Relation of an ability measure of emotional intelligence to personality.

Is emotional intelligence simply a naive theory of personality, or is it a form of intelligence? If emotional intelligence is to be of value, it must measure something unique and distinct from standard personality traits. To explore this question, this study examined an ability test of emotional intelligence and its relationship to personality test variables to determine the extent to which these constructs overlap. A sample of 183 men and women took the Multifactor Emotional Intelligence Scale (Mayer, Caruso, & Salovey, 1999), an ability measure of emotional intelligence as well as measures of career interests, personality, and social behavior. Emotional intelligence was measured reliably and was relatively independent of traditionally defined personality traits, supporting the discriminant validity of the emotional intelligence construct.