Abstract
This paper reviews the claimed pivotal role of emotional intelligence (EI) in well-being and health. Specifically, we examine the utility of EI in predicting health and well-being and point to future research issues that the field might profitably explore. EI is predictive of various indicators of well-being, as well as both physical and psychological health, but existing research has methodological limitations including over-reliance on self-report measures, and neglect of overlap between EI and personality measures. Interventions focusing on emotional perception, understanding and expression, and emotion regulation, seem potentially important for improving health and well-being, but research on EI has not yet made a major contribution to therapeutic practice. Future research, using a finer-grained approach to measurement of both predictors and criteria might most usefully focus on intra- and inter-personal processes that may mediate effects of EI on health. A video abstract of this article can be viewed at.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1-30 |
| Number of pages | 30 |
| Journal | Applied Psychology: Health and Well-Being |
| Volume | 4 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Mar 2012 |
Keywords
- Emotional intelligence
- Five factor model of personality
- Health
- Inter- and intra-personal processes
- Well-being
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Applied Psychology