Emotional Intelligence, also called EI or EQ, describes an ability, capacity, or skill to perceive, assess, and manage the emotions of one's self, of others, and of groups. Emotional intelligence is founded in the ideas of Howard Gardner's 1975-work called The Shattered Mind, which began the formulation of his ideas for "Multiple Intelligences" (he identifies seven intelligences), including both interpersonal intelligence and intrapersonal intelligence. Many psychologists, such as Gardner, believe that traditional measures of intelligence, such as the IQ test, fail to fully explain cognitive ability. (Smith 2002)

The term "emotional intelligence" appears to have originated with Wayne Payne (1985), but was popularized by Daniel Goleman (1995). However, academic research with "emotional intelligence" was formalized by Peter Salovey and John Mayer (1990) eventually resulting in their emotional intelligence test called the MSCEIT. The term "emotional quotient" seems to have originated in an article by Keith Beasley (1987). Bar-on (1997) developed a test measuring emotional quotient, called the Emotional Quotient Inventory (EQ-i).

Emotional Intelligence

In 1990, John D. Mayer and Peter Salovey published a series of papers on emotional intelligence. They suggested that the capacity to perceive and understand emotions defined a new intelligence. The Mayer-Salovey model defines emotional intelligence as the capacity to understand emotional information and to reason with emotions. More specifically, they divide emotional intelligence abilities into four areas -- in their four branch model:

1. The capacity to accurately perceive emotions
2. The capacity to use emotions to facilitate thinking
3. The capacity to understand emotional meanings
4. The capacity to manage emotions

These four abilities are assessed by ability-based tests (the researchers have introduced several versions, the latest of which is the MSCEIT V2.0).

Since 1990 the works of Mayer and Salovey generated a great deal of criticism. Their work, as yet to be reproduced, remains theoretical.

Goleman and Emotional Intelligence

Daniel Goleman popularized his view of emotional intelligence in the 1995 best-selling book: Emotional Intelligence: Why it can matter more than IQ.

Goleman's ideas have been criticized by Mayer and Salovey, and others, because he modified the scope of the term, and discounted many of the aspects proposed by Mayer and Salovey. Goleman however, brought attention to the fact that emotions play a crucial role in everyday life, and that so-called "normal" people can enhance their emotional competency. Many other books on emotional intelligence have appeared in the train of Goleman's work.

Goleman's emotional intelligence

Goleman's popularized definition of emotional intelligence at first displaced the more careful scientific definition of Mayer and Salovey in the public imagination. However, recent interests have turned back, in part, toward Mayer and Salovey's definition, providing a compelling case for their conception.

Goleman's treatment was similar to Mayer and Salovey's in drawing together research in neurophysiology, psychology and cognitive science. For this, he drew on Mayer and Salovey's original 1990 article. However, he augmented emotional intelligence, as conceived by Mayer and Salovey, with other observations based on other scientific findings, including:

• A part of the human brain called the amygdala or reptilian brain (because it has similar functions to those of reptiles) does most of the processing of human emotional responses. These responses mostly occur automatically, as in the case of the familiar flight-or-attack response triggered by threatening situations. Humans have evolved in such a way that a "neural-hijacking" takes place that provides a quick answer to life's critical situations.

• In humans, the reptilian brain has links with the neocortex, which can accordingly exert some control over the largely automatic responses of the reptilian brain.

• The amount of control has a genetic component; yet one can learn to control emotions to a certain degree. Most people do learn this at some point. Further, it is possible to hone the skill, achieving greater abilities to manage emotions.

• In Goleman's opinion, there does not exist a strong correlation between the Intelligence quotient (IQ) and success in life, although popular opinion largely correlates success with this measurement. According to Goleman, success correlates mainly with emotional intelligence. It should however be noted that adult income, completion of high school, attainment of higher education, avoidance of dependence on welfare, avoidance of criminal conviction, and several other factors normally considered aspects of a "successful" life correlate very strongly with IQ, and there is little or no evidence to suggest similar correlations with EI. Goleman does not define "success" in any way that may be objectively tested, so his claim that EI correlates with success may still be true, although unprovable.

Goleman's approach, although superficially similar to Mayer & Salovey's in some respects, alters the meaning of the term such that it is much more general than before, and adds in claims that the original theory never made.

Goleman's five emotional competencies

Goleman divides emotional intelligence into the following five emotional competencies:

• The ability to identify and name one's emotional states and to understand the link between emotions, thought and action.
• The capacity to manage one's emotional states — to control emotions or to shift undesirable emotional states to more adequate ones.
• The ability to enter into emotional states (at will) associated with a drive to achieve and be successful.
• The capacity to read, be sensitive, and influence other people's emotions.
• The ability to enter and sustain satisfactory interpersonal relationships.

In Goleman's view, these emotional competencies build on each other in a hierarchy. One must identify one's emotions in order to manage them. One aspect of managing emotions involves entering into drive-to-achieve emotional states. These three abilities, when applied to other people, lead to the fourth one: to read and influence positively other people's emotions. All four competencies lead to increased ability to enter and sustain good relationships.

Goleman observes that emotions always exist — we always feel something. Organizations of all kinds often prize "being rational", whereas they do not esteem "being emotional". But even in the most "rational" of decisions, emotions persist: how else do we decide which criteria to use for evaluating the options in making a decision? — pace experience and statistical probabilities. Emotions also play a role in making a final decision between equally good choices — pace random chance. Goleman also laments gender role idiosyncrasies: Western society usually sees it as acceptable for women to show their emotions, but not for men.

Nancy Gibbs on Emotional Intelligence

Goleman's book was mentioned in the October 2, 1995 Time Magazine article The EQ Factor by correspondent Nancy Gibbs [1], which added to the popularity of the book, but misrepresented Mayer and Salovey's view. "Their [Mayer and Salovey's] notion is about to bound into the national conversation, handily shortened to EQ, thanks to a new book, Emotional Intelligence (Bantam) by Daniel Goleman." Nancy Gibbs made it look like Goleman's book accurately reflected Mayer and Salovey's concept of emotional intelligence without even mentioning the main differences.

The article was criticized by John Mayer on his Web site (see the article Is EI the Best Predictor of Success in Life?), which is part of the University of New Hampshire Web site. Among other things, he complained about the subtitle on the issue's cover (It's not your IQ. Its not even a number. But emotional intelligence may be the best predictor of success in life, redefining what it means to be smart.), because the subtitle makes the reader think that emotional intelligence is not measurable and that emotional intelligence correlates with "success in life." Mayer and Salovey's view, to the contrary, states that EI is measurable, even with a psychometric test such as the MSCEIT.

Gibbs also adds her view of emotional intelligence by connecting it to the marshmallow test invented by Walter Mischel, a Columbia University developmental psychologist who also reviewed the draft of David Rosenhan's famous Science article On being sane in insane places about psychiatric institutionalization.

Criticism

Goleman's reception in the psychological community has not been totally ecstatic. H.J. Eysenck (2000), for example comments that he "exemplifies more clearly than most the fundamental absurdity of the tendency to class almost any type of behaviour as an 'intelligence'."

"If these five 'abilities' define 'emotional intelligence', we would expect some evidence that they are highly correlated; Goleman admits that they might be quite uncorrelated, and in any case if we cannot measure them, how do we know they are related? So the whole theory is built on quicksand; there is no sound scientific basis.

But there are even more serious objections that go to the root of the matter (...)

There are hundreds of investigations demonstrating the fact that emotional instability can interfere in practical matters with the proper application of our cognitive abilities, although Goleman seems unaware of this large literature. But to call this "emotional intelligence" makes the term "intelligence" scientifically meaningless; it brings together two unrelated things -- neuroticism and intelligence in one ugly hybrid.

To illustrate the scientific absurdity of 'emotional intelligence', consider a physicist who argues that 'length' didn't tell you everything about the universe. Consequently, he argues, I introduce the concept of 'hot lengths', this is much more useful because it explains many things that length cannot explain, such as boiling a kettle, or burning the toast (...) Can you imagine physicists taking such a contribution seriously?"

Emotional Quotient

The most significant areas within EI include:

- Self-awareness: Only when somebody is aware of their strengths and weaknesses can they maximise their potential.

- Self-regulation: In a constantly changing business world, the ability to control your emotions is paramount. Panic and anger are understandable, but rarely produce good working relationships.

- Empathy: The successful manager is the one who convinces people that they are important, and is aware of the changing moods and emotions of their people.

- Social skills: First impressions are very powerful and can be difficult to change. The first handshake or greeting and initial facial expressions form the basis of our opinion, and begin to develop the reputation we have within an organisation.

What are the do's and don'ts?

- Seek feedback - Show interest in others - Trust people - Control difficult situations - Put yourself in their shoes - Be honest

Don't:

- Be defensive - Be self-centred - Think you have all the answers - Gossip behind people's backs - Think what works for you works for everybody else - Lose your temper

Bibliography

• Bar-On, R. (1997). Development of the Bar-On EQ-i: A measure of emotional intelligence and social intelligence. Toronto: Multi-Health Systems.
• Bar-On, R. and Parker, J. (Eds) (2000). The Handbook of Emotional Intelligence : Theory, Development, Assessment, and Application at Home, School and in the Workplace, Indianapolis, IN: Jossey-Bass.
• Beasley, K. (1987) "The Emotional Quotient." Mensa (The British Mensa Magazine. Wolverhampton, United Kingdom: The British Mensa Society. May. (See http://www.pintados.co.uk/keith/iq_eq.htm downloaded October 30, 2005).
• Bradberry, T. and Greaves, J. (2005). The Emotional Intelligence Quick Book: How to Put Your EQ to Work, New York: Simon and Schuster.
• Eysenck, H. (2000). Intelligence: A New Look, Transaction Publishers, (ISBN 0-7658-0707-6), pp. 109-110.
• Conte, J.M. (2005) A review and critique of emotional intelligence measures. Journal of Organizational Behavior 26, 433–440.
• Gardner, H. (1975) The Shattered Mind. New York: Knopf.
• Goleman, D. (1995) Emotional Intelligence: why it matters more than IQ. New York: Bantam Books.
• Maturana, H. and Francisco J. V. (1998) The tree of knowledge: the biological roots of human understanding, Translated by Robert Paloucci. Shambhala Publications.
• Mayer, J.D. & Salovey, P. (1993). The intelligence of emotional intelligence. Intelligence, 17, 433-442.
• Salovey, P. and Mayer, J.D. (1990). "Emotional intelligence." Imagination, Cognition, and Personality, 9(1990), 185-211.
• Merlevede, P. & Bridoux, D. (2001) 7 Steps to Emotional Intelligence. Crown House Publishing Ltd (ISBN 1899836500).
• Payne, W.L. (1985) A study of emotion: developing emotional intelligence; self-integration; relating to fear, pain and desire (theory, structure of reality, problem-solving, contraction/expansion, tuning in/comingout/letting go). A Doctoral Dissertation. Cincinnati, OH: The Union For Experimenting Colleges And Universities (now The Union Institute).
• Smith, M. K. (2002) "Howard Gardner and multiple intelligences," the encyclopedia of informal education, Downloaded from http://www.infed.org/thinkers/gardner.htm on October 31, 2005.

See also

• List of emotions, Empathy
• Theory of multiple intelligences
• Motivation

External links

• Emotional Intelligence Information from John Mayer's University of New Hampshire Web site
• Peter Salovey, Yale Psychology Faculty
• Time Magazine Report: The EQ Factor
• Emotional Intelligence Consortium, consortium founded by Daniel Goleman
• Edutopia: Overview on Emotional Intelligence
• Introduction to Emotional Intelligence Education
• Emotional Intelligence Test
• TalentSmart Web site
• eq.org
• Online EQ test directoryde:Emotionale Intelligenz