Physicians' emotional intelligence as a predictor of malpractice litigation: a conceptual review

Several research studies have looked at the relationship between static personality traits and patient satisfaction but few studies have looked at the dynamic building blocks of emotional intelligence as they relate to patient satisfaction. Only a few previous research studies have preliminarily evaluated this relationship and determined that certain subsections of emotional intelligence were both negatively and positively correlated to patient satisfaction scores. This article evaluates the methodology under which these studies were conducted. The framework was found to be flawed due to limited sample size, the invalidity of satisfaction surveys, and the evolving contextual relationship between physicians and patients.