﻿Day 3

Subject: [firstname]: Did you know there's more than one type of EI?

Hey [firstname]!

After all we've talked about over the past couple of days, it may shock you to discover that there is more than one type of Emotional Intelligence (EI).  In fact, there are three different types:

* Ability model
* Mixed model
* Trait model

We're going to cover all of them in today's installment.

First the Ability model.

The ability-based model views emotions as useful sources of information that help you make sense of and navigate the social environment. This model proposes that individuals vary in their ability to process information of an emotional nature and to relate emotional processing to a wider cognition. This includes differing ways of perceiving emotions, using emotions, understanding emotions and managing emotions. 

The mixed model, on the other hand,  focuses on EI as a wide array of competencies and skills that drive leadership performance. These include self-awareness, self-regulation, social skills, empathy and motivation. According to this model, individuals are born with a general emotional intelligence that determines their potential for learning emotional competencies.

Finally the trait model refers to an individual's self-perceptions of their emotional abilities. This model model is based on behavioral dispositions and self-perceived abilities and is measured by self reporting – as opposed to the ability based model which refers to actual abilities.  It regards EI as a personality trait rather than a developed skill. According to this model, your EI is an aspect of your personality that is relatively stable over time, differs from person to person, is relatively consistent over varying situations, and influences behavior.

Which model is the most accurate?

Well, these theories are so new that the jury's still out on that one!  Nevertheless, you can be sure that over time one will emerge as the dominant model within the scientific community.  In the meantime, use your own judgment to decide which model makes most sense to you and use that as a platform for boosting your EI and EQ. 

Talk soon!

[Your Name]

PS. Don't forget your copy of my Emotional Intelligence manual.  Here's the link: [link to sales page]
