Learning objectives
How do I:
understand the meaning behind the models of emotional intelligence?
enhance my emotional intelligence?
improve my skills in self-awareness as a major component of emotional intelligence?
compare intelligence quotient and emotional intelligence?
use the concepts of emotional intelligence in the workplace to improve my own performance and that of staff working with me?
Introduction
Emotional intelligence (sometimes called EI or EQ) is a psychological construct that has attracted a lot of attention in the past 20 years. There have been many astonishing claims regarding emotional intelligence, many without scientific support. One popular claim is the notion that emotional intelligence is the most important factor for achieving success in life: in the workplace, at home or at school (Schulze & Roberts, 2005). Emotional intelligence – the ability to manage, understand, express and appraise emotions – is the theme of scientific controversy and investigation in spite of its huge appeal in business, education and popular literature.
Definitions
Intelligence has been defi ned in many different ways; however, most people associate it with the concept of testing for intelligence quotient (or IQ) and cognitive function. Throughout history, there have been attempts to recognise the importance of other forms of intelligence beyond the traditional intelligence quotient. In the 1920s, psychologist E. L. Thorndike (1920) coined the term social intelligence, referring to the skills of understanding and managing other people as well as engaging in adaptive social interactions and negotiating complex social relationships and environments. Sixty years later, developmental psychologist Howard Gardner (1983) described the idea of multiple intelligences, suggesting that all people have the capacity to possess different kinds of intelligences and that intelligence testing may be biased to certain types of individuals. He identified eight different types of intelligences, which may allow educators to identify differing strengths and weaknesses in students and provide suitable teaching and learning methods for them. Many experts believe that social intelligence, rather than quantitative intelligence, is important for quality of life and makes us what we are. It also appears that emotional intelligence can be developed rather than being biologically based (Goleman, 2000).