Emotional intelligence is an extremely powerful tool. It helps us navigate not only our own emotional worlds but also the worlds of our family, friends, coworkers and strangers.
It is vital for many occupations, especially those that require frequent or intense social interaction such as education and health care.
What if your job entails interacting with an emotionless machine most of the time?
For example, if you are a pilot, you will need to have excellent concentration, memory, situational awareness, and other skills. How much emotional intelligence is required to fly an airplane?
A team of researchers headed by Major Zachary Dugger, an instructor at United States Military Academy West Point’s Department of Mathematical Sciences and Emotional Intelligence, found that despite the wealth of research in this area, few studies have focused on its role in aviation.
Dugger and his coworkers reached out to pilots from various aviation organizations in the US to shed light on the matter. 44 volunteers were eventually recruited to complete a questionnaire to determine emotional intelligence.
Emotional intelligenceThe ability to regulate and identify your emotions. It also refers to being able to empathize and recognize the emotions of others. This term was first popularized in 1990 by an eponymous novel and has attracted increasing research interest.
There are two major models that can be used to measure emotional intelligence (EI). They are trait EI and capability EI. The current study focuses on trait EI which, according to the authors, is “a collection of emotional perceptions that are assessed using questionnaires and rating systems”.
The authors point out that many studies have examined trait EI in different contexts and found it to be “strongly associated with behaviors that constitute key components the pilot skillset,” including leadership, mental toughness and stress management.
They add that little research has been done to examine the trait EI in pilots.
Two studies were cited by the researchers to address this topic. They found that trait EI was positively associated with pilots’ training performance.Safety citizenship behaviorsBoth were restricted to military pilots and neither compared the EI of pilots with that of general public.
And since research suggests other personality traits influence a pilot’s success – like extraversion and neuroticism, for example – Dugger and his colleagues suspect emotional intelligence plays an undervalued role worth investigating.
The 44 pilots who participated in the study ranged from 24 to 67 year old, and had a total of 150 to more than 5,000 hours of flight experience. Both fixed-wing and helicopter pilots participated in the study, though all had to possess a current flight qualification.
The study used 88 nonpilots drawn from a US database of people who had taken the test to create a control group. TEIQue questionnaire.
Researchers matched subjects according to their gender, age, education and ethnicity. This allowed them the control for factors that can affect trait EI.
The pilots also took TEIQue. It measures trait EI through subjects reading 153 statements, and rating their agreement with each. It covers the four major factors in trait EI – well-being, emotionality, sociability, and self-control – plus 15 more specific facets.
Researchers write that pilots scored consistently lower than their matched counterparts in overall trait EI as well as well-being and emotionality. There were no significant differences between pilots and nonpilots in self-control scores.
Although the reasons for these differences are not clear, the authors of the study have some theories.
The factors of well being, emotionality, and socialability are all related to “a positive evaluation of one’s emotions capabilities.” They writeThis is a good thing, but it can lead to a loss of benefits. self-assessmentSometimes, “veers into narcissism or hubris.”
The researchers point out that pilots should be “careful, straight-forward, and understated” in their work. This is a mindset that could make them more successful than those who are given higher self-promotion incentives. This could explain why military managers score so low, they say.
However, pilots are part of an organizational culture which rewards invulnerability as well as “resistance against human weakness”. They also add.
“Pilots have been long associated with a masculine cultural that emphasizes aggressiveness and competition as well as performance orientation,” The researchers write.
“In practice the pilot selection process and training process might produce pilots, primarily female but also male, who fit within this cultural context.”
There are some limitations to the new study. For example, the 44 pilots in the study are small and do not reflect diversity. The majority of participants were male (93%), white (91%), and had completed at least one college (98%).
This study is also limited by the fact that most pilots are currently serving or have served as military aircrew members.
The researchers believe that this research is an important step towards filling the gap in information on emotional intelligence in pilots.
These findings, although exploratory in nature, highlight promising avenues to future trait EI research within international aviation. They write.
They say that more research such as this could improve pilot training and organizational cultures, which in turn will produce better-prepared pilots for aviation duty, “ultimately leading directly to improved safety, performance and overall satisfaction.”
The study was published in Scientific Reports.
