An overview of emotional intelligence research in construction project management: Methodological concerns

Emotional intelligence has been proliferated within the management literature in the last one and a half decade and has been recognised as an important factor for leaders in achieving organisational effectiveness. The development of the emotional intelligence concept span across various types of organisations in research studies.Based on the notion that management and emotion have not always been in unison, the paper discusses the evolution of management systems, the UK construction project management system and the rationale for the integration of emotion with construction project management.  A critical review on previous research carried out on emotional intelligence with regards to the construction industry was conducted which is the main aim of the research underpinning this paper.The findings indicate that majority of the study was quantitative and focused on establishing relationships between leadership styles and emotional intelligence and /or its relevance to construction project managers/engineers. Since the nature and characteristic of the construction environment and the supposed masculine 'stereotypes' pervading the industry tends to have an impact on the applicability of EI in managing the industry's relationships, examining the concept objectively may not present a complete picture. The results based on the reviewed studies suggest that the context of the construction industry needs to be considered more qualitatively by investigating real life experience of construction project managers. This paper has implications for researchers, journals, practitioners, universities and research institutions as it will inform the basis into exploring the realities of how project managers perceive emotional competences in the construction domain.