Those interested in how personality affects performance often study the Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) or Emotional Intelligence (EI) and the relationship to leadership. Rarely do I run across studies that look for relationships between MBTI and EI. Leary, Reilly and Brown published a Study of Personality Preferences and Emotional Intelligence where they examined the ârelationships between the dispositional factors measured by the MBTI and elements of emotional intelligence (EI) as measured by Bar-Onâs emotional quotient inventory (EQ-i).â
For those unfamiliar with the MBTI and the EQ-I, the MBTI measures our preferences for how we like to receive information. The EQ-i measures our emotional quotient or EQ. Emotional intelligence has often been defined differently by various authors. One of the easiest ways to think of emotional intelligence is by defining it as the ability to understand your own emotions as well as those in others.
In the Leary et al study, their results showed a relationship between Myers Briggs extroversion and emotional intelligence components. Also noted in the study was a âpositive and significant relationship between a preference for the use of feeling in decision making and an individualâs EI.â
When discussing âfeelingâ as defined by the MBTI, it refers to how one bases their decisions on their values. When discussing âextroversionâ as defined by the MBTI, it refers to how people prefer to focus on the outer world of people and things. Leary et al concluded, âThe positive and significant results for the extroversion and feeling hypotheses seem consistent with the view that EI is related to the ability to accurately perceive and manage relationships.â
I found the relationship for âfeelingâ to be the most interesting part of the study due to the high number of âthinkingâ as opposed to âfeelingâ executives in the workplace.   The study suggests that using âfeelingâ when making decisions shows awareness of othersâ feelings. This would be indicative of having emotional intelligence.
If there are more âthinkingâ people in business executive positions and this study showed people that were “feeling” had more of a relationship to emotional intelligence, what does that say about our business leaders? A study of nearly 5000 people by Sala revealed that executives may have an inflated idea of how high their emotional intelligence actually is.  âThe results of this study demonstrate that higher-level employees are more likely to have an inflated view of their emotional intelligence competencies and less congruence with the perceptions of others who work with them often and know them well than lower-level employees.â
What is interesting to note is that oneâs MBTI type does not usually change over time. However, one can develop their emotional intelligence. The âthinkingâ personality type bases their decisions on data. They tend to be logical.   If people with a strong âthinkingâ preference do not show as high of a correlation with emotional intelligence now, can they develop this based on their understanding of this data?  It seems logical to conclude this is possible.
As with any self-reported data, there are possible limitations to these studies. I personally have studied emotional intelligence and its impact on sales performance. I had to take the EQ-i and the MBTI in my training to be a qualified instructor for both assessments. I came out as an ESTJ and had a high EQ-i score. I may be an anomaly, but from what I have seen from the work of Daniel Goleman and others, whether someone is a âthinkingâ or a âfeelingâ personality, it is important to always be working on oneâs EQ in order to be successful.