Despite the fact that emotional intelligence is a rather new concept when it comes to the field of psychology, there are certain divisions. Basically, many different scientists explained emotional intelligence in a variety of ways. Today, the most commonly used are the model of Mayer and Salovey and the model of Bar-On. The model of Salovey and Mayer includes assessment and expression of emotions, perception, emotional facilitation of opinion, understanding, and analysis of emotions and reflective regulation of emotions.
Evaluation, expression and perception
Evaluation and expression of emotions, as well as perception, are actually the ability to recognize emotion in a physical condition, works of art, linguistic expression and behavior. By learning to recognize his own and others’ emotions, a person is able to distinguish the a emotion from a false one. The emotional facilitation of opinion refers to the knowledge of the impact of emotion on memory and thinking. A person who has developed this ability is able to clearly recognize the emotions and to use them in judgment. In this case, emotions facilitate an approach to a specific problem, as well as the development of creativity. For instance, an emotionally intelligent person will be better in creating or constructing certain ideas than those who do not possess high levels of emotional intelligence.
Understanding emotions
The understanding and analysis of emotions enable the use and development of emotional knowledge. The person who has this ability can clearly name the emotions and recognize the relationships between the words (e.g., to like and to love) and can therefore understand the consequences of these emotions. This component can strengthen, and the result is the understanding of more complex emotions, as well as the ways emotions switch from one to another. That is why people who show higher levels of emotional intelligence have a better and deeper understanding of human weakness and deficiency. Consequently, every good psychologist and psychiatrist should have very well-developed emotional intelligence since they need to understand emotions and human behavior deeply and be able to provide help.
On the other hand, we have the model Bar-On designed by Israeli scientist Reuven Bar-On. His model consists of 15 components grouped into five main groups: intrapersonal components, interpersonal components, adaptability components, stress management components, and general mood components. The intrapersonal component includes an emotional self-consciousness by which you can understand yourself and other people around you. The interpersonal component includes empathy, i.e. the ability to notice how people feel in our environment. Finally, stress management component refers to stress tolerance. People who can tolerate stress know how to act under pressure and they control a specific situation more easily.
This component is especially important in the recent, modern, and rapid times where stress is a normal component of our lives. We are constantly dealing with stressful situations, more or less on a daily basis. For this particular reason if we are strong enough, or emotionally intelligent enough, we would be able to manage those kinds of situations more easily and with minimal pressure. Although some of us have developed emotional intelligence more than others, we all need to be aware of its importance and further developments in order to survive hustle and bustle of reality.