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By:
Carolyn MacCann email the author, Yixin Jiang, Luke E. R. Brown, Kit S. Double,
Micaela Bucich, Amirali Minbashian, MacCann, C., Jiang, Y., Brown, L. E. R.,
Double, K. S., Bucich, M., & Minbashian, A. (2020). Emotional intelligence
predicts academic performance: A Meta-Analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 146(2),
150–186. https://doi.org/10.1037/bul0000219
Mixed Models of EI
While there are many mixed models of EI, the three major conceptualizations are
Goleman’s emotional competence (Goleman, 1998), Bar-On’s emotional
and social competence (Bar-On, 2006), and Petrides and
Furnham’s trait emotional intelligence (Petrides, Perez-Gonzalez, & Furnham,
2007; Petrides, Pita, et al., 2007). We describe these below.
Emotional Competence
Goleman’s model, first outlined in his 1998 book Working with Emotional
Intelligence, consists of four major competencies:
 self-awareness (being aware of one’s emotions, accurate in one’s selfassessments, and self-confident);
 self-management (being conscientious, trust-worthy, adaptable,
achievement-oriented, and able to control one’s emotions and behaviors)
 social awareness (showing empathy to others, and having a service
orientation and organizational awareness); and
 social skills (being skilled in leadership, communication, influence,
conflict management, building relationships, showing good teamwork and
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collaboration skills, as well as the ability to mentor others; Boyatzis,
Goleman, & Rhee, 2000; Goleman, 1998).
Thus model distinguishes between awareness (the tendencies and abilities to
detect essential emotional information in oneself and one’s environment)
and management (being able to change or regulate the social and emotional
content of oneself and one’s surroundings) as they are applied to the self and
to others.
This emotional competence model is the basis for the emotional competence
inventory (ECI), a rating-scale inventory commercially available to assess EI.
There is relatively little peer-reviewed empirical evidence evaluating the ECI, and
it has been criticized based on a lack of content validity and predictive
validity evidence (Landy, 2005; Matthews, Zeidner, & Roberts, 2002).
Nevertheless, the theoretical model has been very influential in both business and
education settings. For instance, this model formed the basis for the social and
emotional learning (SEL) competency model used by the Collaborative for
Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL, 2003; Durlak et al., 2011).
CASEL’s SEL model includes the four Goleman competencies as well as a fifth
competency of responsible decision making (being able to make constructive
choices about personal behavior and social interactions). This model is widely
used internationally to guide educational interventions designed to increase
student, class and school-level socio-emotional competencies.
The magnitude have led some researchers to claim that EI (especially mixedmodel conceptualizations) represents ―old wine in a new bottle‖—that is, a
rebranding of personality rather than a new and distinct construct (Matthews et
al., 2002).