Emotional intelligence and behavior styles of Russian middle managers in business communication

Abstract

The study focuses on emotional intelligence and preferred negotiating styles of managers at work. There were 162 respondents (22 to 60 years old, MD=36.38) from a Russian food manufacturing company approached to study their negotiating experience with clients, customers, vendors, etc. The following methods were used: the Emotional Intelligence ("EQ") Test, the Emotional Intelligence ("EmIn") Test, negotiating style determination procedure, "Your Business Communication Style" test, the Conflict Mode Instrument, and authors' questionnaire. Data was processed with Pearson’s r correlation and regression coefficient and factor analysis (main component analysis). Results of the study revealed a significant correlation between emotional intelligence and the preferred negotiating styles. As a result, it was concluded that people-oriented interaction style correlates with developed interpersonal emotional intelligence; their relationship is indirect with other variables in between. Regression analysis revealed a relationship between emotional intelligence and process orientation in negotiations. This study was the first one to theoretically develop and empirically test the possibility of studying a relationship between the levels of emotional intellect and preferred negotiating styles.