Psychology › Emotion, motivation & happiness › Emotions and how they work
Emotional intelligence
1990; popularized 1995· Concept
Mixed evidenceSome support; effects smaller or less consistent than once thought.
The ability to perceive, understand and manage emotions in yourself and others, popularized as 'EQ'.
See it on the Psychology map →What it says
Psychologists Peter Salovey and John Mayer proposed emotional intelligence in 1990, later defining it as four skills: perceiving emotions, using them to think, understanding them and managing them. Journalist Daniel Goleman's 1995 bestseller suggested it could matter more than IQ, sparking corporate training and school programs. Two kinds of measures emerged: ability tests with right and wrong answers, such as the MSCEIT (2002), and self-report questionnaires, which largely measure personality.
Why it matters
It legitimized emotional skills in hiring, leadership and schooling. But the hype outran the data: it predicts job performance modestly, mostly in emotionally demanding work.
The evidence
Status: mixed evidence. Meta-analyses find ability tests add a little prediction beyond IQ and personality, while self-report versions overlap heavily with Big Five traits. Goleman's 'more than IQ' claim is not supported.
Open questions
Whether training programs produce lasting gains in emotional skills, and whether gains reflect real ability or just learning a test's expected answers.
Connections (2)
▸Emotional intelligence overlaps heavily with The Big Five personality traitsMixed evidence
The connection
Self-report emotional intelligence questionnaires correlate substantially with Big Five traits, especially emotional stability (low neuroticism), extraversion, agreeableness and conscientiousness. Once personality and IQ are counted, they add little to predicting job performance. Ability tests of emotional intelligence overlap less with personality but correlate partly with general intelligence.
Who showed it and when
Konstantinos Petrides's 'trait emotional intelligence' model placing it within personality, early 2000s; Dana Joseph and Daniel Newman's 2010 meta-analysis; Ernest O'Boyle and colleagues' 2011 meta-analysis.
How solid is it?
Meta-analyses of hundreds of studies estimate the overlap; O'Boyle's found emotional intelligence adds some prediction beyond personality and IQ, though modest.
Open questions
Whether emotional intelligence is a distinct ability or largely a new label for familiar traits; the answer depends on which test is used.
▸Emotional intelligence is a proposed skill at handling Emotions and how they workMixed evidence
The connection
Emotional intelligence applies emotion science to differences between people. Salovey and Mayer's four branches: perceiving emotions in faces and voices, using them to aid thinking, understanding how they blend and change, and managing them in oneself and others. Ability tests score answers to items like naming a face's emotion or choosing the best way to calm an upset colleague.
Who showed it and when
Peter Salovey at Yale and John Mayer at the University of New Hampshire, 1990; Daniel Goleman's 1995 bestseller; the MSCEIT ability test, 2002.
How solid is it?
Ability scores relate modestly to social functioning; a 2010 meta-analysis found they predict job performance best in emotionally demanding jobs such as customer service.
Open questions
Whether there are objectively right answers about emotions; tests scored by consensus may reward typical responses rather than real skill.