What Is Emotional Intelligence at Work?

Emotional intelligence at work is best understood as a personality trait, not a cognitive skill. That framing runs against the popular assumption that emotional intelligence is a form of intelligence measurable the way IQ is measured. Trait emotional intelligence describes a constellation of emotion-related self-perceptions that sits within the same personality space as the Big Five, and understanding it this way changes both how it should be measured and what claims about it are defensible.

Three Models, One Overlapping Construct

The term emotional intelligence describes at least three distinct things, and conflating them is the primary source of confusion in popular writing.

Goleman (1995) popularized a broad, mixed model combining self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy, and social skill under one label, blending personality and competency in a way that is hard to test with precision.

Mayer and Salovey (1997) proposed a narrower ability model, treating emotional intelligence as a form of intelligence measured through performance-based tests, largely independent of personality.

Petrides and Furnham (2001) proposed a third model, trait emotional intelligence, defined by Petrides, Pita, and Kokkinaki (2007) as a constellation of emotional self-perceptions located at the lower levels of established personality hierarchies. It is unrelated to cognitive ability but shows moderate to strong associations with the Big Five, particularly low neuroticism and high extraversion (Furnham & Petrides, 2003; Greven, Chamorro-Premuzic, Arteche, & Furnham, 2008). In practical terms, trait EI is a facet-level pattern within personality.

The 15 Facets of Trait Emotional Intelligence

Petrides and colleagues specify 15 facets that define trait EI: adaptability, assertiveness, emotion perception in oneself and others, emotion expression, the ability to influence others' emotional states, emotion regulation, impulse control, the capacity for fulfilling relationships, self-esteem, self-motivation, social awareness, stress management, empathy, happiness, and optimism.

Several map directly onto established personality dimensions. Assertiveness and social awareness relate closely to extraversion. Stress management and impulse control relate closely to emotional stability and conscientiousness. Empathy and relationship quality relate closely to agreeableness.

Why the Distinction Matters in Practice

Whether a claim about emotional intelligence holds up depends on which of the three models it's actually based on. Claims based on Goleman's mixed model are hard to evaluate rigorously, since the model bundles constructs that are better measured separately. Claims based on Mayer and Salovey's ability model depend on performance-based testing that is more time-intensive and less commonly used in organizations than self-report measures. Claims based on the trait model are grounded in the personality assessment infrastructure organizations already use, meaning emotional intelligence, understood this way, can be measured through validated personality instruments rather than a separate test.

How to Build Emotional Intelligence at Work

Treat it as an extension of personality, not a separate skill. Development is more effective when it builds on a person's existing personality profile rather than treating emotional intelligence as an independent competency.

Practice specific emotion labeling. Naming emotions precisely, in oneself and in observed situations, strengthens the emotion perception facet regardless of starting profile.

Seek structured feedback on interpersonal impact. Since facets like social awareness and relationship quality concern how one is experienced by others, 360-degree feedback provides evidence that self-reflection alone cannot generate.

Build a pause before responding under emotional pressure. Stress management and impulse control are strengthened by deliberately building a gap between an emotional trigger and a response.

How Deeper Signals Approaches This

At Deeper Signals, emotional intelligence is measured through the Core Drivers Diagnostic and Core Values Diagnostic rather than a separate, standalone instrument. The Core Drivers Diagnostic captures the personality dimensions, particularly emotional stability, agreeableness, and extraversion, that the trait EI literature consistently links to self-perceived emotional and social functioning.

Bespoke scoring algorithms translate these personality and values scores into behavioral competencies, including emotional intelligence, across the leading self, leading others, and leading projects domains. Rather than adding a separate EI score that duplicates existing personality data, Deeper Signals measures the underlying trait constructs once and derives the competency-level view from them.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is emotional intelligence more important than cognitive ability for job performance?

‍No. Cognitive ability remains the single strongest predictor of job performance across occupational groups. Emotional intelligence contributes independently in roles with substantial emotional labor and interpersonal demands, but it does not exceed the predictive power of cognitive ability in most contexts.

If emotional intelligence is a personality trait, can it still be developed?

‍Yes, to a meaningful degree. The underlying personality dimensions are relatively stable, but specific facets, such as emotion regulation and stress management, can be practiced and strengthened, in the same way specific behavioral expressions of any trait can shift over time.

Is Goleman's model of emotional intelligence wrong?

‍Not wrong, but broader and less precisely defined than the alternatives. It captures genuinely important workplace behaviors, but combines personality, motivation, and skill in a way that makes it harder to test rigorously than either the ability model or the trait model.

How is trait emotional intelligence different from the ability model?

‍The ability model treats emotional intelligence as a form of intelligence measured through performance-based tasks. The trait model treats it as a facet-level pattern within personality, measured through self-report and unrelated to cognitive ability. The two capture different things and correlate only weakly with each other.

Do organizations need a separate EI assessment if they already use a validated personality tool?

‍Not necessarily. Because trait emotional intelligence sits within personality itself, a validated Big Five assessment already captures much of the same information. Organizations should evaluate whether an additional EI instrument adds meaningful incremental validity before adopting one.

Last reviewed by Dr. Reece Akhtar — June 2026

References

Petrides, K. V., & Furnham, A. (2001). Trait emotional intelligence: Psychometric investigation with reference to established trait taxonomies. European Journal of Personality, 15(6), 425–448.

Petrides, K. V., Pita, R., & Kokkinaki, F. (2007). The location of trait emotional intelligence in personality factor space. British Journal of Psychology, 98(2), 273–289.

Furnham, A., & Petrides, K. V. (2003). Trait emotional intelligence and happiness. Social Behavior and Personality: An International Journal, 31(8), 815–824.

Greven, C., Chamorro-Premuzic, T., Arteche, A., & Furnham, A. (2008). A hierarchical integration of dispositional determinants of general health in students: The Big Five, trait emotional intelligence and humour styles. Personality and Individual Differences, 44(7), 1562–1573.

Goleman, D. (1995). Emotional Intelligence. New York: Bantam Books.

Mayer, J. D., & Salovey, P. (1997). What is emotional intelligence? In P. Salovey, M. A. Brackett, & J. D. Mayer (Eds.), Emotional Intelligence: Key Readings on the Mayer and Salovey Model (pp. 29–59). Port Chester, NY: Dude Publishing.

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