What Is Emotional Intelligence?.
Emotional intelligence is one of the most popularized and most misunderstood ideas in psychology. The pop version promises it matters more than IQ and can be raised quickly; the research version is more measured and more interesting. This page gives the evidence-based account - what EI is, how it is measured, and how much it actually predicts.
Emotional intelligence (EI)
Emotional intelligence is the set of abilities for reasoning about and with emotions: perceiving emotions accurately, using them to support thinking, understanding how they work and change, and managing them in yourself and others. It was formalized by Peter Salovey and John Mayer as a four-branch ability model, and it is distinct from both general intelligence and personality, though it overlaps with each.
The honest headline: EI is a real and useful construct, but its value has been oversold. It adds something beyond intelligence and personality, especially in emotionally demanding work, but the increment is modest, not revolutionary.
The four-branch model
The most rigorous definition, from Mayer and Salovey, treats EI as four related abilities that build on each other:
- Perceiving emotions: accurately reading feelings in faces, voices, and yourself
- Using emotions: harnessing feelings to focus attention and support reasoning and creativity
- Understanding emotions: grasping how emotions combine, progress, and change over time
- Managing emotions: regulating your own and influencing others’ feelings toward constructive ends
Ability EI versus trait EI
There are two research traditions, and they measure different things. Ability EI treats emotional skill like an intelligence, tested with right-and-wrong-answer tasks (the MSCEIT is the classic example). Trait EI treats it as a cluster of self-perceived emotional dispositions, measured by self-report questionnaires - how good you believe you are at reading and handling emotions.
They correlate only modestly, because they ask different questions: ability tests measure what you can do under standardized conditions, self-report measures how you typically see yourself. Most quick online EI tests, including self-report scales, sit in the trait tradition. That is useful for self-reflection but should not be mistaken for a maximal-performance measure of skill.
How much does EI actually predict?
This is where honesty matters. Meta-analytic work finds EI does predict job performance, especially in roles with high emotional labor, and relates to better relationships and well-being. But a large share of that prediction overlaps with general intelligence and personality (particularly conscientiousness and emotional stability). The incremental contribution of EI - what it adds beyond those established predictors - is real but small.
So the accurate framing is: EI is a meaningful piece of the puzzle, not the master key. Claims that it predicts success better than IQ are not supported by the careful evidence.
Can it be improved?
Partly, yes - more than IQ, less than the pop literature claims. The understanding and managing branches respond to deliberate practice: labeling emotions precisely, learning regulation strategies like reappraisal, and getting feedback on how you come across. Single workshops do little; sustained practice produces gradual, modest gains. The companion article on improving emotional intelligence covers what works.
Also relevant: EI vs IQ: what the evidence says, Read the emotional intelligence test guide
Frequently asked questions
Is emotional intelligence more important than IQ?
No - that popular claim is not supported by careful research. EI predicts some outcomes, especially in emotionally demanding roles, but much of its predictive power overlaps with intelligence and personality, and its unique contribution is modest. Both matter, for different things.
What are the four components of emotional intelligence?
In the Mayer-Salovey ability model: perceiving emotions, using emotions to aid thinking, understanding emotions, and managing emotions. They build on each other, from accurate perception up to skilled regulation.
How is emotional intelligence measured?
Two ways. Ability measures (like the MSCEIT) use performance tasks with better and worse answers; trait measures use self-report questionnaires about how you perceive your own emotional skills. They capture different things and correlate only modestly - most quick online tests are self-report (trait) measures.
Is EI just personality by another name?
They overlap - trait EI in particular correlates with emotional stability, extraversion, and conscientiousness - but EI is not reducible to personality. It adds a small amount of unique prediction, and the ability form, tested with performance tasks, is clearly distinct from self-reported traits.
References
- Mayer, J. D., & Salovey, P. (1997). What is emotional intelligence?. In P. Salovey & D. J. Sluyter (Eds.), Emotional development and emotional intelligence (pp. 3-31). Basic Books.
- Mayer, J. D., Roberts, R. D., & Barsade, S. G. (2008). Human abilities: Emotional intelligence. Annual Review of Psychology, 59, 507-536.
- Joseph, D. L., & Newman, D. A. (2010). Emotional intelligence: An integrative meta-analysis and cascading model. Journal of Applied Psychology, 95(1), 54-78.
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