Predictive Processing of Interoception, Decision-Making, and Allostasis: A Computational Framework and Implications for Emotional Intelligence

Emotional intelligence is composed of a set of emotional abilities, including recognition of emotional states in the self and others, the use of emotions to guide thoughts and behaviours, and emotion regulation. Previous studies have demonstrated that emotional intelligence is associated with mental health, social problem solving, interpersonal relationship quality, and academic and job performance. Although emotional intelligence has received much interest both in basic research fields and applied and clinical fields, the mechanisms underlying the functions of emotional intelligence remain unclear. The aim of the present article was to consider the mechanisms of emotional intelligence using a computational approach. Recent theories of emotion in psychology and neuroscience have emphasized the importance of predictive processing. It has been proposed that the brain creates internal models that can provide predictions for sensation and motor movement, and perception and behaviors emerge from Bayesian computations rooted in these predictions. This theoretical framework has been expanded to include interoceptive perception of the internal body to explain affect and decision-making as phenomena based on interoception. This perspective has implications for understanding issues of emotional intelligence.