When Emotional Intelligence Affects Peoples' Perception of Trustworthiness

The Open Psychology Journal, 2015, 8, 160-170

11 Pages Posted: 2 Jan 2016

See all articles by Wing-Shing Lee

Wing-Shing Lee

Norwegian School of Economics (NHH) - Department of Business and Management Science

Marcus Selart

Norwegian School of Economics (NHH) - Department of Strategy and Management

Date Written: January 2, 2016

Abstract

By adopting social exchange theory and the affect-infusion-model, the hypothesis is made that emotional intelligence (EI) will have an impact on three perceptions of trustworthiness – ability, integrity and benevolence – at the beginning of a relationship. It was also hypothesized that additional information would gradually displace EI in forming the above perceptions. The results reveal that EI initially does not contribute to any of the perceptions of trustworthiness. As more information is revealed EI has an impact on the perception of benevolence, but not on the perceptions of ability and integrity. This impact was observed to be negative when the nature of the information was negative. On the other hand, information alone was shown to have a significant impact on the perceptions of ability and integrity, but not on the perception of benevolence. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings are addressed.

Suggested Citation

Lee, Wing-Shing and Selart, Marcus, When Emotional Intelligence Affects Peoples' Perception of Trustworthiness (January 2, 2016). The Open Psychology Journal, 2015, 8, 160-170, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2710127

Wing-Shing Lee

Norwegian School of Economics (NHH) - Department of Business and Management Science ( email )

Helleveien 30
Bergen, NO-5045
Norway

Marcus Selart (Contact Author)

Norwegian School of Economics (NHH) - Department of Strategy and Management ( email )

Breiviksveien 40
N-5045 Bergen
Norway
+47 55 95 96 95 (Phone)

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