Hunter Pelt, Motivation and Emotion

        Admittedly, I have a bit of difficulty trying to find examples of emotional intelligence.  I speculate that Vivi is able to perform the lowest level:  perceiving the emotions in herself and others accurately.  Her thoughts, in the novel, reveal that she is aware of the sadness she suffers from years after the death of her first love; she is aware of the regret and guilt she feels over harming her children during her nervous collapse.  She is also aware of how others feel:  in one instance during a flashback, it is revealed that she perceived the sadness her nanny felt while they were traveling far from home.        This prompts her quite often to engage in seeking out the answers why.  In the same example as the previous, she begins to talk with her nanny to discover why she is upset and crying.  Vivi's empathy towards her caretaker leads her to stay a bit and comfort her....

          Using a previous example, there is a flashback to when Vivi was in her 20s.  Vivi and her friends complain about the sweltering summer heat one night.  The weather, of course, is something that is out of their control.  So, the young women resolve to deal with their predicament by going out for a car ride with the top down.  This would be an example of secondary control: coping with something outside of one's control.   As they are driving, Vivi then begins contemplating doing something wild (taking her shirt and bra off).  As she ponders this notion, she is engaging in the per-decisional stage of the Rubicon model.  She weighs pros and cons.  It is dark and there are not many cars on the road.  She waits for one going in the opposite direction (pre-actional volition, waiting for the right time) and proceeds to take off her shirt (actional volition).  Not long after, headli...