Ability EI: definition and example
Ability emotional intelligence (ability EI) is the view that EI is a mental ability: how well you perceive, understand, use, and manage emotions when solving actual problems. It is measured with tasks that have better and worse answers, rather than by asking people to rate themselves.
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What the model claims
Mayer, Caruso, and Salovey describe ability EI as a capacity for reasoning about emotions, placed alongside other personal and social intelligences (Mayer, Caruso, and Salovey, 2016). Because it is framed as an ability, it is tested like one. A person might be shown a scenario and asked which response is most likely to help, or asked which emotions tend to blend into another.
How tests try to capture it
MacCann and Roberts built two situational tests of this kind, one for understanding emotions and one for managing them, and tried them with 207 students and 149 office workers (MacCann and Roberts, 2008). A sample item style: "Your friend has just been passed over for a promotion and says she is fine. Which response is most likely to help?" The answer is scored against a key, not against how confident you feel.
Why it differs from self-report
Knowing the best answer and believing you are good at something are different. One study found that people's self-ratings of their emotional abilities were not strongly correlated with their scores on a performance test of those abilities (Brackett and colleagues, 2006). So a high ability score says you can pick a good response on a task; it does not prove you use it at 11 p.m. in a family argument. Compare trait EI and situational judgment tests.
Ability EI versus trait EI at a glance
Ability EI asks "Can you solve this emotion problem?" and is scored against a key. Trait EI asks "How do you usually handle emotions?" and is scored from your own ratings. The first is closer to a skill test; the second is closer to a personality questionnaire.
How EQTiger relates
EQTiger mixes 18 scenario judgment items with 18 self-report habit items so you can see where the two agree and where they diverge. Its results are descriptive 0 to 100 EQTiger scores for self-reflection, not an ability test score with norms.
Back to the glossary or emotions A to Z, or start the free assessment for adult self-reflection. Not therapy or a mental-health screening. EQTiger does not diagnose.
Research notes
- John D. Mayer, David R. Caruso, Peter Salovey (2016). The Ability Model of Emotional Intelligence: Principles and Updates. Emotion Review, 8(4), 290-300. Mayer, Caruso, and Salovey restate their ability model, which treats emotional intelligence as a mental ability for reasoning about emotions, and place it among other personal and social intelligences. doi.org/10.1177/1754073916639667
- Carolyn MacCann, Richard D. Roberts (2008). New paradigms for assessing emotional intelligence: Theory and data. Emotion, 8(4), 540-551. Developed two situational judgment tests of emotional intelligence, one for understanding emotions (STEU) and one for managing them (STEM), in samples of 207 students and 149 office workers. doi.org/10.1037/a0012746
- Marc A. Brackett, Susan E. Rivers, Sara Shiffman, Nicole Lerner, Peter Salovey (2006). Relating emotional abilities to social functioning: A comparison of self-report and performance measures of emotional intelligence. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 91(4), 780-795. Found that people's self-ratings of their emotional abilities were not strongly correlated with their scores on a performance test of those abilities. doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.91.4.780
Related
- No. 01EQ glossaryThe words behind emotional intelligence, defined.
- No. 02Trait EITrait emotional intelligence (trait EI) is a set of emotion-related self-perceptions and dispositions: how you see your own ability to notice, express, and manage feelings.
- No. 03Mixed model of EIA mixed model of emotional intelligence combines emotional skills with broader personal qualities, such as motivation, optimism, or social confidence, under one EI label.
- No. 04Situational judgment testA situational judgment test (SJT) presents realistic scenarios and asks you to choose or rate possible responses, which are then scored against a key.
- No. 05Emotional intelligenceEmotional intelligence (EI, often called EQ) is the capacity to notice, understand, and manage emotions in yourself and other people, and to use them in thinking and action.
- No. 06Emotional Intelligence Test: Free EQ AssessmentExplore your emotional choices with a free 36-item assessment for adults. Get a profile summary and strongest area, then choose whether to unlock the full report.
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