Thomas Rhys Evans ab6443@coventry.ac.uk @ThomasRhysEvans Trait Emotional Intelligence and the Antecedents, Communication and Impact of Workplace Frustration Sophie Ward ab6179@coventry.ac.uk @SophieMBPsS Thomas Rhys Evans ab6443@coventry.ac.uk @ThomasRhysEvans Dr Gail Steptoe-Warren hsx566@coventry.ac.uk @GailMSC

Workplace Frustration Counterproductive work behaviours… account for ten-percent of productivity (Belot and Schröder 2013) explain nearly twenty-percent of failed businesses (Coffin 2003) may be committed by nearly 90% of employees (Boye and Wasserman 1996)

Dollard’s Frustration-Aggression Hypotheses/ Spector’s Model of Frustration Goal

Dollard’s Frustration-Aggression Hypotheses/ Spector’s Model of Frustration Goal

Dollard’s Frustration-Aggression Hypotheses/ Spector’s Model of Frustration Goal Frustration

Dollard’s Frustration-Aggression Hypotheses/ Spector’s Model of Frustration Goal Frustration Aggression

Dollard’s Frustration-Aggression Hypotheses/ Spector’s Model of Frustration Performance Inhibition or Deviance Change Goal Achievement Method Goal Frustration Aggression Physical or Psychological Withdrawal Organisational/Interpersonal Aggression

Individual Differences and Frustration State anger related to organisation-directed counterproductive work behaviours Trait anger related to interpersonal-directed counterproductive work behaviour (Fox and Spector 1999)

Individual Differences and Frustration Reio (2011) found emotional-stability and thrill-seeking significantly predictive of frustration frequency

EI and Workplace Frustration Ability Trait Competency Yoo and Salovey (2009) found individuals higher in emotional intelligence ability reported greater levels of frustration after reading about, and experiencing, a frustrating event

Trait EI and Workplace Frustration Trait emotional intelligence is a collection of ‘emotion-related traits and self-perceived abilities’ (Petrides and Furnham 2006:553) Kahn-Greene et al. (2006) found trait emotional intelligence to mediate the relationship between sleep deprivation and response to frustration

Participants and Method 60 P’s, all 18 years+ and currently employed Predominantly female (46), single (45), educated to undergraduate level (39) with full-time work (34) Participants completed the TEIQue (Petrides & Furnham, 2003) before questions about their general reaction to frustration, and a specific recent or memorable frustrating event at work

Predicting Frustration Frequency Demographics: Months Education Level Sex Work Type (PT/FT) Marital Status Age Trait EI Facets: Self-Control Emotionality Trait EI Total Well-Being Sociability Well-being (comprised of self-esteem, trait happiness and trait optimism scales) (B = -.49) the only significant contribution, predicting 24% of variance

Predicting Frustration Intensity Demographics: Months Education Level Sex Work Type (PT/FT) Marital Status Age Trait EI Facets: Self-Control Emotionality Trait EI Total Well-Being Sociability Total EI score (B = .93), well-being (B = -.76) and self-control (comprised of emotion regulation, impulsivity and stress-management) (B = -.66), predicting 28% of variance

Relationship between EI facets and causes of frustration Controlling for the degree of contact with the group in question No significant relationships between EI facets and: equipment other/senior management co-workers lower-ranked employees products/physical items as the cause of frustration

Relationship between EI facets and Line Managers as a cause of frustration Significant relationships between line managers causing frustration and… Well-being (r = -.31, p = .02) Self-control (r = -.26, p = .04)

Relationship between EI facets and customers as a cause of frustration Significant relationships between customers causing frustration and… EI total score (r = -.27, p = .04) Well-being (r = -.26, p = .05) Emotionality (comprised of emo appraisal, emo expression, relationship skills and trait empathy) (r = -.27, p = .04)

EI and Frustration Communication Total EI and texting (r = -.26, p = .04) Well-being and texting (r = -.28, p = .03) Sociability and Social media (r = -.33, p = .01) No significant relationships with calling, emailing or talking

EI and Communicating Frustration Sociability and communicating frustrations with co-workers (r = .35, p = .01) Sociability and communicating frustrations with line managers (r = .35, p = .01) Sociability and communicating frustrations with other/senior managers (r = .36, p = .01)

EI and Communicating Frustration Self-control and communicating frustrations with strangers (r = -.34, p = .01) No relationships between EI facets and communication with customers or lower-ranked employees

Predicting the Future… Breaking Away Demographics: Months Education Level Sex Work Type (PT/FT) Marital Status Age Trait EI Facets: Self-Control Emotionality Trait EI Total Well-Being Sociability Self control (B = -.39) was the only significant contribution, predicting 16% of variance

Predicting the Future… Breaking Down Demographics: Months Education Level Sex Work Type (PT/FT) Marital Status Age Trait EI Facets: Self-Control Emotionality Trait EI Total Well-Being Sociability Total EI (B = -.36) and age (B = -.23) provided significant contributions, predicting 19% of variance

Predicting the Future… Breaking Through Demographics: Months Education Level Sex Work Type (PT/FT) Marital Status Age Trait EI Facets: Self-Control Emotionality Trait EI Total Well-Being Sociability Education (B = .36) provided the only significant contribution, predicting 13% of variance

Discussion EI appears important for many aspects of frustration and could be a valuable field for training/development or recruitment should further results corroborate findings Small sample – work is on-going to gain a large diverse sample for more detailed and contextualised analyses

Thomas Rhys Evans ab6443@coventry.ac.uk @ThomasRhysEvans Trait Emotional Intelligence and the Antecedents, Communication and Impact of Workplace Frustration Sophie Ward ab6179@coventry.ac.uk @SophieMBPsS Thomas Rhys Evans ab6443@coventry.ac.uk @ThomasRhysEvans Dr Gail Steptoe-Warren hsx566@coventry.ac.uk @GailMSC