Abstract

Emotional Intelligence (EI) has been repeatedly placed in psychological and organizational literature as a desirable and beneficial trait, linked to enhanced leadership skills, relationship satisfaction, and work performance. The most popular conceptualizations of EI have defined it as an assessable competency that predicts favorable outcomes. Nevertheless, the most popular strength-based approach might conceal the intricate experiences of people with high levels of interpersonal and intrapersonal emotional intelligence. This research aims to critically analyze the lived experiences of emotionally intelligent adults in terms of their social, career, and romantic lives, focusing particularly on whether high emotional intelligence can also lead to relational imbalances, emotional labor, lack of recognition, or psychological distress. While going beyond the psychometric and performance-related focus, this research uses a qualitative approach to investigate the participants’ subjective processes of meaning-making, emotional regulation, and social relationships. Through this lived experience focus, this research aims to enhance the existing conceptual frameworks of emotional intelligence, considering it not only as an adaptive asset but also as a relational construct situated within the context of social expectations and power relations while using already existing groundwork.