This study examines how maximum emotional intelligence (EI) members can contribute to the emergence of team-level organizational citizenship behaviors (OCB). Based on integrating a strategic core role and multilevel theory, we developed and tested a model in which the maximum EI score in teams results in intrateam trust and consequently impacts team OCB and examined whether the indirect effect of maximum EI on team OCB through intrateam trust would be moderated by EI diversity and trust divergence in teams. The results from 129 project teams showed that the relationship of maximum EI with team OCB is mediated by intrateam trust and this relationship is stronger for lower levels of EI diversity and trust divergence than for higher levels of diversity and divergence. The findings advance our understanding of the role of EI in team settings. Our research has important implications for organizations attempting to develop the applied value of EI.
