Two definitions: Salovey and Mayer versus Goleman
Salovey and Mayer (1990) defined emotional intelligence as the ability to monitor your own and others' feelings, to tell them apart and to use that information to guide thinking and action. They meant a genuine intelligence: a set of mental abilities that some people have more of than others, comparable to verbal or spatial reasoning.
Daniel Goleman's book Emotional Intelligence (1995), subtitled Why It Can Matter More Than IQ, took the idea to a mass audience. Goleman described a broader set of competencies: self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy and social skill. His version included qualities such as optimism and persistence that most psychologists would call personality or motivation rather than intelligence. That breadth helped the concept spread through schools and workplaces, and it is also the main source of criticism, because claims that EQ matters more than IQ were never backed by the evidence available.
The four branches
Mayer and Salovey (1997) refined their model into four branches, from the most basic to the most complex:
| Branch | What it involves | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Perceiving emotions | Recognising emotions in faces, voices and yourself | Spotting that a colleague's "fine" means irritated |
| Using emotions | Harnessing moods to support thinking | Doing detail work when calm, brainstorming when upbeat |
| Understanding emotions | Knowing how emotions combine and change | Seeing how frustration can build into anger |
| Managing emotions | Regulating feelings in yourself and others | Calming a tense meeting without suppressing the issue |
What EQ tests actually measure: ability versus trait
Two kinds of test share the EQ name, and they measure different things.
Ability tests, such as the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT), work like an exam. You identify emotions in faces, judge which action would best manage a situation, and your answers are scored against expert or consensus judgements. Ability EI is only modestly related to personality and moderately related to general intelligence.
Trait EI tests, such as the TEIQue developed by K. V. Petrides, ask you to rate statements about yourself. Petrides and Furnham (2001) argued that these measure emotional self-perceptions, a part of personality, rather than an ability. Trait EI scores overlap substantially with the Big Five, especially low Neuroticism, Extraversion and Agreeableness (see personality traits). Mixed models such as Bar-On's EQ-i, and most online EQ tests, belong in this self-report family.
Neither is wrong, but they answer different questions. An ability test asks how well you can solve emotional problems. A self-report test asks how you see your own emotional habits, which is useful but open to self-flattery.
What the evidence says about outcomes
Emotional intelligence predicts some things that matter, though less dramatically than the popular version suggests. A meta-analysis by O'Boyle and colleagues (2011) found that all three types of EI measure correlated with job performance, and that trait and mixed measures added some prediction beyond cognitive ability and the Big Five. Joseph and Newman (2010) found that ability EI matters most in jobs with high emotional demands, such as care and customer service. On health, a meta-analysis by Martins, Ramalho and Morin (2010) linked higher EI with better mental and physical health, with stronger links for trait than ability measures.
Against the headline claim, general cognitive ability remains the stronger single predictor of job performance, and part of what EQ tests capture is already measured by personality tests. The fair summary is that emotional skills add something real, not that they outweigh IQ.
Can emotional intelligence be improved?
There is reasonable evidence that it can, at least partly. A meta-analysis of training studies by Mattingly and Kraiger (2019) found a moderate average improvement after EI training, although many studies used self-report measures, which may overstate change. Practical habits that the research supports include naming emotions precisely rather than just "bad" or "stressed", pausing before reacting, and checking your reading of someone's feelings by asking rather than assuming. Our EQ test is modelled on the self-report trait approach and shows how you rate your own emotional habits, which is a useful starting point for deciding what to practise.
Sources
- Salovey, P. and Mayer, J. D. (1990). Emotional intelligence. Imagination, Cognition and Personality.
- Goleman, D. (1995). Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ. Bantam.
- Mayer, J. D. and Salovey, P. (1997). What is emotional intelligence? In Salovey, P. and Sluyter, D. (eds.), Emotional Development and Emotional Intelligence. Basic Books.
- Petrides, K. V. and Furnham, A. (2001). Trait emotional intelligence: psychometric investigation with reference to established trait taxonomies. European Journal of Personality.
- Joseph, D. L. and Newman, D. A. (2010). Emotional intelligence: an integrative meta-analysis and cascading model. Journal of Applied Psychology.
- O'Boyle, E. H. et al. (2011). The relation between emotional intelligence and job performance: a meta-analysis. Journal of Organizational Behavior.
- Martins, A., Ramalho, N. and Morin, E. (2010). A comprehensive meta-analysis of the relationship between emotional intelligence and health. Personality and Individual Differences.
- Mattingly, V. and Kraiger, K. (2019). Can emotional intelligence be trained? A meta-analytical investigation. Human Resource Management Review.
Frequently asked questions
what is the emotional intelligence
It is the capacity to recognise, understand and manage emotions in yourself and others, and to use that awareness to guide how you think and act. The idea was introduced by Salovey and Mayer in 1990 and popularised by Goleman in 1995.
what is emotional intelligence eq
EQ, short for emotional quotient, is the popular name for emotional intelligence, coined by analogy with IQ. Most EQ tests are not scored on an IQ-style scale; they report a profile of emotional skills or self-perceptions.
what is the definition of emotional intelligence
The original scientific definition, from Salovey and Mayer (1990), is the ability to monitor your own and others' feelings and emotions, to distinguish between them and to use that information to guide thinking and actions.
why emotional intelligence important
Higher EI is linked with somewhat better job performance, especially in emotionally demanding roles, and with better mental health and relationships. The effects are real but moderate, and they sit alongside, not above, cognitive ability and personality.
whats high emotional intelligence
People with high EI tend to read others' feelings accurately, name their own emotions precisely, stay steady under pressure and handle conflict without escalating it. On a test, high usually means scoring well above the average of the comparison group.
how to increase your emotional intelligence
Practise labelling emotions precisely, pause before reacting when upset, ask people how they feel instead of guessing, and reflect afterwards on what worked. Training studies show moderate gains, so improvement is realistic with deliberate practice.
what is the eq test
An EQ test measures emotional intelligence either as an ability, with right and wrong answers to emotional problems, or as a trait, with statements you rate about yourself. Most free online EQ tests, including ours, are self-report trait questionnaires.