Explain the concept of emotional intelligence and describe the various models of emotional intelligence.

Salovey and Mayer (1990) described emotional intelligence as “the ability to monitor one’s own and others’ feelings and emotions, to discriminate among them and to use this information to guide one’s thinking and actions”. It refers to the capacity to reason about emotions and emotional information, and thereby, to enhance thought. As IQ is used to express intelligence, Emotional Quotient (EQ) is used to express emotional intelligence. According to Salovey and Mayer, people with high EQ, could solve a variety of emotion-related problems accurately and quickly. For example, people with high emotional intelligence can accurately perceive emotions in faces. They also understand the meanings that emotions convey.

Emotional intelligence is often described as the capacity to be aware of, control, and express one’s emotions, and to handle interpersonal relationships empathetically. It is generally said to include skills like emotional awareness, the ability to make productive use of emotions by applying them in thinking and problem solving tasks, and the ability to manage and regulate emotions. In simpler terms, emotional intelligence refers to the capability of individuals to recognize their own emotions and those of others, discern between different feelings and label them appropriately, use emotional information to guide thinking and behaviour, and manage and/or adjust emotions to adapt to environments or achieve one’s goal(s). All these skills are more important for success in life.

Models of Emotional Intelligence

There are different scientific approaches to emotional intelligence. They can be characterized as the ability model, trait model and mixed models.

The ability model views emotional intelligence as a standard intelligence. They argue that the construct of emotional intelligence meets the traditional criteria for intelligence. People using this model measure emotional intelligence as a mental ability with performance assessments that have a criterion of correctness (i.e., there are better and worse answers, which are determined using complex scoring algorithms).

The trait model encompasses behavioural dispositions and self-perceived abilities and is measured through self-report questionnaire.

Mixed models are so called because they mix the ability conception with personality traits and competencies such as optimism, self-esteem, and emotional self-efficacy. Researchers using this mixed approach use self-report instruments as opposed to performance assessments to measure emotional intelligence. For example, instead of asking people to demonstrate how they perceive an emotional expression accurately, self-report measures ask people to judge and report how good they are at perceiving others’ emotions accurately

Mayer and Salovey’s Model of Emotional Intelligence

This ability-based model views emotions as useful sources of information that help one to make sense of and navigate the social environment. The model claims that emotional intelligence includes four types of abilities:

i) Perception of emotion: It includes the ability to identify and differentiate emotions in the self and others. A basic aspect of this ability is identifying emotions accurately in physical states (including bodily expressions) and thoughts. This ability also enables one to identify emotions in other people, to detect and decipher emotions in pictures, voices, and cultural artifacts also.

ii) Use of emotion to facilitate thinking: This refers to using emotions to facilitate cognitive activities such as reasoning, problem solving, and interpersonal communication. It includes skills for generating emotions to aid judgment and memory processes. It also includes the ability for producing emotional states to foster different thinking styles.

iii) Understanding and analyzing emotions: This includes the ability to comprehend the language and meaning of emotion, as well as an understanding of the antecedents of emotions. Skills in this component include labeling emotions with accurate language as well as recognizing similarities and differences between emotions. Interpreting origins of emotions, recognizing transitions between emotions, and understanding blending of different emotions are also component of this ability

iv) Reflective regulation of emotions: It includes the ability to regulate and modify an emotional response in oneself and others. It also includes the ability to experience a range of emotions while making decisions about the appropriateness or usefulness of an emotion in a given situation. Monitoring and reflecting on one’s own emotions and those of others represents more complex problem solving ability.

A comprehensive performance test of emotional intelligence is the Mayer–Salovey– Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT; Mayer et al., 2003) for adults and the Mayer–Salovey–Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test, Youth Version (MSCEIT-YV; Mayer, Salovey, & Caruso, 2004). These are performance tests as they require individuals to solve tasks pertaining to each of the four abilities as defined by their theory; for example: identifying the facial emotions of people, imagining a person’s feeling when appropriate emotion is experienced, to know how emotions develop and change over time and the process of evaluating the courses of actions in different emotional situations.

Goleman’s Theory of Emotional Intelligence

Goleman broadened Mayer’s and Salovey’s model to incorporate five essential components of emotional intelligence:

i) Self-Awareness: It refers to the ability to recognize and understand one’s moods, emotions, and drives, as well as their effect on other people. People with emotional self-awareness understand their own strengths and weaknesses, as well as how their actions affect others.

ii) Self-Regulation: It involves controlling or redirecting one’s disruptive impulses and emotions. It also includes the skill to think before acting. A person with selfregulation has the ability to exercise control when expressing their emotions.

iii) Motivation: It drives the individual to achieve things. It gives a passion to achieve goals with energy and persistence. People with high emotional intelligence are self-motivated and internally driven rather than being influenced by outside forces, such as money or status

iv) Empathy: It is the ability to understand the emotions of other people as well as to feel what others are feeling. We need to treat other people according to their emotional reactions. A person with empathetic understanding has the ability to connect with people and genuinely respond to their concerns.

v) Social skills: It helps in managing relationships and building social networks. It is the ability to inspire others and induce desired responses from them in a given situation. It helps the person to build rapport and trust with others.

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