Emotional intelligence

Emotional intelligence (EI) is the set of skills for working with emotion — recognising it, harnessing it, understanding it and regulating it. The most-cited scientific account, the Mayer and Salovey four-branch model, splits it into perceiving emotions (reading feelings in faces, voices and yourself), using emotions (letting the right mood power your thinking and creativity), understanding emotions (grasping how feelings blend, shift and what sparks them) and managing emotions (steering your own and others' feelings without bottling them up or being swept away). You can be strong in some branches while still growing in others, so this maps the shape of your emotional skill rather than a single score. Researchers measure EI two ways — as a mental ability tested with performance tasks (the MSCEIT) and as a self-perceived trait reported on questionnaires (trait EI, the TEIQue) — and a quick self-rating like this one reflects the self-perceived side.

The four-branch model (Salovey & Mayer, 1990; Mayer & Salovey, 1997) is the dominant scientific account of emotional intelligence, defining it as four related abilities: perceiving, using, understanding and managing emotions. It is measured two ways — as a mental ability with performance tests such as the MSCEIT (Mayer, Salovey, Caruso & Sitarenios, 2003), and as a self-reported trait with questionnaires such as the TEIQue (Petrides & Furnham, 2001). This reflective self-rating reflects the self-perceived (trait) side, not a formal score. (Four-branch model of emotional intelligence (Mayer & Salovey))

Dimensions

• Perceiving emotions (Slow to read – Reads feelings) — Leaning high means you quickly and accurately pick up emotions — in faces, voices, body language and in yourself; leaning low means feelings often pass you by until they are spelled out.
• Using emotions (Keeps them apart – Channels feeling) — Leaning high means you let the right mood power your thinking — using enthusiasm to create, or a flicker of unease to double-check your work; leaning low means you tend to keep emotion and reasoning in separate boxes.
• Understanding emotions (Takes at face value – Grasps the why) — Leaning high means you understand where feelings come from and how they blend and shift over time — how disappointment can harden into resentment; leaning low means emotional cause and effect is harder to trace.
• Managing emotions (Swept along – Steers feeling) — Leaning high means you can stay open to a feeling yet steer it — soothing yourself or others without bottling up or blowing up; leaning low means strong emotions are more likely to carry you along.

References

• Salovey, P., & Mayer, J. D. (1990). Emotional intelligence. Imagination, Cognition and Personality
• Mayer, J. D., & Salovey, P. (1997). What is emotional intelligence?. Emotional Development and Emotional Intelligence (Basic Books)
• Mayer, J. D., Salovey, P., Caruso, D. R., & Sitarenios, G. (2003). Measuring emotional intelligence with the MSCEIT V2.0. Emotion
• Petrides, K. V., & Furnham, A. (2001). Trait emotional intelligence: Psychometric investigation with reference to established trait taxonomies. European Journal of Personality

Related topics

• Big Five (Five-Factor Model, OCEAN)
• HEXACO model
• Eysenck PEN model
• Cattell 16 Personality Factors (16PF)
• Dark Triad / Dark Tetrad
• Light Triad

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