title: Emotional intelligence: new ability or eclectic traits?
abstract: Some individuals have a greater capacity than others to carry out sophisticated information processing about emotions and emotion-relevant stimuli and to use this information as a guide to thinking and behavior. The authors have termed this set of abilities emotional intelligence (EI). Since the introduction of the concept, however, a schism has developed in which some researchers focus on EI as a distinct group of mental abilities, and other researchers instead study an eclectic mix of positive traits such as happiness, self-esteem, and optimism. Clarifying what EI is and is not can help the field by better distinguishing research that is truly pertinent to EI from research that is not. EI--conceptualized as an ability--is an important variable both conceptually and empirically, and it shows incremental validity for predicting socially relevant outcomes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH 03824, USA. jack.mayer@unh.edu
authors.forename: John D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Mayer
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Salovey
authors.forename: David R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Caruso
mesh_terms: D004644:Emotions; D006801:Humans; D007360:Intelligence; D010551:Personality; D011582:Psychological Theory; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires