Emotional intelligence (EI) is the ability to know, understand, and manage emotions. People with high EI know their own emotions and the emotions of other people, and they are able to use emotions to think and live better. This thought model claims that high EI helps people to be successful in life. There are several different models that disagree about the exact definition of the term. Even though there does not seem to be an exact definition, the model itself can be applied in various ways, across different domains.

Nowadays, there are 3 main models of EI:

EI is often measured as an Emotional Intelligence Quotient (EQ).