Does Social and Organizational Support Moderate Emotional Intelligence Training Effectiveness?

Abstract

Given the dearth of systematic research and inconclusive results regarding the effectiveness of emotional intelligence (EI) training in adult training, this study was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of EI training. This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of EI training on learning and transfer outcomes, considering underexplored moderation of social and organizational support with experimental and longitudinal research design. Training transfer was measured through changes in organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) and counterproductive work behavior (CWB). Participants self-assessed their OCB and CWB levels, while their supervisors also provided evaluations, allowing for separate analysis. Data, from a sample comprising 176 government officials, were collected across different periods and analyzed employing diverse analytical tools. The results revealed positive effects of EI training on training outcomes in both samples but positive moderation effect of social and organizational support on the effect of EI training on training outcomes was observed in the self-evaluation sample but not in the supervisor evaluation sample. The findings advance the debate on social exchange theory and organizational support theory by showing the boundary condition of their applicability. Furthermore, this study clarifies the impact of EI training on training outcomes by emphasizing the nuanced role of social and organizational support.