Trait Emotional Intelligence: Modelling Individual Emotional Differences in Agent-Based Models

Abstract

From a psychological perspective, the construct of emotional intelligence (EI) is strictly related to the individual experience of emotions. Despite the several prominent theories emerged during the years [1,2,3], all authors recognize that emotional intelligence concerns two main aspects of individual emotional experience: the faculty to recognize and control own emotions, and the ability to understand and influence what others feel. In this way, EI can be considered as a superior dimension useful to the perception, control and management of emotions: from an individual viewpoint (i.e. what particular emotion am I feeling in this moment?), as well as for the social dimension (i.e. what are others feeling right now?). In this way, the aim of the Ph.D. project is the development of agent-based models, especially in order to recreate the social mechanisms studied by social and organizational psychology (e.g. teamwork; competition and negotiation), able to take into account the individual differences related to the management of the emotional experiences and affecting decision-making processes.