Four-Dimension Emotional Intelligence
Also known as: Wong and Law EI model · Mayer and Salovey four-branch model
Model of emotional intelligence as a set of related emotional abilities (Salovey & Mayer, 1990; Mayer & Salovey, 1997), operationalised for self-report by Wong and Law (2002) in four dimensions: appraisal and expression of one's own emotions, appraisal and recognition of emotions in others, use of emotion to facilitate performance, and regulation of emotion in oneself. The four dimensions are distinct but related, load on a second-order factor, and are measured here as self-reported skill rather than as performance: a self-report reads how a person sees their own emotional functioning, which is a different question from what an ability test such as the MSCEIT scores against criteria.
- Source:
- Wong, C.-S., & Law, K. S. (2002). The effects of leader and follower emotional intelligence on performance and attitude: An exploratory study. The Leadership Quarterly, 13(3), 243-274. Mayer, J. D., & Salovey, P. (1997). What is emotional intelligence? Salovey, P., & Mayer, J. D. (1990). Emotional intelligence. Imagination, Cognition and Personality, 9(3), 185-211.
Constructs
Self-Emotion Appraisal
The ability to perceive, understand and express one's own emotions (Mayer & Salovey, 1997; Wong & Law, 2002): noticing a feeling while it is happening and being able to tell one state from another. The other three dimensions build on it, because a feeling has to be noticed before it can be used or steadied.
Others' Emotion Appraisal
The ability to perceive and understand the emotions of the people around you (Mayer & Salovey, 1997; Wong & Law, 2002): catching tone shifts, silences, and the gap between what someone says and what their face is doing. Distinct from caring about those emotions, which is what an empathy measure reads.
Use of Emotion
The ability to direct emotion toward constructive activity and personal performance (Mayer & Salovey, 1997; Wong & Law, 2002): turning enthusiasm into a started task, frustration into another attempt, pressure into focus. The least discussed of the four dimensions and the most visible in what actually gets done.
Regulation of Emotion
The ability to regulate one's own emotions, recovering quickly from psychological distress (Mayer & Salovey, 1997; Wong & Law, 2002). Not suppression: steady people still feel the spike, they get their hands back on the wheel sooner. Of the four dimensions, the one that responds most directly to practice.
Instruments
- NOESIS Emotional Intelligence ScaleNOESIS2026