Measuring social and emotional intelligence competencies in the Indian context

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to determine the cross‐cultural reliability and validity of the Emotional Competence Inventory (ECI‐2) in a cross‐cultural context. Design/methodology/approach – Using a competency‐based approach to social and emotional intelligence (EI), the paper presents data on Indian managers from the manufacturing and service industries collected using self‐report and multi‐rater assessments. Factor analysis explored the latent structure of social and emotional intelligence competencies on the Indian sample. Divergent validity was assessed using a Stress Personality test. Internal reliability of the ECI‐2 was also determined for a sample of 400 Indian managers. Findings – A two‐factor structure has emerged in the cross‐cultural context similar to the latent structure of the construct explored by the test developers of the ECI‐2. However, six items did not have significant loading. ECI‐2 has been found to have statistically significant reliability coefficient and divergent validity with Stress Personality test on the Indian sample. Research limitations/implications – The competency‐based approach to emotional and social intelligence, with a two‐factor structure, has found empirical evidence on the managerial sample in the Indian context. Future research can test this on other professional groups. Norms can be developed for various professional groups using a competency‐based framework of EI. Practical implications – ECI‐2 can be used with modification based on the findings for talent management, employee development, counseling and succession planning for Indian managers. Originality/value – Cross‐cultural validation, in the Indian context, of a competency‐based framework of emotional and social intelligence and its measure is useful for researchers and practitioners and for professional and leadership development of managers.