Investigating the impact of project managers' emotional intelligence on their interpersonal competence

This article summarizes recent research that examined the impact of project managers' emotional intelligence (EI) on observations of interpersonal competence. The goal was to determine whether EI assessment scores show significant relationships with the interpersonal competency ratings project managers receive. Assessments based on the ability model (Mayer, Salovey, & Caruso, 2002 ) and mixed model (Bar‐On, 2000 ) of EI were utilized. Results indicate meaningful relationships with both models and the domains of conflict management and problem solving. The mixed model outperformed the ability model, demonstrating a consistent relationship to all interpersonal domains. Expanded use of the mixed model appears warranted.