Robust associations of emotional intelligence with human flourishing: A second-order meta-analysis.
Level 2 - randomized trial
Second-order meta-analysis synthesizing 62 meta-analyses of primarily observational and correlational studies
PubMed 42090251 · doi:10.1073/pnas.2532963123
What was done
Authors conducted a second-order meta-analysis aggregating 62 meta-analyses that included over 3,000 primary studies and more than 1,000,000 participants. They evaluated associations between human flourishing (spanning mental health, psychological adjustment, cognitive abilities, and workplace/academic functioning) and emotional intelligence (EI), evaluated overall and split by ability, trait, and mixed models across different age and cultural demographics.
What was found
An overall index of emotional intelligence demonstrated a positive association with human flourishing: r = 0.28 (95% CI [0.25, 0.31]). Positive associations held across ability, trait, and mixed EI models and across various flourishing domains. Effect sizes were most pronounced when EI was assessed using self-report measures alongside subjective measures of flourishing. Substantial heterogeneity among effect sizes was identified.
Why it matters
This umbrella synthesis provides broad empirical evidence linking emotional intelligence to multiple domains of well-being and performance, while establishing that shared-method variance notably inflates these correlations.
Limits
The underlying data are predominantly correlational, preventing causal conclusions. High heterogeneity remained unresolved across the synthesized literature. Substantial inflation occurred with self-report measures, pointing to shared-method bias. Specific numerical estimates for subgroups and ability versus trait models were not detailed in the abstract.