The Relationship Between Emotional Intelligence and Artificial Intelligence: Empirical Evidence from the US and China

Abstract

This cross-cultural study examines the relationship between critical factors related to perception about artificial intelligence (AI) and various components of emotional intelligence (EI), along with the influence of personality on the relationship between the two. Our analysis, based on data collected from the United States and China, suggests that aspects of EI that impact perception of AI will vary by country. The data in the US found significant relationship between Self-Emotion Appraisal and AI perception, while data in China found a relationship between Regulation of Emotion and AI perception. Additionally, we found that personality factors such as neuroticism significantly impact AI perception.

Introduction

• AI defined as a machine's ability to mimic human thoughts and behaviors (Xue et al. 2021)
• AI predicted to significantly impact nearly every aspect of society
• Understanding factors related to AI perception will affect the adoption of new technology (Hasan et al. 2021)
• Both EI and personality can impact our willingness to embrace new ideas and technology

AI Perception Factors (Kelly et al. 2023)

• Positive Attitude
• Perceived Usefulness
• Performance Expectancy
• Trust
• Effort Expectancy

Emotional Intelligence Components (Wong and Law 2002)

• Self-Emotion Appraisal (SEA)
• Others' Emotion Appraisal (OEA)
• Use of Emotion (UOE)
• Regulation of Emotion (ROE)

Five Factor Personality Model (McCrae and Costa 1987)

• Agreeableness
• Neuroticism
• Extraversion
• Conscientiousness
• Openness/Intellect

Materials and Methods

An online questionnaire made through Qualtrics

Questionnaire layout:

• Filter, Familiarity with AI questions
• AI Scale (Elahee, Chowdhury, and Shen 2023)
• Distraction tasks
• Wong and Law Emotional Intelligence Scale
• Five-Factor Personality Model Questions
• Demographic questions for classification purposes

Questionnaire distributed in the:

• United States (Amazon Mechanical Turk)
• China (snowball sampling via WeChat Data analyzed using SPSS)

Results

Key Findings

• The factors of Emotional Intelligence associated with AI perception may vary by country
• Personality traits like neuroticism have a significant effect on AI perception
• The US and China differ in terms of AI perceptions, with Chinese subjects exhibiting significantly lower trust toward AI than their US counterparts
• As AI is still evolving, cultural factors, which may very across countries, should be given greater attention. 

Limitations

• Lower response rate in China
• Demographic differences between the respondents in the US and China creating sample equivalence issues.
• As AI is constantly developing, the current AI scale might not capture all its facets
• The AI scale is primarily focused on large language models; there are other types of AI as well
• Self-reported measures used; differences between the perceptual data and actual behavior could exist
• Additionally, business managers should pay attention to their employees' level of EI, especially when considering adopting solutions with AI

Future Research

• Study can be replicated in other countries to better validate the AI scale and understand AI perceptions in other cultures
• Latent variables can be examined to understand how different components of EI may lead to different AI perceptions
• Examine if perceptions toward AI differ by industry, meaning to conduct industry-specific research to perception about AI
• AI usage data can be collected to understand why people adopt and use AI

Professional Application

"Participating in the QUIP-RS program has allowed me to gain invaluable professional exposure to research. This opportunity set me apart from my undergraduate peers and helped me build professional skills such as public speaking, data analysis, and proposal writing. I’ve made strong professional relationships while working alongside my two mentors, Dr. Mohammad Elahee and Dr. Tilottama Ghosh Chowdhury. Simply by talking about my research, I have developed strong professional relationships with academic researchers, business professionals, professors, and students.

The cross-cultural nature of my research deepened my understanding of the impact culture has on perceptions, specifically with emerging technologies like AI. Tools like surveys must resonate across different cultural contexts to go beyond cultural boundaries. Some cultural differences, such as demographic differences and data collection methods, did cause limitations during the research process. Learning how academic researchers navigate these challenges has given me a better outlook on how to approach research in different cultures. I enjoyed sharing my struggles and achievements with other members of the QUIP-RS program, as everyone was supportive of each others’ journeys.

Submitting this research to the Academic of International Business Northeast Chapter Conference 2024 has been the most significant part of my academic journey, and likely the biggest advancement in my career. Being the only undergraduate student among professionals was initially intimidating, but I eventually found an inclusive and open-minded environment filled with professionals eager to engage. Connecting with global experts on topics like AI, sustainability, and the future of the workplace was a transformative experience that deepened my commitment to this field. This experience ignited a deeper passion for cross-cultural findings, academic research, and an outlook on new technology like AI. Connecting with global experts on topics like AI, sustainability, and the future of the workplace was a transformative experience that deepened my commitment to work in global business." - Sana Quadri '26

For Further Discussion

This serves as an overview of the project and does not include the complete work. To further discuss this project, please email Sana Quadri.

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