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E- Thank you for this. This is what I am considering at present: to  take into account the impact that Covid is having on the LM. Is there currently enough evidence and statistics to support this?

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E- Thank you for this. This is what I am considering at present: to  take into account the impact that Covid is having on the LM. Is there currently enough evidence and statistics to support this?

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I am now considering looking potentially at young people as opposed to adults. As the research that I have done so far, has led me to ask different questions around this area.

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E -Assessing Emotional Intelligence link was very interesting and presented some interesting ideas. Thank you. 

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E -Assessing Emotional Intelligence link was very interesting and presented some interesting ideas. Thank you. 

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You could use this in part as a means of measuring. However, it would also depend on researching and understanding the need for the piece of research. What has been done, what needs to be done, which leads on to where is the gap in the research.
I think looking at what exists and what questions have not been explored or answered is a key way of measuring this?

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E The Adson Personality Test is very interesting! It does make you consider personality testing and consider face validity.

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E The Adson Personality Test is very interesting! It does make you consider personality testing and consider face validity.

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My topic is somewhat determined by discussions with employer, who are part funding this module.  I want to focus on virtual engagement,  This is I am coming to realise is actually a bigger topic than I first thought. Meet the Employer Webinars, Virtual Careers Fairs, In house / external / Group engagement or one-to-one appointments, getting their attention in the first place etc
MEETING CHANGING ASPIRATIONS VIRTUALLY TOO?

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We base everything we do on evidence and we share our analysis and insight widely, with government, media, education and the engineering community.

Research

For more than 20 years, we've undertaken comprehensive research into the state of engineering in the UK - providing a detailed examination of engineering's economic contribution and the composition of its workforce, as well as the extent to which the supply through education and training pathways is likely to meet future needs and demand for engineering skills. This flagship research, once produced as a single report, is now available in a range of formats, providing the most up-to-date analysis.

Additionally, we regularly measure public perceptions of engineers and engineering and produce regular research reports, briefings and interactive dashboards.

Our research covers a range of themes:

Evaluation

We want our work with young people to make a difference, so we evaluate all our activity and use those learnings to iterate activity so our engagements have as much impact as possible. We also share our evaluation tools to support activity across the engineering community.

It is through this evaluation that we can see the extent to which we are winning hearts and changing minds through our programmes, with positive impacts on young people's understanding of what engineers do, their perceptions of engineering careers and whether they would know how to become an engineer if they wanted to. We also see how much they view engineering as a career for both boys and girls.

We know from this work that young people who meet an engineer (and know they have done so) have higher levels of knowledge of what people working in engineering do and a more positive attitude to engineering careers.

Policy and public affairs

We encourage collaboration across government, industry and education to ensure the UK has the engineering and technology skills and diversity of thought to deliver against our ambitions in terms of innovation, economic resilience, societal impact and sustainable living.

We analyse what enables, inspires or deters young people from choosing a career in engineering. We share those learnings widely, including with policy makers and politicians to give them a deeper understanding of the pathways to engineering, related enablers and blockers for young people and good practice for engagement activities, with a focus on increasing diversity in the engineering profession.

We work in partnership to broaden the collective reach of engineering inspiration, especially to groups underrepresented in the industry to help ensure the UK has the engineering workforce of the future it needs.

We drive and participate in inspirational campaigns which transform the perception of engineering of young people and their influencers.

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Expert research, data and analysis from EngineeringUK

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Comprehensive research and analysis of engineering workforce, educational pathways into engineering, diversity in engineering, perceptions of engineering careers, engineering careers provision and outreach. How to evaluate engineering outreach. Policy partnership, consultation responses and what the government needs to do to invest in the future engineering workforce.

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From my research today I have formulated a couple of potential research questions and started to consider key research questions for each.
Potential research question 1

To what extent does outcome driven performance impact on deployment of theory based practice to explore clients’ career development needs in a secondary school setting.
CONSIDER HOW OUTCOMES ARE DEFINED AND MEASURED IN CONTEXT - ARE THERE ANY ETHICAL ISSUES HERE - OR DO THESE ALIGN MORE CLOSELY WITH PARTICULAR THEORIES?
Expectations are for all students to have a planned progression route post 16 and there are specific deadlines to meet to have this information by to send to the DFE so this is a driver. Schools encourage students to apply early for post 16 destinations which means many students have already put in applications before they have their 1 to 1 interview. It would be interesting to explore if there are any differences in interview practice pre and post student applications. There are ethical issues when working within a secondary setting. You are employed by the school to deliver careers guidance pertinent to individual student needs but at the same time you are also employed to support the school in gathering destination data which has the potential for conflict.
Potential research question 2

To what extent, if any, does the career journey of career professionals’ impact on career development theory application
HOW WOULD YOU EXPLORE THIS? WHAT QUESTIONS AND MEASURES COULD YOU USE? Following further research, I'm moving away from this idea and more onto exploring practice in one to one career interviews in a secondary setting.

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Some great thoughts and comments on here - well done everyone

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Some great thoughts and comments on here - well done everyone

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The process of finding a research question is one which does take some time. 

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The process of finding a research question is one which does take some time. 

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Ask yourselves who will benefit from my research?
Is it doable?
Is there literature I can draw upon to help me understand my data?

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You may find the note taking tips here useful from learner support
Lisa

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Having reflected on my ideas it feels that my topics are rather growing out of control and all seem to be very big and unfeasible.  I don’t feel that I have any knowledge about any of them in any depth and it is getting difficult to see the wood for the trees.  I am, however, excited for the learning process and feel that I need to trust it… just unsure how to stop following the butterflies!

In reading the suggested chapters I feel more confident that finding my topic will be a process as I go.  It was interesting to think through these ideas and see that I am already employing them …  I am narrowing my topic gradually.

My criteria stem from wanting to address particular problems and issues we have at work relating to how to engage Y12/Y13s in the careers programme and help them get the most out of it? DEFINE THIS - WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY GETTING THE MOST OUT OF IT??
I am concerned with how some take it on board so much more easily than others – it opens up a whole theoretical world of social influences on decision making and identity.  I keep having examples of how the impact of coronavirus and the online learning at key points in the careers programme last year has impacted on some students particularly badly, and exacerbated the problems of engagement. DO THESE STUDENTS SHARE PARTICULAR CHARACTERISTICS?
Also, is there anything we need to do in terms of strategic objectives that might support this?
THIS CAN BE CONSIDERED

I take the point that what I think I know may not actually be happening, and I need to distance myself to critique effectively, and be able to ask difficult questions of our existing processes.  I’m noting key words and it is something around …. career maturity, career planning, motivation, self-efficacy???  I can identify these as potential foci  - but they all feel to be such broad topics in their own rights.
TRY DRAWING A VENN DIAGRAM - LOOK AT THE INTERSECTIONALITY OF THESE IDEAS - OR EQUALLY THOSE THAT STAND ALONE

As to identifying current research gaps, I cannot see how I will be able to do this as so much has already been written!
MAYBE NOT A GAP - BUT A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE?

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Yes - hunger is a key factor to keep you motivated.

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Yes - hunger is a key factor to keep you motivated.

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Who else might have an appetite for the topic area? Key stakeholders?

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I have read through and am still reading through articles around my topic. However, this caused me to have further questions about the actual question I want to research!

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I have read through and am still reading through articles around my topic. However, this caused me to have further questions about the actual question I want to research!

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Currently trying to process the information also looking for opportunity to explore an area, that has not yet been considered or researched.

Regarding look at how to engage Year 12/13 students in the careers programme. Could you consider the current circumstances of Covid and how this situation may affect engagement in the short to long term: or consider how the challenges of this and not being able to engage may impact on this particular cohort of YP and their progression and future opportunities?

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I was rather overwhelmed by the amount of material we went through in the learning – however, having been able to look at it more objectively since I could begin to see how it needs to be broken down.

But as soon as I thought that and looked at doing some of the purposeful reading it quickly became overwhelming again!  I think it’s a case of repetitively moving forward with a lot of information and then drawing back to consider it.  I remember how last year it felt like I didn’t know at all what I was doing until I realised that it had actually started to come together.

It’s the skim reading that has struck me the most – I seem to be so very slow!

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I mentioned the examples I’m having of coronavirus impact on engagement as it is certainly one of my ideas swirling around.  However, the overwhelming majority of students seem to have just picked up where they left off and these examples would possibly have had issues with self efficacy and engagement anyway? – so I’m not sure how you would measure that?  I feel my topic is more to do with a positive approach of what measures most effectively support them, rather than focussing on the challenges and the negative effects on this cohort.

Thanks for your input ... any steps toward clarity very very welcome!

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I am having difficulties with the overview and notetaking.  I know we did touch on this, but any tips that people are finding useful would be helpful.  I’m colour coding in terms of theory / policy mainly but can’t quite get the idea of the spreadsheets to work for me!

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I am still working on the note taking ideas. Will come back to you on the idea of spreadsheets if that's okay?

I am like you at the moment Zoe. Still mind mapping and reading the articles, has both, provided me with further information and confused me about what I actually want to explore.

I was initially going to look at the UK labour market. However, I have come to realise what a huge undertaking that would be in terms of research.
COULD YOU DEFINE WHAT ASPECT YOU WANT TO EXPLORE?

I now need to look at different methods of sampling!

The articles that I have read have made the reference to the fact that more research is required in this area. However for me it is now looking and considering which area I cover.

I am now considering the positive aspects of in relation to the labour market and this impact that this can have on both employee and employer.

Or

The lack of opportunity for a particular cohort within a particular region.

INTERESTING IN LIGHT OF LIMITED OPPORTUNITY IN CERTAIN SECTORS DUE TO COVID RESTRICTIONS (E.G. ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT)
LEISURE AND HOSPITAILITY HAS BEEN ON THE INCREASE...BUT WHAT NOW?
WHEN OPPORTUNITIES ARE MORE BROADLY AVAILABLE ARE MOTIVATIONS / PRIORITIES DIFFERENT?

https://www.hepi.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/HEPI-Policy-Note-22.pdf

Reading the two articles, did help with some clarification on this.

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Many older workers interviewed as part of the new research explained how the crisis had left them pessimistic about their future employment prospects, uncertain about their next steps, and concerned about employers' perceptions of older workers.

hen you read that there's 9 million people that have been furloughed and they're saying that 1 million people are going to be made redundant. It is going to be very hard and you're competing with younger people who understand the IT stuff a bit better. So, it's not easy at my age anyhow.'

'I mean, really a few years ago we wouldn't be working at this age, I would have retired and be getting my pension but obviously I'm not until I'm 66. So, it's a horrible situation to be in because you're not young enough to pick up the IT skills and get a job but you're not old enough to get any money.'

While the government's immediate employment response to the crisis has focused on younger workers, the report calls for urgent action to prevent a long term unemployment crisis among the over 50s. It calls for:

Back to work support which meets the needs of the over 50s including effective incentives and robust oversight to prevent older claimants being left behind;

Support for older workers to retrain, including an entitlement to funding for a qualification up to level 3 - the equivalent of A Levels - for all older workers;

Further work to understand the financial impact of the crisis on older workers.

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COVID-19 risks triggering long term unemployment crisis for older workers

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Many older workers interviewed as part of the new research explained how the crisis had left them pessimistic about their future employment prospects, uncertain about their next steps, and concerned about employers' perceptions of older workers. hen you read that there's 9 million people that have been furloughed and they're saying that 1 million people are going to be made redundant.

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Literature and Literature Reviews.

I found this particularly useful.

It addressed how this can be a daunting task. However it helped in understanding how to consider and manage this.
For example considering how to design a plan for the piece of work and the requirements of that piece of work.

Considering the "hunger you have for a topic, satisfying that hunger and creating a story."
This enables you to really think about the purpose and explore the reason for this piece of work. Is it relevant and what do you want to achieve in creating it?

So therefore presenting a case of why it is worthwhile and having clear aims and objectives.

Look at why this area is worth studying. Again enables you to consider what has already been done and helps to create direction and understanding around areas that require research and further understanding.

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Please add your thoughts and ideas here by using the + button - Thanks Lisa

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Please add your thoughts and ideas here by using the + button - Thanks Lisa

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I feel that my ideas are starting to clarify into a topic that I want to research, I have a lot more reading to do but I think I want to focus on career advisor practice and how they use theory to support their clients.
Lisa - Sounds good are you going to focus on how they use a particular theory ….or look more broadly at what theories are used and how?
I was thinking of looking more broadly initially and then see where initial findings lead my research onto.

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My head is definitely being turned in different directions at the moment.
Like others have said I'm trying to trust in the process that I will land on THE idea in time and seeing this as all part of the exploring process.

I've started with Emotional Intelligence as an area of interest. I could read about that all day, but I'm conscious that's not a reason to focus on it!
I'm still loving the mind maps and I've taken to writing these down and adding any key authors or theories/findings I come across along the way.

So far I've identified a couple of areas I might want to further explore:

EI and career decision making: However a lot has already been written on this topic, so I've been considering alternative angles e.g. looking at different samples of participants or breaking the facets of decision making down and looking how EI may influence them differently

Emotion and career decision making: I then got drawn to considering the role of emotion. Thinking versus feeling styles. How do they approach decision making differently and what are the benefits or limitations of each? There has been less written about this and it could be of value to clients and practitioners alike to consider the role of emotion in career decision making.

EI and Career anchors: Then the butterfly took off and I considered how EI and career anchors interact to influence the career planning process.

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Returning to my initial idea of Identity, I've been considering the professional identity of careers practitioners in HE and how COVID may have impacted this. The so what is around what this means for practice, the CPD of the career practitioner and/or the careers department as a whole.

Having read a couple of further articles I'm leaning towards this as a topic idea. The main reason is the topic is current and I can see it has direct relevance to the workplace. HE Institutions and Heads of Career Services could benefit from this research by giving them insight into their people, their development needs and how it could impact the strategic direction of the department.
SOUNDS INTERESTING AND VERY VALID

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Innovation, Ethics and Practice, Social Media and Digital Skills

A new virtual, two-day conference designed to e nhance your skills and knowledge as we imagine new ways of working using digital technology

2020's global pandemic has caused huge disruption for all of us, with major changes to how and where we work. Many have had to adapt rapidly to new working practices, with digital and virtual service delivery emerging as safe and necessary ways to offer services. There is continued uncertainty in education, training and employment around the globe. Widespread redundancies and organisational restructuring has brought into sharp focus the need for high quality, lifetime career development provision for everyone at all stages of their education and career.

Wednesday 13 & Thursday 14 January 2021

Our inaugural Tech Fest will bring leading experts and practitioners together to focus on digital practice and explore its potential to enhance and add value to the services we provide. Interactive keynotes, panel sessions and workshops will be complemented by a virtual exhibition, featuring the latest digital career development products and services. You will be able to chat live and ask questions during sessions, meet and interact virtually with other delegates and exhibitors by chat or optional video meetings. It's a great chance to catch up with those you know and connect with others with a shared interest and passion for digital technology.

Innovation - What new ideas, approaches and practices are people piloting? From chatbot career advisers using artificial intelligence to virtual reality work experience visits for year 10 students, what are people experimenting with, what's working and what's on the horizon?

Ethics and practice - How can we ensure digital career development is safe, inclusive, secure and accessible? How can we encourage women and minorities to benefit from all that technology offers, and gain the skills needed for success in future learning and work?

Social media and digital skills and tools - What skills are needed to be confident practitioners in the new digital context? How can we keep up with the new digital skills fast becoming essential for every career practitioner?

Who is the conference for?

The event is for everyone involved in career development and those tasked with supporting and working with them to explore and improve digital provision in their organisations.

The programme

Delegates will have the opportunity to attend for one or two days; plenary sessions will take place in the morning and workshops in the afternoon.

The exhibition will run across both days from 10.30 am to 2.30pm.

We will be launching the CDI Career Assured scheme and showcasing the products and services of providers who are actively working towards this new accreditation, recognising the very best in career development tools and products.

Recordings of sessions will be available to ticket holders for 30 days after the conference, enabling you to gain maximum value from the wealth of ideas and knowledge that will be shared during the event.

Call for workshops and booking information

The call for workshops will be launched at the end of October and booking will open on Monday 2 November 2020.

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A new virtual, two-day conference designed to e nhance your skills and knowledge as we imagine new ways of working using digital technology 2020's global pandemic has caused huge disruption for all of us, with major changes to how and where we work.

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Some interesting ideas here - EI - how do you measure this?

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Some interesting ideas here - EI - how do you measure this?

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Each of us has this special friend who seems to have more insight into their feelings, a better understanding of other people's emotions, and an incredible knack for handling potentially emotionally volatile situations with a seemingly magical touch.

What makes this person so good at these situations? What is this ' it' that they're good at, and can we measure what makes them so good?

One answer is that our friend has high ' emotional intelligence,' (e.g., Mayer & Salovey, 1993) (Sometimes mistakenly referred to as ' social intelligence'.)

The topic of emotional intelligence has generated a great deal of interest, especially in the workplace and other highly social contexts. Some researchers have hypothesized that people high in emotional intelligence might perform better in these contexts, and their success isn't only due to IQ (Boyatzis, 1982; Zeidner, Matthews, & Roberts, 2004).

Knowing that emotional intelligence might be advantageous, how can we measure it?

Emotional intelligence is a construct - an abstract concept defined by psychologists and researchers - and consequently, difficult to measure because it doesn't exist in the physical world. It's not as though we can pick up a block of emotional intelligence and measure it on a scale - instead, we need to devise questions that reliably tap into this concept.

To help you better understand how emotional intelligence is measured, we'll begin by introducing different types of methods that have been used in the past. We'll also provide a list of recommended downloadable PDFs and reliable tools, and we'll present the Emotional Intelligence Masterclass and toolkit items that PositivePsychology.com makes available for its users.

Before you read on, we thought you might like to download our 3 Emotional Intelligence Exercises for free. These science-based exercises will not only enhance your ability to understand and work with your emotions but will also give you the tools to foster the emotional intelligence of your clients, students, or employees.

Measuring Emotional Intelligence

Since emotional intelligence is a concept (i.e., it's abstract), it's important to first settle on a good definition thereof.

Definition of Emotional Intelligence

What do we mean when we refer to emotional intelligence (EQ)? The concept of emotional intelligence was first introduced by Salovey and Mayer (1990, as cited in Mayer & Salovey, 1993), and defined as:

"an ability to monitor one's own and others' emotions,
to discriminate among them, and
to use the information to guide one's thinking and actions."

Interestingly, their proposition of the existence of a concept like emotional intelligence was met with a great deal of criticism. At that stage, some researchers felt that similar concepts already existed, whereas others thought that the term 'intelligence' was marred with so much criticism that it deterred from the concept of emotional intelligence.

Interested readers are encouraged to read Mayer and Salovey (1993), who do an excellent job of outlining the concept further, and refuting some of their critics.

Since then, the definition of emotional intelligence has expanded, and currently, two definitions exist:

1. Emotional intelligence is considered an ability (Mayer, Salovey, & Caruso, 2000), or a subtype of intelligence. Much like having a skill or aptitude for mathematics, we might have an aptitude for emotional intelligence. This is also known as 'Ability Emotional Intelligence' (O'Connor, Hill, Kayla, & Martin, 2019)

2. Emotional intelligence is a combination of intelligence, personality, and emotional expression (Petrides & Furnham, 2001). This is referred to as trait Emotional Intelligence (O'Connor et al., 2019)

Most researchers seem to accept that emotional intelligence manifests as someone who is emotionally skilled; that is:

They're aware of their own emotions.

They're aware of someone else's emotions.

They're able to use this knowledge in social situations to their benefit.

Emotional intelligence can be measured in several ways. We'll discuss a few of the methods in the sections below.

Identifying Someone Else's Emotions in their Facial Expression

One way to measure emotional intelligence is by asking participants to identify the emotion displayed in a facial expression (Sanchez-Gomez & Breso, 2019).

For example, participants are given a face (either a photo like the one below, or a video of someone presenting an emotional expression) and are asked to indicate the extent that the different emotions are displayed in the face.

An example would be patients rating the degree to which Fear, Joy, Disgust, or Surprise are expressed in the photo below.

Solving Puzzles/Problems

Patients are presented with several emotional problems, which they are required to solve (Sanchez-Gomez & Breso, 2019). This is akin to how intelligence is tested.

Identifying someone else's emotions in a passage

Patients are given a scenario and must identify how the person in the scenario is feeling (Mayer & Geher, 1996). Here is an example:

" My best friend's father died this weekend. He had diabetes for a long time. As he got older, his health grew worst and worse. I went to his funeral on Monday. Many of my friends from high school were also there because we wanted to be there for our friend and because we all knew and liked her father. It made me realize how lucky I am to have younger, healthy parents when I saw my friend standing there crying. Just watching her huge family come pouring into the synagogue also made me sad." (Mayer & Geher, 1996, pp. 98).

Patients were then presented with a set of 12 dichotomous statements and had to choose which of the two statements better described the feelings of the author of the passage. For example:

'Hostile - Unhappy for another.'

Rating your Emotional Intelligence

Patients are asked to evaluate their emotional intelligence on a variety of scales. The assumption underlying these tasks is that emotional intelligence is comprised of a set of subscales.

For example, the Bar-On Emotional Quotient Inventory (EQ-i; Bar-On, 1997) has five dimensions, and each dimension comprises different subscales:

In total, patients answer 133 questions (or items), each measuring one or more of the five subscales. For each item, participants are expected to evaluate the degree that each statement accurately describes them on a 5-point scale, where 1 = 'not true of me' and 5 = 'true of me.'

One criticism of self-report measures is that they can often be fake or untruthful. There are a number of explanations for this:

Patients might respond in a socially desirable way.

Patients might not be good judges of their emotional abilities.

Psychometric and Testing Jargon: Questionnaires, Scales, Items

At this point, you have probably noticed that I'm using domain-specific words such as items, scales, surveys, and so forth. Domain-specific words are words that have a special meaning within a specific field (i.e., a domain); this is jargon. To help guide you, here is a quick outline.

Psychological concepts are measured in various ways. Some of the scales that we have looked at so far have used Likert scales, questionnaires, and puzzles. To help you understand the difference, I've listed them below. This list is not exhaustive; there are many other ways that we can collect data.

Questionnaire

Researchers and clinicians administer questionnaires, which the participant or patient must answer.

Sometimes questions are open (like Question 1), and sometimes questions are closed (like Question 2). Closed questions have a restricted number of possible responses, for example:

Question 1: Please describe how you are feeling today?
Question 2: Did you feel sad today? [yes, no]

Scales

A scale - as a tool to collect data - quantifies an abstract concept. Therefore, an abstract concept like emotional intelligence is measured on a scale. Like a thermometer, also a scale, the difference in the scale measurement indicates a difference in intensity or the strength of the concept.

The scale is the tool. For example, many of these emotional intelligence tools are scales that are measuring the intensity of that concept.

Response scale

A response scale is a type of question where individuals are making a response on a scale. The range of the scale can vary.

On a scale from 1 to 7, indicate how interested you are in positive psychology. A response of 1 means' no interest at all', and a response of 7 means extremely interested.

Items

An item refers to the elements (questions, statements, puzzles, tasks) that make up a psychological measurement tool. A questionnaire with 30 items has 30 questions.

In the example questionnaire, there are two items (question 1, and question 2).

You might be wondering why this is important. In the next section, I'll explain why these terms are so important.

Reviewing the Emotional Vibration Scale

A different type of measurement tool that can be used to assess emotions is the Emotional Vibration Scale.

The premise of this scale is that emotions can be ranked from positive to negative and that each valence type (positive, negative) continues to generate emotions of that same valence.

In order to move up the scale, away from the negative emotions and towards positive emotions, the patient is required to assess their emotions: Complex emotions and thoughts need to be broken down into their smaller, base components. Here is an example:
Jeremy is anxious about work. He has a deadline due later this week. His thoughts are moving at the speed of light. He feels distracted, irritable, and restless.
When Jeremy breaks down his feelings into their basic components, he realizes that he is feeling:

Worry (Will he meet his deadline?)

Doubt (Is he able to meet his deadline?)

Frustration/irritation (He is more 'prickly' than usual)

Now that Jeremy can recognize his feelings, he can work on ways to address them. His goal is to avoid feeding his negative emotions; he should not ignore these emotions or suppress them, but instead, he should actively work on ways that he can counteract the further development of negative emotions. There are numerous ways to do this, and one such way is practicing mindfulness and gratitude.

At first glance, you might think that this seems like a sound way to measure emotional intelligence. However, although the Emotional Vibration Scale contains the word 'scale' in its name, it does not measure emotional intelligence on a psychological scale (as understood in psychometrics).

Instead, the term scale is meant as a way of ranking emotions informally. Therefore, if you are looking for emotional intelligence scales that are empirically sound (i.e., that have good psychometric properties), then you need to look for tools that have been tested extensively and are well researched. Later in this post, I'll introduce some empirically sound scales to you.

A Look at the Emotional Maturity Scale

Measuring Emotional Maturity - Willoughby

One of the earliest attempts to measure emotional intelligence was made by Willoughby (1932). His interest was in 'emotional maturity, which he describes as:

" Consists essentially in a loosening and slipping away of attitudes and interests which are tolerable in children, but fatal in adults." (Willoughby, 1932, pp. 3).

Willoughby was a psychoanalyst (i.e., trained in the school of thought developed by Sigmund Freud), and much of his theory and writing is bedded within this field. He specifically recognized that measuring emotional maturity was a difficult task because the subject (i.e., the patient or the participant) would change their behavior if they knew they were being observed. For these reasons, he recommended that the subject was to be observed unknowingly.

He developed a method whereby students would rate themselves according to specific scenarios as indicating various levels of emotional maturity. Peers would also rate the student and rate themselves.

The purpose of this was to determine:

1. Whether individuals who considered themselves to have high emotional maturity were also rated as highly emotionally mature by their peers. In other words, Willoughby was measuring the reliability of the items.

2. Whether certain items were able to discriminate between people with low, medium, and high emotional maturity.

The test is not without criticism: Although Willoughby meant to study emotional maturity, it remains unclear whether emotional maturity is synonymous with emotional intelligence.

Emotional Mature Scale

The Emotional Maturity Scale was developed by Singh and Bhargava (1991, as cited by Singh & Sharma, 2014). This tool consists of 48 items, which measure five dimensions:

Emotional instability

Emotional regression

Social maladjustment

Personality disintegration

Lack of independence

The questions are self-report; that is, patients respond to each statement based on their own assessment of themselves.

The responses are made on a 5-point scale, ranging from Never (1) to Always (5). This scale is interpreted differently to other scales - the higher the score, the less emotionally mature the respondent is, and the lower the total, the greater emotional maturity.

Therefore, when looking for tools, make sure that you read the administration manual very carefully and take note of:

1. Instructions

2. Scoring rules (e.g., reversing scores)

3. Interpretation rules

6 Empirically Sound Scales

So how do we know if a scale is empirically sound? Well, we need to consider the psychometric properties of the scales.

Brief Introduction to Psychometrics

Psychometrics is quite a broad, well-developed field, with a great deal of theory, and refers to the method that researchers develop tools to measure psychological concepts and processes.

Psychometrics = 'Psyche' (mind) + 'metron' (measurement) + 'ikos' (resembling something)

It is important that you know a little bit about this topic because it will help you evaluate whether a tool - like a test, a scale, a questionnaire - is sound. To determine whether a tool is sound, researchers will conduct a large scale study where they attempt to validate the tool, discover the underlying dimensions of the tool, and prune the items (i.e., questions) used.

Two of the most critical concepts in psychometrics is:

Reliability: Tools that are reliable are consistently measuring what they are meant to measure. The results of the tool are dependable and stable. For example, a scale that says that you weigh 140 pounds today, and 240 pounds tomorrow would be unreliable.

Validity: Tools that are valid are measuring what they say they measure. For example, a scale that is meant to measure your weight, but instead measures your heart rate is not valid. The scale is not measuring what is intended to measure.

Empirically sound scales

Many scales and tools exist that measure emotional intelligence (O'Connor et al., 2019).

In their paper, O'Connor et al. (2019) provide an excellent overview and criticism of the field and guide researchers and clinical practitioners who wish to utilize these scales in their work. We have relied on their paper as guidance for this post.

Self-report Emotional Intelligence Test (SREIT) (Schutte et al., 1998)

Widely used (>3 000 studies)
Free

Some researchers question whether this test measures EI overall.

Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire (TEIQue) (Petrides & Furnham, 2001)

Widely used (>2 000 studies)
Has good reliability and validity.

Expensive; easily faked because it uses self-report measures.

The Situational Test of Emotional Management (STEM) (MacCann & Roberts, 2008)

Strong psychometric properties.

Not as widely used as other measures (>250 studies)
May need to be used alongside other tools.

The Situational Test of Emotional Understanding (STEU) (MacCann & Roberts, 2008)

Strong psychometric properties.
Appropriate for professional and workplace contexts.

Not as widely used as other measures (>250 studies)
May need to be used alongside other tools.

Overall, the best, free tool, which is also freely available, is the SREIT (Schutte et al., 1998). Administration and scoring of the tool are described in Schutte et al. (1998). Otherwise, if clinicians are willing to pay for the tool, then the EQ-i (Bar-On, 1997), and the TEIQue-SF (Petrides & Furnham, 2001) are highly recommended (O'Connor et al., 2019).

3 Downloadable PDFs

First, we would like to recommend the Self-report Emotional Intelligence Test (SREIT), which is described in Schutte et al. (1998).

The authors of this paper have made this tool freely available for research and clinician purposes. The authors list the 33 items that comprise this test, as well as the procedure followed to develop this tool. To find this paper, search for it on Academia.Edu.

The second tool that we can recommend is the adaptation of the Emotional Intelligence Framework created by The Consortium for Research on Emotional Intelligence. This tool includes two domains:

1. Personal Competence (with dimensions self-awareness, self-regulation, self-motivation) and

2. Social Competence (with dimensions social awareness, and social skills).

In total, there are 94 questions. This tool is meant for self-assessment, but it could be adapted for use in a clinical setting. Responses are made on a five-point scale where 1 = underdeveloped, and 5 = excellent.

We would also recommend the Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire developed by the National Health System, which forms part of their Leadership Toolkit. This tool assesses five dimensions using 50 items. Those dimensions are:

Self-awareness

Managing emotions

Motivating oneself

Empathy

Social Skill

Using a 5-point scale, patients indicate how much each statement applies to them: 1= does not apply at all, and 5 = always applies. The scoring rubric for this tool is especially useful because it grades certain ranges of scores.

Therefore, total scores:

between 35 and 50 are considered a strength,

between 18 and 34 need attention,

between 10 and 17 are categories as a development priority.

Emotional Intelligence Masterclass and Toolkit

At PositivePsychology.com, we have many resources that can help you to:

Increase your emotional intelligence

Increase your patient's emotional intelligence.

Emotional Intelligence Masterclass

The first tool that we would like to suggest is the Emotional Intelligence Masterclass©. This course contains six modules and is specifically geared towards professionals. Each mobile tackles a different topic, such as:

Emotions

Emotional intelligence

Emotional awareness

Beliefs about emotions

Emotional knowledge

Emotional expression

The class is presented by own of our team members, Dr. Hugo Alberts (so you're in good hands), and you'll learn how to convey this knowledge in a professional setting as a teacher, or clinical professional such as a therapist or life coach.

9 Toolkit Resources

The second list of resources you would find beneficial is included in our Toolkit. In total, we currently have nine tools that you may find useful.

5 Exercises

These five exercises can easily be used in a clinical or coaching setting with a client. The exercises can be divided into two groups:

Exercises that help to identify emotions in other people

Exercises that help to identify emotions in oneself

For the first category of exercises, we recommend the Reading Facial Expressions of Emotions Tool. In this tool, patients will learn how to read different emotions from different facial expressions, which is a very useful social skill. The exercise can be performed in a group exercise, but could also be adapted in a solo-patient context.

A tool that is well-suited for patients who struggle to articulate their feelings is The Emotion Meter. In this exercise, patients will learn how to recognize their emotions and verbalize them.

After learning how to identify their emotions, patients can complete the Mindful Speaking exercise, where patients learn how to communicate in a way that requires awareness, purpose, and appreciation.

A similar exercise, which might complement this exercise is the Ripple Effects From Emotions tool, where patients learn how to express their emotions in a way that considers both the short and long outcomes of what they are going to say.

This tool is handy for clients who are unable to regulate their emotional responses in an interaction, and this might lead to negative emotions in the conversation recipient. By considering the various ripple effects these conversations may have, patients learn to express their feelings in a way that delivers the message without the patient feeling accompanying negative emotions such as guilt, shame, or anger.

In the final exercise, Identifying Emotional Avoidance Strategies, patients will gain an even deeper understanding and awareness of their emotions and how some negative emotions may result in maladaptive behaviors. This exercise aims to help patients overcome these challenges and adopt healthier behaviors when experiencing negative emotions. This exercise is better suited for a one-on-one setting.

Meditation

Rather than relying on self-report assessments and questionnaires, patients can also learn more about their emotional awareness, and develop it further, through our Building Emotional Awareness meditation tool.

In this tool, patients will learn how to implement mindfulness meditation in their daily lives, and how to implement an emotional awareness component to this daily activity. This tool is very useful for patients who want an activity to work on while at home or traveling.

A Teaching tool

This tool is slightly different because it has more of an educational nature, and is not an activity like an exercise. In The Neuroanatomy of an Emotion, patients will learn more about emotions - what they are, how they develop biologically, and how to gain control of them, especially through stress management.

This tool is especially useful for patients who want to understand more about why emotions feel so 'real' and govern our behavior and thinking, especially in times of panic, stress, and anger.

2 Interventions

These two interventions are meant to be used in a clinical setting. In the first exercise, Using Music to Express Feelings, clients use music to express their emotions. This task can be useful for clients who initially struggle to articular their feelings. To complete the exercise, clients learn to identify the emotions that they're feeling and to find the necessary vocabulary to convey those feelings to the practitioner.

In the second exercise, patients get used to articulating their feelings. By performing this exercise, patients learn how to (1) identify their emotions, and (2) describe this emotion. Through regular reflection and expression, the patients develop a lexicon for expressing their feelings. It is for these reasons that the tool is aptly named The Feeling Dictionary.

A Take-Home Message

Emotional intelligence is challenging to measure. There are various explanations for this difficulty:

Some of the challenges result from how emotional intelligence is defined (is it an ability, or is it a combination of skills and personality?),

Some of the challenges result from how the tests are constructed (Must patients solve an emotional problem, identify an emotion in someone else, or assess their own understanding of their emotional aptitude?)

Some of these challenges also stem from the challenges with measuring the psychometric properties of a psychological test. Emotional intelligence is not a physical 'thing' that exists in the real world and therefore is difficult to measure.

Despite this, you should have a good idea of some of the techniques used to tap into this concept, and you could introduce different techniques and methods into your clinical setting as a way to gauge your patient's understanding of emotional awareness.

Ultimately, this post has provided you with the necessary foundation and resources so that you can critically evaluate the different Emotional Intelligence scales that are available and given you other options - which are less diagnostic and more therapeutic - that you can easily implement in your professional and clinical setting.

If you want to read more about Emotional Intelligence, then follow these links to the other posts:

We hope you enjoyed reading this article. Don't forget to download our 3 Emotional Intelligence Exercises for free.

If you wish to learn more, our Emotional Intelligence Masterclass© is a 6-module emotional intelligence training package for practitioners which contains all the materials you'll need to become an emotional intelligence expert, helping your clients harness their emotions and cultivate emotional connection in their lives.

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Assessing Emotional Intelligence: 19 Valuable Scales and PDFs

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Each of us has this special friend who seems to have more insight into their feelings, a better understanding of other people's emotions, and an incredible knack for handling potentially emotionally volatile situations with a seemingly magical touch. What makes this person so good at these situations?