Emotional Intelligence : The Three Major Theories in the Field

Abstract: Emotional intelligence (EI) is a term that has several definitions and theories. Three major views in the field of EI will be presented and discussed in this thesis, furthermore some practical implications for the research. There will also be a brief overview of the two fields of emotion and intelligence research, from where the concept of EI has emerged. The first view presented is Mayer and Salovey‟s four-branch model of EI, measured with the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (the MSCEIT). The second view is the Bar-On model of emotional-social intelligence, closely related to the Emotional Quotient Inventory (the EQ-i). The third view is Goleman and colleagues‟ model of EI, which is measured with the Emotional Competence Inventory (the ECI). These different views of EI will be discussed in terms of ability-models and mixed-models, where the first model presented is referred to as an ability-model of EI and the following two models are seen as mixed-models of EI.