer, Salovey and Caruso, for example, worked from the vantage that ESCs are stable traits, to be measured in the same manner as cognitive intelligence [10]. This group of researchers offered assessment tools that focus on objective, “right and wrong” responses to demonstrate emotional competence. The Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT) is an excellent example of an instrument that takes this approach. The MSCEIT breaks ESCs down into four discrete categories: perceiving emotions (recognizing emotional facial expressions), facilitating thought (interpreting emotional events and sensations), understanding emotions (recognizing emotional changes and nuances) and managing emotions (taking appropriate actions and relating appropriately to others). Collectively, these dimensions represent emotion-related self-perceptions and dispositions that are similar in structure to personality variables [11].

Other researchers have taken the position that ESCs are a dispositional construct representing a cross-section of emotional, personality, cognitive and motivational attributes [12]. These scholars turn to subjective, self-report instruments that can measure degrees of emotional competence. The Emotional Quotient Inventory (EQ-i), for example, decomposes ESCs into four different, ability-based dimensions that retain a high level of congruence with the MSCEIT [13]. They are intrapersonal abilities (consisting of related abilities like recognizing and labeling one’s own emotions), interpersonal abilities (consisting of related abilities like identifying emotions in others and empathy), adaptability (consisting of abilities like being able to adjust one’s emotions and behaviours to changing situations or conditions) and stress management abilities (consisting of abilities such as delaying or resisting an impulse). Although the trait and ability approaches to ESCs are very different, most researchers recognize that they are two valid perspectives that each describe the same construct [14, 15].

Possibly because of its many cross-discipline commercial applications, leadership ability has become an important target for many ESC researchers. May et al. [16], Sy et al. [17], Bono et al. [18] and Côte et al. [19] each studied the role of ESCs in leadership emergence, an important precursor to workplace success. In each case, researchers consistently found that leadership was more likely to manifest when an individual possessed higher levels of ESCs. In addition, these competencies have been implicated in successful job performance, resilience and well-being [20, 21]. Individuals who possess a better developed repertoire of ESCs tend to experience less stress, enjoy greater quality of interpersonal relationships, achieve higher occupational attainment and suffer from fewer mental and physical health problems [22 –24]. Perhaps more importantly, ESCs appear to enhance subjective feelings of competence in one’s career [25, 26], a disposition with important implications for a smoother transition into employment.

Part of this finding may have to do with certain aspects of work that pertain to emotional labour. According to O’Boyle, this occurs when employees present their emotional expression in a manner consistent with organizational display rules [23]. A funeral director, for example, would be ill-advised to tell jokes in front of customers; lawyers need to appear trustworthy. Many occupations require the ability to effectively modulate emotions and behaviours during the routine execution of duties. As one might expect, research shows higher levels of ESC predict better job performance in sales [27], hospitality [28], law enforcement [29] and finance positions [30]. ESCs, in fact, even come under scrutiny during an employment interview: observers tend to rate as significantly more competent those interviewees who can successfully suppress their emotions during the interaction [31].

While ESCs seem heavily implicated in occupational performance, however, considerable research demonstrates that there is a skills mismatch between organizational demand and candidate supply [32]. A recent report from Ryerson University identified that many North American employers are finding it difficult to source applicants with strong interpersonal skills and adaptability [33]. Furthermore, executive perception of this gap appears to be increasing [34], with many citing technological change as an important factor. Computers are able to replace many routine, repetitive or cognitive tasks, but so far at least, they cannot take the place of human interaction. As old jobs are lost to automation and new jobs emerge, ESCs appear to be the new currency that can satisfy employers’ resourcing demands [35].

Ironically, it is the emergence of technology that appears, in part, to be affecting the quality of these competencies in the repertoires of young people. The proliferation of the Internet into industrialized homes in recent decades seems to have resulted in a significant decline in person-to-person social involvement among peers [36]. As Internet use increases, research suggests that the size of one’s social circle, family communication, and social contact will all tend to decrease while incidents of loneliness and depression move in the opposite direction [37 –39]. Extreme presentations of this phenomenon have begun to manifest around the world in the form of hikikomori [40]. This is a form of severe social withdrawal associated with reclusive behaviour that includes avoiding situations that that carry responsibility such as school and work and lasts for at least six months [41]. Initially thought to be a uniquely Japanese phenomenon, this form of social withdrawal among the young has increasingly been observed in countries around the world. In particular, hikikomori seems to have emerged in response to the proliferation of the Internet and a global increase in precarious employment, accompanied by high familial expectations [42, 43].

Not surprisingly, these phenomena have raised questions about the employment readiness of new generations of workers. Paired with growing evidence that ESCs significantly contribute to success in today’s vocational pursuits, there has been a resulting increase in the implementation of psychoeducational programming to help to enhance these competencies in school-aged children to prepare them for later life [44 –46]. Nélis, for example, developed an intervention designed to improve participants’ management, regulation and understanding of emotions as well as the ability to communicate them and be open to emotional experiences [21]. Over a period of four weeks, her team presented participants with a collection of lectures, role-playing games, discussions and readings. Researchers expected participants to maintain a diary during the course of the program, in which they would record emotional experiences within the context of the lessons they had learned through each module. Nélis measured participants’ scores at the start and end of the program, and again six months after course completion. Between the first and last assessment, her team observed significant improvements to all competencies. That these improvements to test scores persisted six months after participants completed the intervention is especially important as it suggests the program was genuinely successful in its objectives, and not merely reflective of the group experience.

Nélis’ success demonstrates not only that participants can improve their ESCs, but that such training may carry lasting improvements. It is hardly surprising, then, that recent years have seen ESC-related programs become important tools for organizations and agencies providing employment services and support (e.g., work readiness programs) to young adults making the transition from high-school into the workforce [47, 48]. The priority for these programs is often “at-risk” youth [49, 50]: individuals who need help overcoming legal, mental health, learning problems, substance and/or family issues to secure entry level work (or to pursue skills training and/or post-secondary opportunities). A number of findings indicate that ESC training may be particularly beneficial for these types of at-risk individuals, since they often have impairments in multiple ESCs [51, 52].

While many of these psychoeducational programs have been created to develop and promote ESCs, empirical data is often lacking with respect to whether (and by how much) these programs improve specific competencies [53, 54]. When data is available, there is also a question of the relevance of the competencies under remediation within the context of the target audience [55]. Not all individuals necessarily require high levels of all ESCs to achieve success in their chosen profession. While most jobs tend to require workers to demonstrate basic interpersonal civility, there is evidence that human service professionals tend to require higher levels of outward emotional mastery, while physical labourers tend to require the ability to resist depersonalization [56]. Any program that seeks to develop ESCs, therefore, should have very clear objectives about the specific competencies it intends to remediate, and for whom it would be most beneficial. Further, as organizations rush to ride the popularity of ESC interventions and embed suitable curriculum into their programming, they may inadvertently overlook important environmental factors that facilitate training success [57]. These programs need to consider the context for delivery (e.g., work readiness) and embed related activities into their lesson plans. Finally, ESCs that are challenging for some students may be routine for others and vice versa. Facilitators need to be sensitive to individual needs while delivering group programming.

1.1 Present study

The present study sought to examine whether or not an ESC program, specifically designed for at-risk young adults and following best practices in psychoeducational training, could develop and enhance a cross-section of work-related ESCs. To this end, the authors worked with community partners to develop programming with a specific focus on improving deficits in emotional and social functioning that have been linked with poor resilience [58 –60]. Through case study discussions, our partners identified work readiness barriers associated with the following ESCs: 1) difficulties linking emotional experiences with a situational or environmental context, 2) difficulties coping with both immediate and sweeping stressors and 3) difficulties making decisions when presented with conflicting demands. Working from this baseline, the project team developed a series of modules intended to improve participant competencies within a work readiness context.

The authors developed the intervention with another important consideration: incorporating psychoeducational techniques developed for use with individuals experiencing low levels of ESCs. There is a rich, clinical literature in the alexithymia area surrounding techniques for working with such individuals [48, 61]. Many of these competencies are particularly amenable to small group intervention, although there are many practical issues and concerns that arise when using group intervention with individuals who have particularly low levels of ESCs [48]. As McCallum and Piper noted [62], the poor interpersonal skills of these individuals often generate boredom and frustration in other group members. These are behaviours our partners routinely observed in their clients. For this reason, the team took special care to address potential negative group experiences within the program and to both nurture beneficial group dynamics and lessen the likelihood that members would drop out.

2 Method

2.1 Participants and procedure

Participants consisted of 118 young adults with a mean age of 28.18 years (SD = 11.72) who participated in the psychoeducational program under evaluation. Various social agencies and organizations who work with the unemployed or at-risk youth referred these individuals. Once missing data (N = 18), failure to complete Time 2 data (N = 14) and extreme response cases (N = 2) were removed, 84 participants (48 men and 36 women) with a mean age of 28.17 years (SD = 11.64) with complete data remained.

2.2 Procedure

On the first day of the program (Time 1), participants completed two self-report measures and gave their consent to participate in the study. On the last day of the intervention (Time 2, four weeks from the program onset), participants completed the same self-report package of measures.

2.3 Measures

Participants completed the short form of the Emotional Quotient Inventory (EQ-i:S; [63]). This assessment tool provides scores for the four dimensions that make up the Bar-On EI model [13]. Ten items measure intrapersonal abilities, 10 items measure interpersonal abilities, 7 items measure adaptability and 10 items measure stress management. The sum of the scores on the four subscales provides a total emotional intelligence score, in which a high score reflects higher levels of EI.

To better examine the intrapersonal dimension of the EQ-i:S, participants also completed items from the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20; [64]), developed to measure alexithymia in adults. Two core dimensions of the alexithymia construct are useful in decomposing the Intrapersonal dimension of the EQ-i:S: 7 items assess symptoms associated with difficulty identifying feelings (DIF) and 5 items assess symptoms associated with difficulty describing feelings (DDF). Higher scores on DIF and DDF indicate poorer intrapersonal functioning. Both Schutte et al. [65] and Parker et al. [61] have acknowledged the inverse relationship between the TAS-20 and EI.

2.4 Intervention details

The EI-related program was developed to provide 72 hours of psychoeducational programming that focused on: 1) emotional self-awareness, 2) self-exploration, 3) coping with stress and 4) dealing with difficult people. Functionally, the intervention consists of 12 lesson plans, each approximately 6 hours in duration, delivered 3 days a week for 4 weeks by the same intervention specialist (with a background in behavior intervention and special education) assigned to the group. The program uses small groups with approximately 8–12 participants per session. The data used in this study came from 11 separate groups.

The psychoeducational program was developed to map directly onto a widely used model of emotional intelligence [13]. All lesson plans involved a range of small group activities and a wide range of strategies to help generalize acquired competencies from a group setting to situations in the community and at home. For example, the intrapersonal dimension from the target model [13], includes the notion of self-regard. To drive attention to this competency, participants are asked to identify their personal strengths and weaknesses and then discuss them in a group setting under facilitated conditions. As a group, participants will then discuss possible jobs that other group members could pursue with the attributes each participant identifies.

2.5 Statistical procedures

To examine the efficacy of the intervention, two repeated measures ANOVAs were conducted using mean-item scores for the various EQ-i:S and TAS-20 scales. The first analysis was a time (Time 1 vs. Time 2) by type of competency (Interpersonal vs. Intrapersonal vs. Adaptability vs. Stress management) repeated measures ANOVA with level of compe-tency as the dependent variable. The second analysis was a time (Time 1 vs. Time 2) by type of alexithy-mic dimension (DIF vs. DDF) repeated measures ANOVA with level of competency as the dependent variable. For significant main-effects and inter-actions, appropriate univariate analyses were conducted to help explain the results.

3 Results

3.1 Correlational analyses for the EQ-i:S and TAS-20

Table 1 presents the correlations between the EQ-i:S and TAS-20 variables collected at Time 1 and Time 2. In addition to an expected strong positive relationship with its own subscales, participants’ total EI scores demonstrated moderate to strong inverse relationships with DIF and DDF scores at both Times of the study. At Time 1, participants’ adaptability scores showed a moderate relationship with their intrapersonal skills. This relationship improved substantially by Time 2, at which point moderate relationships emerged between participants’ adaptability scores and interpersonal, stress management and DDF scores. Participants’ intrapersonal skills, interestingly, showed no relationship with DDF scores at Time 1 (although there was a moderate, inverse relationship with DIF scores). By Time 2, however, a moderate, inverse relationship emerged between participants’ intrapersonal scores and both DIF and DDF. In addition, participants’ Time 2 intrapersonal scores showed a moderate relationship with their stress management scores.

Table 1
Pearson product moment correlations among ESC variables at Time 1 and Time 2

Variable 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

1. Interpersonal skills – 0.10 0.58^* 0.16 0.60^* –0.25^* –0.37^*

2. Intrapersonal skills –0.15 – 0.25^* 0.45^* 0.68^* –0.49^* –0.49^*

3. Adaptability 0.32^* 0.10 – 0.22^* 0.75^* –0.14 –0.28^*

4. Stress management 0.06 0.51^* 0.18 – 0.66^* –0.59^* –0.41^*

5. Total emotional intelligence 0.54^* 0.54^* 0.70^* 0.67^* – –0.45^* –0.50^*

6. Difficulty identify feelings 0.00 –0.38^* –0.13 –0.51^* –0.39^* – 0.70^*

7. Difficulty describing feelings –0.40^* –0.14 –0.15 –0.32^* –0.41^* 0.51^* –

Variable	1	2	3	4	5	6	7
1. Interpersonal skills	–	0.10	0.58^*	0.16	0.60^*	–0.25^*	–0.37^*
2. Intrapersonal skills	–0.15	–	0.25^*	0.45^*	0.68^*	–0.49^*	–0.49^*
3. Adaptability	0.32^*	0.10	–	0.22^*	0.75^*	–0.14	–0.28^*
4. Stress management	0.06	0.51^*	0.18	–	0.66^*	–0.59^*	–0.41^*
5. Total emotional intelligence	0.54^*	0.54^*	0.70^*	0.67^*	–	–0.45^*	–0.50^*
6. Difficulty identify feelings	0.00	–0.38^*	–0.13	–0.51^*	–0.39^*	–	0.70^*
7. Difficulty describing feelings	–0.40^*	–0.14	–0.15	–0.32^*	–0.41^*	0.51^*	–

Note: Time 1 correlations are below the diagonal and Time 2 correlations are above.

Table 2 presents the correlations between Time 1 and Time 2 for the EQ-i:S and TAS-20 variables. Not surprisingly, test-retest correlations were reasonable across most scales, ranging from a low of 0.45 for DDF scores to a high of 0.69 for stress management scores. As was also expected, total EI scores demonstrated moderate to strong relationships with all scores at the opposite Time. Despite the lack of relationship between participants’ intrapersonal scores and DDF at Time 1, moderate to strong correlations emerged between intrapersonal scores and both DIF and DDF scores at the opposite Time.

Table 2

Pearson product moment correlations between Time 1 and Time 2 for ESC variables

Variable	1	2	3	4	5	6	7
1. Interpersonal skills	0.64^*	0.03	0.39^*	0.10	0.42^*	–0.10	–0.15
2. Intrapersonal skills	0.00	0.49^*	0.07	0.33^*	0.29^*	–0.51^*	–0.56^*
3. Adaptability	0.40^*	0.14	0.61^*	0.20	0.47^*	–0.25^*	–0.25^*
4. Stress management	0.10	0.29^*	0.22^*	0.69^*	0.43^*	–0.58^*	–0.41^*
5. Total emotional intelligence	0.50^*	0.36^*	0.55^*	0.51^*	0.66^*	–0.56^*	–0.54^*
6. Difficulty identify feelings	0.01	–0.59^*	–0.26^*	–0.62^*	–0.57^*	0.55^*	0.35^*
7. Difficulty describing feelings	–0.23^*	–0.49^*	–0.29^*	–0.43^*	–0.56^*	0.29^*	0.45^*

3.2 Testing the efficacy of the program

Means and standard deviations for the various EQ-i:S and TAS-20 measures are presented in Table 3, separately by time and gender. The time by type of competency by gender repeated measures ANOVA did not reveal a significant three-way effect. There were, however significant effects for time by type of competency, F(3,243) = 7.21, p < .001, and gender by type of competency, F(3,243) = 3.65, p < .05. Univariate tests (using contrast coefficients) revealed significant improvements for men’s interpersonal scores, F(1,83) = 15.65, p < .001, and women’s adaptability scores, F(1,83) = 5.29, p < .05. Men’s adaptability scores, F(1,83) = 3.76, p = .06, and women’s intrapersonal scores, F(1,83) = 2.92, p = .09 approached significance. Men’s intrapersonal and stress management scores, as well as women’s interpersonal and stress management scores showed no significant improvement.

Table 3
Means and standard deviations for ESC variables by Time and gender

Time 1 Time 2

Variable Men Women Total Men Women Total

Interpersonal skills 3.25 (0.74) 3.63 (0.72) 3.40 (0.76) 3.59 (0.54) 3.77 (0.67) 3.65 (0.60)

Intrapersonal skills 3.22 (0.53) 3.24 (0.81) 3.24 (0.67) 3.23 (0.66) 3.05 (0.71) 3.15 (0.68)

Adaptability 3.42 (0.71) 3.16 (0.89) 3.30 (0.80) 3.60 (0.66) 3.42 (0.73) 3.52 (0.69)

Stress management 3.29 (0.68) 3.20 (0.61) 3.25 (0.65) 3.26 (0.66) 3.13 (0.57) 3.21 (0.62)

Total emotional intelligence 3.29 (0.46) 3.31 (0.43) 3.30 (0.44) 3.41 (0.44) 3.30 (0.50) 3.36 (0.47)

Difficulty identify feelings 2.69 (0.64) 3.09 (0.79) 2.85 (0.73) 2.67 (0.80) 2.73 (0.78) 2.70 (0.78)

Difficulty describing feelings 3.18 (0.73) 3.56 (0.85) 3.35 (0.80) 2.95 (0.76) 3.00 (0.93) 2.97 (0.83)

	Time 1	Time 2
Interpersonal skills	3.25 (0.74)	3.63 (0.72)	3.40 (0.76)	3.59 (0.54)	3.77 (0.67)	3.65 (0.60)
Intrapersonal skills	3.22 (0.53)	3.24 (0.81)	3.24 (0.67)	3.23 (0.66)	3.05 (0.71)	3.15 (0.68)
Adaptability	3.42 (0.71)	3.16 (0.89)	3.30 (0.80)	3.60 (0.66)	3.42 (0.73)	3.52 (0.69)
Stress management	3.29 (0.68)	3.20 (0.61)	3.25 (0.65)	3.26 (0.66)	3.13 (0.57)	3.21 (0.62)
Total emotional intelligence	3.29 (0.46)	3.31 (0.43)	3.30 (0.44)	3.41 (0.44)	3.30 (0.50)	3.36 (0.47)
Difficulty identify feelings	2.69 (0.64)	3.09 (0.79)	2.85 (0.73)	2.67 (0.80)	2.73 (0.78)	2.70 (0.78)
Difficulty describing feelings	3.18 (0.73)	3.56 (0.85)	3.35 (0.80)	2.95 (0.76)	3.00 (0.93)	2.97 (0.83)

On the other hand, the time by type of alexithymic dimension by gender repeated measures ANOVA revealed a significant three-way effect, F(3,243) = 7.04, p = .001, as well as effects for time by type of alexithymic dimension, F(3,243) = 4.20, p < .05, and type of alexithymic dimension by gender, F(3,243) = 7.14, p = .001. Men’s DDF scores, F(1,83) = 3.85, p = .05 along with women’s DIF, F(1,83) = 9.24, p < .001, and DDF scores, F(1,83) = 15.36, p < .001, improved significantly. Men’s DIF scores showed no change.

4 Discussion

4.1 Testing the impact of the ESC programming

This study sought to test whether or not ESC programming could improve a number of core ESCs in at-risk young adults. Our results suggest that such an intervention is effective at improving several specific competencies. First of all, program participants became more competent at reflecting on their own feelings, as well as identifying and communicating them. Second, the women in our study learned to more effectively modulate their emotional responses to changing conditions and events. Finally, our male participants developed enhanced interpersonal skills following the intervention.

Students’ TAS-20 score improvements suggest that psychoeducational programs designed to improve emotional intelligence can be successful in helping work readiness clients develop a broader awareness of emotional experiences, as well as more nuanced emotion-related vocabulary with which to pinpoint, recognize and communicate specific feelings and emotional experiences. The present intervention placed emphasis on self-regard, emotional self-awareness and self-actualization; thus, this finding should not be surprising. Two of the TAS-20 subcomponents, however, difficulty identifying and describing feelings are essentially subcomponents of the intrapersonal dimension of the EQ-i:S, whose differences were not significant in the current study. Perhaps the items on the EQ-i:S (10 compared to 40 on the full version of the EQ-i) are not sufficiently detailed to capture the extent of changes to intrapersonal functioning that the intervention targets. Keefer suggests that failure to factor the multi-dimensionality of key variables can result in conflicting validity results for individual participants [66]. While the EQ-i:S is a multi-dimensional test, its discrimination between the nuances of intrapersonal competencies may yet be insufficient.

The present study’s overall results are consistent with Nélis et al., who noted a significant decrease in alexithymia after a similar intervention program [21]. After their program was complete, Nélis observed that certain traits (e.g., alexithymia) once thought to be quite stable could be improved with the right training. Indeed, improvements to alexithymia scores in Nélis’ cohort persisted up to six months post-intervention, suggesting important internalization of the offered curriculum.

In addition to intrapersonal improvements, our female participants also had significantly improved adaptability scores. This is somewhat surprising because, of the four dimensions the EQ-i:S measures, adaptability received the least amount of explicit coverage within the present intervention program. This disparity warrants closer investigation. According to the EQ-i, the components of adaptability include reality testing, problem solving and flexibility. Mayer et al. contend that these components represent cognitive as opposed to non-cognitive skills [10] and thus may be easier to acquire than some of the nuanced, more complex constructs such as interpersonal relatedness [67]. Perhaps, by modeling adaptive behaviours and offering simple, emotion-based problems to solve, ESC curricula can provide participants with the building blocks they need to feel confident when presented with a difficult situation.

Finally, men’s interpersonal skills also showed significant improvement. It is worth noting that the men’s Time 1 interpersonal scores were significantly lower than corresponding women’s scores. This result suggests the presence of a pre-intervention interpersonal deficit in our male participants and is consistent with Hall and Most, who note a tendency for women to have stronger interpersonal perceptions than men [68]. Lopez-Zafra and Gartzia further identify that gender stereotypes often appear to influence self-reported ESC measures [69]. The intervention used in the present study does include several group exercises that ask students to explore gender stereotypes between emotional skills. Perhaps these discussions are sufficient to alter one’s self-perceptions enough to bring their interpersonal awareness closer to the level enjoyed by their female counterparts.

4.2 Stability of ESC

The focus of the discussion up to this point has been on the presence or absence of mean level improvements to individual ESC scores. However, the test-retest correlations for the various EQ-i:S and TAS-20 measures are worthy of some commentary. All of the scales on both instruments demonstrated a strong temporal stability. This suggests that, regardless of the potential for malleability, both emotional intelligence and alexithymia remain stable, personality-like constructs.

The literature lends considerable support to this finding. In a 3-month study assessing the psychometric properties of the TAS-20, Kooiman et al. found moderate to strong test-retest correlations for each subscale [70]. Honkalampi et al. had similar results in a 1-year examination of alexithymia’s relationship with depression [71]. Based on their results, the latter research team posited that, in general, alexithymia was a stable trait. They noted, however, that the presentation of alexithymia also appeared to be state dependent and highly influenced by depressive symptoms. This suggests that, under the right set of conditions, this construct may possess some malleability. Honkalampi’s finding helps to shed some light on the present results showing significant improvements in alexithymia scores post-intervention, while relative correlations still remained high.

Understanding the temporal stability of the EQ-i:S is a little more complicated. Different conceptual models for the EI construct have different implications for temporal stability. For example, trait models suggest that EI is a collection of emotion-related dispositions that remain reasonably constant across a person’s life. According to Petrides, the EI construct is located in the lower levels of both the Eysenckian and Big Five personality taxonomies [72]. Considerable research vouches for the stability of these two personality models [73 –75]. Ability models for EI on the other hand, suggest that the temporal stability for ESC may be lower [10, 13].

In a study investigating the transition into young adulthood, Parker et al. [61] collected 32-month test-retest data for the EQ-i:S with 238 undergraduate students. As with the present research, Parker found high test-retest correlations for each of the four dimensions (ranging from 0.43 to 0.75) as well as the total EI scores (0.56), noting that these results were consistent with such correlations reported for variables of basic personality over comparable time periods. These results may suggest that the malleability of EI shares certain features with that of alexithymia. Specifically, that EI may temporally remain stable on its own, yet still be subject to external influence.

4.3 Implications for work readiness

These are welcome findings for employers. As mentioned above, hiring managers cite interpersonal skills and adaptability (both of which showed improvements across the present intervention) as two key competencies that are notably lacking in today’s job applicants. In addition, the affective dimensions of alexithymia (which also improved across the intervention) have been associated with unemployment [76], increased illness behaviour [77] and asocial personality profiles (e.g., low agreeableness, low conscientiousness, high neuroticism) [78], none of which bode well for the employability of job applicants. Any program that can improve each of these competencies in a job applicant is likely to result in substantial improvements to that individual’s attractiveness to potential employers.

Interpersonal skills, for example, are especially sought after in today’s marketplace. In a recent meta-analysis of industry competency frameworks, Cerezo-Narvaez et al. identified eight distinct skills that depended upon the ability to work well with others: 1) the research team found that today’s worker needs to pay attention to diversity, given the global playing field that we now work upon; 2) employees needed to be able to cooperate with one another, even under conditions where they do not agree; 3) customer service remains an important skill across virtually every job; 4) workers must be able to influence or persuade others to come around to their way of thinking, especially in times of conflict; 5) many jobs require the ability to market solutions or think work-related problems through from another’s perspective; 6) mentoring and training new staff are perennially important as employees acquire knowledge; 7) resources must be able to negotiate effectively in multiple situations; and 8) workers must demonstrate effective teamwork. Modules associated with each of these items appear in the present intervention.

While interpersonal skills are crucial in an individual’s ability to interact with and manage others, adaptability offers an employee the ability to effectively cope with ever-changing conditions. Clarkson et al. noted that novice workers seemed to face exceptional difficulty adjusting to a new job environment [80]. Through interviews with the organizations in their study, the researchers found that many new employees were unwilling to take their jobs seriously or ask questions when they were uncertain about instructions. Differences in environments from school to work also created problems for many of the cases they reviewed. Conversely, research also suggests that novice workers are prone to struggle with overwhelming emotions around the volume of new material they must acquire [81, 82] and may compensate by working longer hours and exposing themselves to ill health [83]. Previous studies suggest that these risk factors can be at least partially ameliorated through the higher adaptability skills that the present intervention seems to promote and develop [84, 85].

Finally, the abilities to identify and describe feelings have important implications for an individual’s employment readiness. In addition to the maladaptive behaviours and dispositions associated with the affective dimensions of alexithymia, research suggests that the inability to identify or describe feelings is associated with higher incidents of stress [86] and occupational burnout [87]. Lower scores on these two dimensions, however, present the opposite story. Individuals who can effectively identify and express emotional information to themselves and others demonstrate higher levels of self-awareness [88] and self-regard [89]. Both of these constructs have been positively linked to job satisfaction [90] and employee retention [91]. Because of these findings, the present intervention spends considerable time addressing concepts such as emotional vocabulary, emotional intensity and respectful exploration and expression of feelings to others.

4.4 Limitations and future directions

The encouraging results of this study strongly warrant a longer follow-up to find out whether participants continue to display higher levels of adaptability, interpersonal skills and emotional identification and expression. Such a longitudinal approach would align with other studies [21, 92] that were able to demonstrate continued program efficacy up to six months following their completion. From an application perspective, such results could help to maximize the efficacy of follow-up coaching efforts. Researchers, however, should proceed along these lines with caution. Dacre-Pool et al., who implemented similar intervention programs (and discovered similar results), noted that the most popular research tool in measuring ESC improvements is self-assessment. As participants acquire more knowledge over the course of the program, their results may be indicative not of genuine improvements to their ESCs, but an acknowledgement of the “right” answers. They advocate for the inclusion of peer or observer ratings pre- and post-intervention to improve the confidence in any results [93].

Replicating the study with a different cohort would also provide value. In such an event, however, it would be highly recommended to expand outcome measures. The incongruities we observed between scores on the EQ-i:S and TAS-20 suggest that a broader cross-section of relevant ESC-related measures may be useful in building a more complete picture of participants’ competencies. In addition, the EQ-i:S used in the present study is a very narrow version (51 rather than 133 items) of the long form of the assessment and may not go deep enough in terms of measuring participants’ ESC functioning [94]. Although a longer assessment tool (thus taking longer to administer), the full version of the EQ-i may better address the complex multidimensional constructs under evaluation.

As for the design of the intervention itself, Freshwater and Stickley raised a reasonable concern that instructors of ESC interventions may unduly influence participants depending on their ESC levels [57]. In the case of the present study, the authors jointly developed the program and have a vested interest in its success. We must acknowledge, however, that without appropriate measures or bases of comparison, it is not possible to separate the influence of the instructor from the intervention effects of the program’s curriculum. Future studies may wish to control for some of these potential confounds (e.g., randomizing participants to wait-list control groups and using multiple instructors).

A larger, gender-diverse sample size may also be of benefit in future studies with ESC interventions. Virtually all similar research acknowledges important gender differences [4 , 95]. A larger sample with equal numbers of men and women could have yielded further differences that invite some important questions. For example, we are left to wonder if there may have been gender-modeling effects between the female participants and the instructor, who was also a woman. There is precedent to suggest that a same-sex instructor can influence female student interest and attention positively or negatively depending on the subject matter [96]. In an investigation into the role of trait emotional intelligence in a gender-specific model of organizational variables, Petrides and Furnham acknowledge invalid cultural perceptions that women are more likely to possess higher levels of ESCs [97]. Future research may wish to control for these biases and investigate whether or not they play a role in how participants rate their own ESCs before and after an intervention of this nature.

Conflict of interest

None to report.

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