Salovey and Mayer: An Ability Model of Emotional Intelligence

John Mayer and Peter Salovey were the inventors of the term “Emotional Intelligence” in 1990.
The idea of this term came from the fields of emotion and intelligence. Idea came from
intelligence theory was that intelligence is ability of carrying out the abstract reasoning. And
from theory of research, idea was taken that emotions basically are the signals which convey
discernable and regular meanings of relationship. Their proposal was that every individual vary
in his ability while processing emotional nature information and in his ability while relating this
processing to a broader cognition. They postulated, this ability is found manifesting itself in
some specific adaptive behaviours. [ CITATION May00 \l 1033 ]

Salovey and mayer’s concept of EI purpose that ‘Emotional Intelligence’ includes two areas,
strategic and experimental. Both areas are then further divided into two branches ranging from
very basic processes of psychology to processes which are more complex, integrating cognition
and emotion. Four branches are:

Emotional Perception: It is capability of being self-aware of all emotions and expressing

emotions and emotional need precisely to others. It also is the ability to differentiate between
dishonest and honest emotional expressions.
Emotional Assimilation: It is the capability to differentiate between various emotions, one feels
and identifying those which influence processes of their thinking.
Emotional Understanding: It is the ability of understanding complicated emotions (Like feeling
various emotions at same time) and ability of recognizing transition from one emotion to the
other.
Emotion Management: It is the capability of connecting or disconnecting from some emotion
is the ability to connect or disconnect while depending on emotion’s usefulness in a certain
situation.[ CITATION May97 \l 1033 ]
Goleman: A Mixed Model of Emotional Intelligence

Daniel Goleman was a science writer and psycologist who wrote on behavior research and brain
for ‘New York Times’. After discovering the work of Mayer and Salovey in 1990’s he got
inspired and started his research in this area and wrote ‘Emotional Intelligence (1995), which
was a landmark book that popularize the idea of emotional intelligence in both private and public
sector. His model outlined the four main constructs of Emotional Intelligence which are:

1. Self-Management: It is the ability of reading someone’s emotion and recognizing its impact
and at the same time guiding decisions with use of gut feelings.
2. Social Awareness: Its entails the control of someone’s impulses and emotions and to
adopting ability with changing circumstances.
3. Self-Awareness: It includes the capability of sensing, understanding and reacting on
emotions of others while understanding social networks.
4. Relationship Management: It involves the ability of inspiring, influencing and developing
others and managing conflicts at the same time.

Goleman includes a set of emotional competencies within each construct of emotional

intelligence. Emotional competencies are not innate talents, but rather learned capabilities that
must be worked on and developed to achieve outstanding performance. Goleman posits that
ndividuals are born with a general emotional intelligence that determines their potential for
earning emotional competencies. The organization of the competencies under the various
constructs is not random; they appear in synergistic clusters or groupings that support and
facilitate each other (Boyatzis, Goleman, & Rhee, 1999). Figure 2 illustrates Goleman's
conceptual model of emotional intelligence and corresponding emotional competencies. The
constructs and competencies fall under one of four categories: the recognition of emotions in
oneself or others and the regulation of emotion in oneself or others.
Mayer and Salovey began testing the validity of their four-branch model of emotional
intelligence with the Multibranch Emotional Intelligence Scale (MEIS). Composed of 12
subscale measures of emotional intelligence, evaluations with the Multibranch
EmotionalIntelligence Scale indicate that emotional intelligence is a distinct intelligence with 3
separate
sub factors: emotional perception, emotional understanding, and emotional management.
TheMultibranch Emotional Intelligence Scale found only limited evidence for the branch
ofemotional intelligence related to integrating emotions. Additionally, examination of
theMultibranch Emotional Intelligence Scale found evidence for discriminant validity in
thatemotional intelligence was independent of general intelligence and self-reported empathy,
indicating its ability to measure unique qualities of an individual not encompassed by earlier
tests. There were, however, certain limitations to the Multibranch Emotional Intelligence Scale.
Not only was it a lengthy test (402 items) but it also failed to provide satisfactory evidence forthe
integration branch of the Four Branch Model (Mayer, Salovey, & Caruso, 2002). For these and
other reasons, Mayer and Salovey decided to design a new ability measure of emotional
intelligence. The current measure of Mayer and Salovey’s model of emotional intelligence, the
Mayer Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT)was normedon a sampleof 5,000
men and women.The MSCEIT is designed for individuals17 years of age or older and aims
tomeasurethe fou rabilitie soutlinedin Salovey and Mayer's model of emotional intelligence.
Eachability (perception, facilitationof thought, understanding, and regulation)is
measuredusingspecific tasks. Perception of emotionis measuredby rating the extent and type of
emotionexpressedon different types of pictures. Facilitationof thought is measuredby asking
people todrawparallels between emotions andphysical sensations (e.g., light,colour,
temperature)as wellasemotionsnd thoughts. Understanding is measuredby asking the subject to
explain howemotionscan blend from other emotions (e.g.,howemotionscan change from one to
anothersuchas anger to rage). Regulation (or management)of emotions is measured by having
people chooseeffective self and other management techniques (Brackett & Mayer, 2003).

With less than a third of the items of the original Multibranch Emotional Intelligence Scale, the
Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test is comprised of 141 items. The scale yields
six scores: an overall emotional intelligence score (expressed as an emotional intelligence
quotient, or EIQ), two area scores (Experiential Emotional Intelligence, or EEIQ and Strategic
Emotional Intelligence, or SEIQ) and four branch scores corresponding to the four branches of
emotional intelligence. Each score is expressed in terms of a standard intelligence with a mean
score of 100 (average score obtained in the general population) and a standard deviation of 15.
Additionally, the manual provides qualitative ratings that correspond to each numeric score. For
example, an individual who receives an overall EIQ of 69 or less would be rated 'considerable
development' whereas someone scoring 130 or more would be rate significant strength' (Mayer,
Salovey, & Caruso, 2002). Table 1 outlines the structure of the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso
Emotional Intelligence Test and the scores attained.