Working with Emotionally Intelligent People: I am ‘Energized to’ be More Proactive

Emotional intelligence (EI) refers to the ability to handle emotions and emotional issues. Emotions are inherently social. However, EI research has predominantly focused on the effect of EI on individuals' own outcomes. We are keen on the knowledge about the interpersonal process of EI. That is, how others' EI influences a focal individual in a team context. Using the theory of EI (Mayer, & Salovey, 1997), and the model of proactive motivation (Parker, Bindl, & Strauss, 2010), we propose a conceptual model to explain how team composition of EI influences a focal employee's positive and negative affect, which in turn influences his/her proactive behaviour. Additionally, we suggest the focal employee's EI is an important condition to both the link between team composition of EI and the focal employee's affect and the link between affect and proactivity. The proposed model aims to enlighten future research on the interpersonal processes of EI and proactivity in workplaces.