Chapter 2: The Dark Side of Emotional Intelligence

The concept of emotional intelligence (EI) has been “characterized by widely differing definitions and measurement approaches” (Walter, Cole, & Humphrey, 2011, p. 46). These conceptualizations have been divided into three distinct categories (Ashkanasy & Daus, 2005). In the first stream, EI has been conceptualized as a set of abilities to “(a) perceive emotions in oneself and others accurately, (b) use emotions to facilitate thinking, (c) understand emotions, emotional language, and the signals conveyed by emotions, and (d) manage emotions so as to attain specific goals” (Mayer, Salovey, & Caruso, 2008, p. 506). This stream uses ability-based tests to measure EI. The second stream is based on the same conceptualization as above but uses self-report or other-report measures to capture EI. The third stream, also known as mixed model approach, conceptualizes EI as a mix of different dispositions and competencies (Goleman, 2000) and uses selfreports or other-report measures to capture it.