The ability to influence others via emotion displays

Abstract

We propose a new dimension of emotional intelligence (EI) that is particularly relevant in organizational settings: the ability to influence others via emotion displays. In this article, we first describe social functional accounts of emotions and the evidence supporting social effects of emotions. Then, we propose that individuals differ in the degree to which they can influence the behaviors, attitudes, and emotions of others via their emotion displays, and we demonstrate that this individual variation meets the criteria for an emotional ability. We articulate the mechanisms by which the ability to influence others via emotion displays is related to competence in organizational settings. In addition, we develop propositions about factors that moderate the effect of this ability on competence. We describe the research implications of our model.