The Mutual Role of Ability Emotional Intelligence and Trait Emotional Intelligence in Achieving Desired Objectives of Individual

Abstract

The term Emotion broadly refers to elicit feeling of excitement (James, 1894). To elicit the feeling of excitement, mere unmediated perception is not sufficient, but some minimal cognitive thinking is needed (Brosch, 2013). However, contribution of cognitive thinking in experiencing emotion is debatable. Ability Emotional Intelligence (AEI) is recognized under the domain of intelligence (Brackett et al, 2011; Cherniss, 2010; Mayer et al, 2008, Mayer et al, 2000) and is defined as a type of cognitive capability (Kerr et al, 2006) while Trait Emotional Intelligence (TEI) is interpreted based on trait theory as persons’ self confidence on emotional ability (Petrides, 2011; Petrides et al, 2007,). Mayer, et al, (2008) claimed that the term Trait is used typically to denote inherited characteristic and there is no justification for why certain traits are included. In contrast, Locke (2005) and Fineman (2004) argued that AEI is an invalid concept and does not belong to cognitive domain. In this study, the researchers have deviated from conventional argument that one concept is stronger than the other and explore how both constructs contribute from perceptual and ability perspectives in realizing desired objectives. According to self-efficacy theory, people with higher perceived value on their capabilities tend to initiate actions even under unfavorable conditions (Bandura, 1993). However Bandura (1977) further stressed that perceived self efficacy is not the sole determinant of behavior. Therefore, the researchers argue that both AEI and TEI are important in realizing desired objectives effectively and efficiently even though the constructs represent two different domains.