Motivation and emotion/Book/2026/Emotional intelligence and emotional wellbeing

Emotional intelligence:
How does emotional intelligence affect emotional wellbeing?

Overview

Figure 1. A university student pausing to regulate her emotions after receiving a disappointing grade, generated with ai Scenario Imagine Sophie, a university student who has several assessments due while also dealing with conflict with a close friend. After receiving a disappointing mark, Sophie initially feels frustrated, embarrassed, and overwhelmed. Rather than immediately reacting, she recognises that disappointment and stress are influencing how she is thinking about the situation. She takes some time to regulate her emotions, considers why the result affected her so strongly, and later talks calmly with her friend about the conflict. Another student experiencing the same circumstances might struggle to identify what they are feeling, become increasingly overwhelmed, or react impulsively. Why might people respond so differently to similar emotional situations? One possible explanation involves emotional intelligence the capacity to perceive, understand, use, and regulate emotion. Emotional intelligence may influence how people interpret and respond to emotional experiences and, consequently, their emotional wellbeing. Emotional wellbeing involves more than simply experiencing positive emotions or avoiding negative ones. It concerns how people experience and manage emotions and their broader capacity to function psychologically. Understanding the relationship between emotional intelligence and emotional wellbeing is important because difficult emotions are unavoidable. Psychological research can help explain whether emotionally intelligent abilities support wellbeing, which components of emotional intelligence may be particularly important, and the psychological processes that could explain this relationship.

Focus questions What are emotional intelligence and emotional wellbeing? What is the relationship between emotional intelligence and emotional wellbeing? How does emotional intelligence influence emotional wellbeing? Which components of emotional intelligence are particularly important for emotional wellbeing? How can emotional intelligence be developed to support emotional wellbeing?

What are emotional intelligence and emotional wellbeing?

Emotional intelligence may play an important role in how people recognise, understand, and regulate their emotions. These emotional abilities may influence how people cope with difficult experiences, maintain positive emotions, and support their overall emotional wellbeing. However, emotional intelligence is a complex construct, and different emotional abilities may contribute to wellbeing in different ways. Before examining their relationship, it is important to establish what psychologists mean by emotional intelligence and emotional wellbeing. Both are multidimensional concepts, and different theoretical approaches influence how they are measured and understood.

Defining emotional intelligence

Emotional intelligence describes how people process and manage emotional information noticing emotional cues, making sense of what they mean, and using that understanding to guide thought and behaviour (Givon et al., 2020).This is a somewhat different idea from how the term emotional is often used in everyday language. Describing someone as emotional usually refers to how frequently or intensely they display feelings, while emotional intelligence refers to how skilfully a person processes emotional information, regardless of how expressive they are (Luna et al., 2021). Similarly, EI should not be equated with simply being a nice person. Kindness reflects a disposition or value, whereas EI reflects an ability; a person can be highly emotionally intelligent while still setting firm boundaries or delivering difficult feedback, and a person can be warm and agreeable while struggling to accurately identify or regulate their own emotions (Salovey & Grewal, 2005). Someone can therefore be outwardly calm and reserved while processing emotional information very effectively, just as someone can be outwardly expressive while struggling to understand or manage what they feel (Villanueva et al., 2020).

Because EI has been conceptualised in more than one way, it is useful to introduce these major approaches before going further. As already noted, ability models treat EI as a form of intelligence: a set of cognitive abilities for processing emotional information, assessed using performance-based tasks with objectively better or worse answers, in much the same way as other cognitive abilities are tested (Carfagno, 2020). Trait models instead focus on people's own perceptions of their emotional abilities and tendencies, typically measured through self-report questionnaires. Mixed models combine emotional abilities with broader personality-like characteristics, such as optimism, motivation, or assertiveness.

These differences in definition matter a great deal when examining research on EI and wellbeing. A study using a trait self-report measure is not necessarily capturing the same underlying construct as a study using a performance-based ability test; the two can produce meaningfully different results, including different-strength relationships with wellbeing outcomes (Barbash, 2015). Keeping this distinction in mind will be important later in this chapter, when comparing what the evidence shows across different EI models.

Table 1. Ability model of emotional intelligence

Branch	Description
Perceiving emotions	Accurately identifying emotions in oneself and others, including through facial expressions, tone of voice, and body language.
Using emotions to facilitate thought	Harnessing emotional information to guide attention, reasoning, and problem-solving.
Understanding emotions	Comprehending emotional causes, consequences, and the way emotions change or combine over time.
Managing emotions	Regulating one's own emotions and, where appropriate, the emotions of others, in ways that support goals and wellbeing.

Each branch can support wellbeing in its own way. Accurately noticing emotions helps people recognise what they and others feel. Using emotions to support thinking means letting feelings guide attention and judgment. Understanding emotions helps people figure out why emotions happen and how they change. Managing emotions is about handling emotional responses, which is especially helpful during tough times, like when Sophie takes a moment to calm herself before talking to her friend.

Explain the four branches:

1. Perceiving emotions
2. Using emotions to facilitate thought
3. Understanding emotions

   

   Figure 2. Mayer and Salovey's Emotional Intelligence model

   Managing emotions

Explain briefly how each ability could theoretically contribute to wellbeing.

Quiz 1. Which statement best describes emotional intelligence?

	The ability to perceive, understand, use, and manage emotions.
	The ability to avoid experiencing negative emotions.
	The ability to remain happy in all situations.
	The ability to control the emotions of other people.

Trait emotional intelligence

Trait EI focuses on how people see their own emotional abilities and tendencies, rather than how they perform on objective tests. Self-report measures of EI reflect trait EI in the same way that personality tests show personality traits and patterns. Cronbach explained that self-report and performance-based tests are different because they measure different things: how someone usually acts, versus their best possible performance. Self-report measures show a person's typical emotional functioning, while performance-based tests try to measure their highest ability under test conditions. Cronbach also pointed out that this is a helpful way to understand the difference, not a complete theory; self-report tests can still reveal real skills and abilities, and performance-based tests don't always bring out someone's true best performance either.

Chapman (2005) frames this debate as a question of where emotional intelligence fits within established personality and ability frameworks. For example, psychologists often use the Big Five to organise personality traits. In this view, trait EI is more closely related to personality taxonomies, while ability EI is more like cognitive ability taxonomies. This difference helps explain why researchers measure the two differently.A range of self-report instruments have been developed to assess trait EI. Two commonly used measures are the Trait Meta-Mood Scale, which looks at how well someone notices, understands, and manages their own moods, and the Schutte Self-Report Inventory of Emotional Intelligence , which has held up well in terms of reliability and accuracy in research.

Trait EI is measured through self-report, so it only shows how people view their own emotional intelligence. People may be honest or dishonest, and they might judge their emotions accurately or not. This means self-report EI scores could sometimes reflect a desire to give socially acceptable answers instead of showing real emotional skills. Research on this issue is mixed, some studies have found no strong link between wanting to look good and self-reported EI scores, which suggests this bias may not be as serious as it seems. It is important to keep this in mind when interpreting self-report results (Chapman,2005).

Trait EI matters for emotional wellbeing, but the relationship isn't always straightforward. If you believe you are good at understanding and managing your emotions, you might approach emotional situations with more confidence, which could help your wellbeing even if your actual skills are not strong. However, this self-belief can be inaccurate. For example, someone might think they handle emotions well but actually act in ways that are dismissive or avoidant, which are not helpful. So, just believing you are good at something does not always lead to good results. This is different from another point made later in the chapter trait EI often shows a stronger link with self-reported wellbeing partly because both are measured in similar ways, which can make the connection seem stronger than it really is. Emotional intelligence may play an important role in how people recognise, understand, and regulate their emotions. These abilities may influence well-being by helping people cope with difficult experiences, maintain positive emotions, manage stress, and recover from setbacks. Overall, emotional intelligence may contribute to well-being through these abilities, although the construct is complex and each ability may matter in different ways.

• Explain trait EI.
• Distinguish trait EI from ability EI.
• Explain that trait EI concerns people's perceptions of their emotional abilities and tendencies.
• Briefly introduce why trait EI is relevant to emotional wellbeing.

Defining emotional wellbeing

Emotional well-being theory is a psychological framework that explains how people experience positive emotions, evaluate their life satisfaction, and maintain a sense of purpose

• Hedonic features: How a person feels in their daily moments, including joy, comfort, and a balance of positive over negative emotions.

• Eudaimonic features: Deeper reflective judgments, such as having meaning in life, pursuing personal goals, and feeling a sense of growth.
• The PERMA Model: Developed by Martin Seligman, this theory outlines five building blocks for human flourishing: Positive emotion, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning, and Accomplishment. Learn more via the PERMA Model overview.
• Define emotional wellbeing and explain what it means in psychology.
• Explain that emotional wellbeing involves both positive and negative emotional experiences.
• Clarify that good emotional wellbeing does not mean feeling happy or positive all the time.
• Discuss the ability to recognise, understand, and manage emotions as part of healthy emotional functioning.
• Explain that experiencing emotions such as sadness, anger, anxiety, or disappointment is a normal part of emotional wellbeing.
• Discuss how emotional wellbeing may involve being able to cope with difficult emotions and recover from stressful experiences (Chen et al., 2023).
• Distinguish emotional wellbeing from the absence of mental illness or psychological distress.
• Briefly explain how emotional wellbeing is measured in psychological research, as this will be important when you later discuss its relationship with emotional intelligence.

What is the relationship between emotional intelligence and emotional wellbeing?

After defining both concepts, this section examines what psychological research shows about the overall relationship between emotional intelligence and emotional wellbeing.

Emotional intelligence and positive wellbeing

• Examine whether higher emotional intelligence is associated with greater emotional wellbeing.
• Discuss research involving positive affect, happiness, life satisfaction, and subjective or psychological wellbeing.
• Explain the strength of the relationship where research allows.
• Avoid assuming that emotional intelligence directly causes greater happiness.

Emotional intelligence and negative emotional experiences

• Examine the relationship between EI and stress.
• Discuss emotional distress and negative affect.
• Consider relevant research involving anxiety or depressive symptoms.
• Explain that higher EI does not mean that someone will never experience negative emotions.
• Instead, people with stronger emotional abilities may be better able to understand and respond to difficult emotions.

Trait and ability emotional intelligence

• Compare research findings for trait and ability EI.
• Examine whether trait EI shows different relationships with wellbeing than ability EI.
• Consider how the way EI is measured could influence research findings.
• Discuss the limitations of relying heavily on self-report measures.

What does the evidence tell us?

• Bring the research together.
• Establish whether there is consistent evidence for an association between EI and emotional wellbeing.
• Distinguish correlation from causation.
• Identify any inconsistencies or limitations in the evidence.

How does emotional intelligence influence emotional wellbeing?

Finding an association between emotional intelligence and wellbeing does not necessarily explain why the two are related. Several psychological processes may help explain how emotional intelligence contributes to emotional wellbeing.

How does emotional intelligence influence emotional wellbeing? (Discuss the psychological processes that may explain the relationship. Emotional intelligence may help people recognise what they are feeling, understand why they are experiencing an emotion, regulate difficult emotions, cope with stress, and manage interpersonal situations. These processes may help explain why emotional intelligence is associated with wellbeing.) Research needed: Research connecting emotional intelligence with emotion regulation, coping, stress management, and social functioning, as well as research linking these processes with wellbeing (Zomer, 2012; MacCann et al., 2022).

Emotional awareness and perception

• Explain the importance of accurately recognising emotions.
• Discuss how identifying an emotional state can help a person decide how to respond.
• Explain what may happen when people have difficulty recognising their emotions.
• Connect emotional awareness with emotional wellbeing.

Understanding emotions

• Discuss the ability to understand why an emotion has occurred.
• Explain how people can recognise changes and combinations of emotions.
• Consider how understanding the causes and consequences of emotions may support emotional functioning.
• Explain how emotional understanding may make it easier to choose an appropriate response.

Emotion regulation

• Define emotion regulation.
• Explain how EI may support the regulation of difficult emotional experiences.
• Discuss adaptive and maladaptive emotion regulation strategies.
• Consider cognitive reappraisal and suppression where relevant.
• Explain that regulating an emotion does not necessarily mean removing or suppressing it.
• Examine whether emotion regulation helps explain the relationship between EI and wellbeing.

Coping with stress

• Examine how EI may influence responses to stressful situations.
• Discuss appraisal and coping strategies.
• Consider emotional recovery and resilience.
• Connect effective coping with emotional wellbeing.

Social relationships and support

• Explain how EI may help people recognise other people's emotions.
• Discuss emotional communication.
• Examine interpersonal conflict and relationship management.
• Consider whether stronger relationships and social support provide another pathway between EI and wellbeing.

Figure 3. Possible pathways through which emotional intelligence may support emotional wellbeing.

Emotional intelligence may contribute to emotional wellbeing through several interacting processes, including emotional awareness, understanding, emotion regulation, coping with stress, and social functioning. These processes may work together rather than occurring in a simple step-by-step sequence.

Which components of emotional intelligence are particularly important for emotional wellbeing?

Although emotional intelligence is often discussed as a single concept, its individual components may not contribute equally to emotional wellbeing.

(Discuss whether different components of emotional intelligence contribute differently to wellbeing. Consider emotion perception, using emotion, emotion understanding, and emotion management/regulation. Emotion regulation may be particularly relevant, but this needs to be evaluated using research rather than assumed.) Research needed: Studies comparing different dimensions or branches of emotional intelligence and their relationships with wellbeing, particularly emotion regulation/management (Blasco-Belled et al., 2019).

Emotion perception

• Examine the benefits of accurately recognising emotional states.
• Discuss the importance of identifying emotional cues in oneself and others.
• Consider limitations: recognising an emotion does not necessarily mean someone will manage it effectively.

Using emotions

• Explain what it means to use emotions to support thinking.
• Discuss how emotional information may guide attention, judgement, or problem-solving.
• Examine whether this component has a clear relationship with emotional wellbeing.

Emotion understanding

• Discuss understanding the causes and consequences of emotions.
• Consider emotional complexity and changes in emotional states.
• Examine how understanding emotions may support coping and regulation.

Emotion regulation and management

• Examine whether emotion regulation is particularly strongly related to emotional wellbeing.
• Discuss positive affect and negative affect.
• Consider emotional distress.
• Examine connections with resilience and coping.
• Consider whether emotion regulation could help explain the broader relationship between EI and wellbeing.

Comparing the components

• Compare evidence across the different EI components.
• Consider whether any component appears particularly important for wellbeing.
• Avoid assuming that emotion regulation is the most important unless the research supports this conclusion.
• Consider whether the different abilities work together.

Table 2.

Emotional intelligence and emotional wellbeing

Concept	Central concern	Example
Emotional intelligence	Processing, understanding and managing emotional information	Recognising why you feel anxious and choosing an appropriate response
Emotional wellbeing	Quality of emotional experience and functioning	Experiencing manageable negative emotion while maintaining positive functioning
Emotion regulation	Influencing emotional experiences or responses	Reappraising a stressful situation rather than reacting impulsively

How can emotional intelligence be developed to support emotional wellbeing?

Discuss whether emotional intelligence can be improved through training or psychological interventions. Consider strategies aimed at emotional awareness, understanding emotions, emotion regulation, and interpersonal skills. Examine whether improving these abilities actually leads to improvements in wellbeing and acknowledge limitations in the evidence.) Research needed: Intervention studies and preferably systematic reviews or meta-analyses of emotional intelligence training and its effects on emotional or psychological wellbeing (Hodzic et al., 2018); (Nadler et al., 2020)

Figures

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Conclusion

• Emotional wellbeing involves healthy emotional experience and functioning rather than simply experiencing positive emotions.
• Research suggests that higher emotional intelligence is generally associated with better indicators of wellbeing.
• Emotion regulation, coping and interpersonal functioning may help explain this relationship.
• Different EI components and models may show different relationships with wellbeing.
• Emotional intelligence may be partly developable, creating potential applications for wellbeing interventions.
• or universal cause of emotional wellbeing. Return briefly to Sophie: Sophie's situation demonstrates that emotional intelligence does not remove disappointment, stress, or conflict. Instead, emotional abilities may help her recognise what she is experiencing, understand why she feels that way, regulate her response, and choose behaviours that support her wellbeing.
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See also

• Emotional intelligence
• Emotional regulation
• Subjective wellbeing
• Psychological wellbeing
• Coping
• Stress
• Positive psychology

• Emotional intelligence (Book chapter, 2011)

• How are all children smart? (Wikibooks)

• Collaborative authoring using wiki (Wikiversity)
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• Light triad (Book chapter, 2021)

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References

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APA style example:

Barbash, E. H. (2015). Emotional intelligence in professional psychology doctoral students: A cross-sectional study (Publication No. 3724176) [Doctoral dissertation, The Florida State University]. ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Global.https://www.proquest.com/psychology/docview/1725144779/3E4CE21A1D6E4E64PQ/1?accountid=28889&sourcetype=Dissertations%20&%20Theses

Blasco-Belled, A., Rogoza, R., Torrelles-Nadal, C., & Alsinet, C. (2019). Emotional intelligence structure and its relationship with life satisfaction and happiness: New findings from the bifactor model. Journal of Happiness Studies, 21(6), 2031–2049. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-019-00167-x

Chapman, B. P. (2005). Emotional intelligence at mid life: A cross sectional investigation of structural variance, social correlates, and relationship to established personality and ability taxonomies. Proquest.Com. https://www.proquest.com/psychology/docview/305400900/8D98674B36744231PQ/2?accountid=28889&sourcetype=Dissertations%20&%20Theses

Carfagno, N. (2020). The factor structures of ability and trait emotional intelligences relative to general intelligence and personality. Proquest.Com. https://www.proquest.com/psychology/docview/2466049130/3E4CE21A1D6E4E64PQ/4?accountid=28889&sourcetype=Dissertations%20&%20Theses

Chen, C., Kotozaki , Y., Okubo , R., & Nakagawa , S. (2023, July 13). Editorial: New insights into stress coping and resilience . Canberra.Edu.Au. https://pmc-ncbi-nlm-nih-gov.ezproxy.canberra.edu.au/articles/PMC10374303/

Givon, E., Itzhak-Raz, A., Danieli, G., Karmon-Presser, A., & Meiran, N. (2020, March). How Does the Emotional Experience Evolve? Feeling Generation as Evidence Accumulation. Canberra.Edu.Au. https://research-ebsco-com.ezproxy.canberra.edu.au/c/aprr63/viewer/pdf/3yqigdmzyv?route=details

Hodzic, S., Scharfen, J., Ripoll, P., Holling, H., & Zenasni, F. (2017). How efficient are emotional intelligence trainings: A meta-analysis. Emotion Review, 10(2), 138–148. https://doi.org/10.1177/1754073917708613

Llamas-Díaz, D., Cabello, R., Megías-Robles, A., & Fernández-Berrocal, P. (2022). Systematic review and meta-analysis: The association between emotional intelligence and subjective well-being in adolescents. Journal of Adolescence, 94(7), 925–938. PubMed. https://doi.org/10.1002/jad.12075

Luna, L. M. B., Vilar, M. M., Soto, C. M., & Santiago, J. L. C. (2021). Emotional intelligence measures: A systematic review. Healthcare, 9(12). https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare9121696

Nadler, R., Carswell , J., & Minda, J. P. (2020, February). Online mindfulness training increases well-being, trait emotional intelligence, and workplace competency ratings: A randomized waitlist-controlled trial. Canberra.Edu.Au. https://pmc-ncbi-nlm-nih-gov.ezproxy.canberra.edu.au/articles/PMC7048000/

Robinson, T. J., & Zell, E. (2026). Robust associations of emotional intelligence with human flourishing: A second-order meta-analysis. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 123(19), e2532963123. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2532963123

Salovey, P., & Grewal, D. (2005). The Science of Emotional Intelligence. Current Directions in Psychological Science : A Journal of the American Psychological Society, 14(6), 281–285. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0963-7214.2005.00381

MacCann, C., Double, K. S., & Clarke, I. E. (2022). Lower avoidant coping mediates the relationship of emotional intelligence with well-being and ill-being. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, 835819. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.835819

Xu, X., Pang, W., & Xia, M. (2021, December). Are emotionally intelligent people happier? A meta‐analysis of the relationship between emotional intelligence and subjective well‐being using chinese samples. Canberra.Edu.Au. https://research-ebsco-com.ezproxy.canberra.edu.au/c/aprr63/viewer/pdf/cwosfaeugr?route=details Villanueva, L., Prado-Gascó, V., & Montoya-Castilla, I. (2020). Longitudinal analysis of subjective well-being in preadolescents: The role of emotional intelligence, self-esteem and perceived stress. Journal of Health Psychology, 27(2), 135910532095160. https://doi.org/10.1177/1359105320951605

Zomer, L. (2012a). The relationships among emotional intelligence, gender, coping strategies, and well-being in the management of stress in close interpersonal relationships and the workplace [Master's thesis, University of Toronto]. https://www.proquest.com/openview/723018a77700f5c01e4992096ca8f1fa/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=18750

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