Emotional intelligence: In search of an elusive construct.

TLDR

Three studies (N = 530) examined whether emotional intelligence fits within traditional cognitive abilities by analyzing its relationships with cognitive tests and personality. The studies revealed that emotional‑intelligence tests suffer from poor measurement properties, with consensual scoring showing low reliability and self‑report measures loading heavily on personality traits, thereby questioning divergent validity and suggesting only a narrow Emotion Perception factor distinct from broader models.

Abstract

The view that emotional intelligence should be included within the traditional cognitive abilities framework was explored in 3 studies (total N = 530) by investigating the relations among measures of emotional intelligence, traditional human cognitive abilities, and personality. The studies suggest that the status of the emotional intelligence construct is limited by measurement properties of its tests. Measures based on consensual scoring exhibited low reliability. Self-report measures had salient loadings on well-established personality factors, indicating a lack of divergent validity. These data provide controvertible evidence for the existence of a separate Emotion Perception factor that (perhaps) represents the ability to monitor another individual's emotions. This factor is narrower than that postulated within current models of emotional intelligence.