Misconceptions about emotional intelligence: Deploying emotional intelligence in one’s life dimensions

Abstract

Emotional intelligence (EI) has become a buzz-word over the past ten years, yet misconceptions with regard to the concept abound. This leads to confusion among the general public, the scientific community, as well as to unfounded claims being made as to what the development of EI can accomplish in a person’s life. In this article the aim is to clarify the concept EI by making a sharper demarcation between the Emotional Life Dimension and the other life dimensions. Based on this clarification, the conceptualisation of EI in the literature is reviewed in more depth.