Emotional intelligence (EI) is the ability to detect and to manage emotional cues and information. Emotional intelligence (EI) is a person’s ability to perceive emotions in the self and others, understand the meaning of these emotions, and regulate his or her own emotions accordingly. People who know their own emotions and are good at reading emotional cues—for instance, knowing why they’re angry and how to express themselves without violating norms—are most likely to be effective.

Several studies suggest that EI plays an important role in job performance, although the survey items are often strikingly similar to other items from personality, intelligence, and self-perception tests. Although the field is progressing in its understanding of EI, many questions have not been answered. Part of the reason EI has only a modest correlation with job effectiveness is that it is mostly measured with self-report inventories.

All questions aside, EI is wildly popular among consulting firms and in the popular press, and it has accumulated some support in the research literature. Love it or hate it, one thing is for sure—EI is here to stay.