The Origin of Emotional Intelligence
In 1985, a graduate student at an alternative liberal arts college in the USA wrote a doctoral dissertation that included the term "emotional intelligence" in the title. This appears to be the first academic use of the term "emotional intelligence."
In 1990, the work of two American university professors, John Mayer and Peter Salovey, was published in two academic journal articles. Mayer (University of New Hampshire) and Salovey (Yale) aimed to develop a scientific method to measure differences in people's abilities in the area of emotions. They discovered that some individuals excelled at identifying their own feelings, recognizing the feelings of others, and solving problems involving emotional issues.
Since 1990, these professors have developed two tests to measure what they call "emotional intelligence." However, because their work is primarily academic, their names and research findings are not widely known.
Daniel Goleman's Influence
Instead, the term "emotional intelligence" is most commonly associated with a New York writer named Daniel Goleman. Goleman, who wrote for Popular Psychology and later for the New York Times, was planning to write a book on "emotional literacy" around 1994-1995. During his research, he encountered the work of Mayer and Salovey. Eventually, Goleman or his publisher decided to title his upcoming book "Emotional Intelligence."
In 1995, Goleman's book "Emotional Intelligence" was published, making it to the cover of Time Magazine in the American market. Goleman appeared on American television shows such as Oprah Winfrey and Phil Donahue and embarked on a speaking tour to promote the book. Consequently, the book became an international bestseller, remaining on the New York Times bestseller list for approximately a year, likely making Goleman a multi-millionaire.
Goleman's book compiled a wealth of information on the brain, emotions, and behavior. While he shared some personal beliefs, he primarily organized and dramatized the work of others. On my Daniel Goleman page, you can read my notes and criticisms of the book. In my opinion, Goleman essentially appropriated the term "emotional intelligence" from Mayer and Salovey and misrepresented the public about its true meaning.
Critique of Goleman's Approach
Since his rise to fame in 1995, Goleman seems to have distanced himself from actual research on emotional intelligence, moving further from scientific truth. Despite this, his popularity as a speaker and consultant remains, with many still believing his version of emotional intelligence is accurate. This widespread acceptance has made it challenging to distinguish truth from fiction regarding emotional intelligence.
While Mayer and Salovey's concept of emotional intelligence holds validity, Goleman has made exaggerated and premature claims about its implications. After his 1995 book, Goleman discovered that business managers were willing to pay for his ideas. He capitalized on this by quitting his job at the New York Times and starting a consulting practice and a "consortium" catering to multinational corporations. He also authored another book for the business market, further stretching the definition of emotional intelligence to include 25 "skills, abilities, and competencies." This aligns with what large corporations desire in employees, leading to what I call Goleman's "corporate definition" of emotional intelligence.
For a more thorough explanation of why Goleman's corporate definition of EI is misleading, see my article originally published in HR.com or the articles: Models of Emotional Intelligence and Emotional Intelligence as Zeitgeist, as Personality, and as a Mental Ability, both written by Mayer, Salovey, and Caruso. Reprints are available at no charge from [Email Removed For Privacy Reasons]. You may also read a few of my own notes on these articles.
Mayer and Salovey's Approach
Mayer and Salovey have been cautious about making claims regarding emotional intelligence's practical implications and its potential to predict "success," happiness, or the "ideal" member of society. In my opinion, they demonstrate more integrity than Goleman and prioritize scientific truth over profit.
Here, I will discuss only the definition of emotional intelligence as proposed by Mayer, Salovey, and their recent colleague David Caruso (referred to as MSC).
MSC suggests that EI is a true form of intelligence that had not been scientifically measured until their research began. One definition they propose is "the ability to process emotional information, particularly as it involves the perception, assimilation, understanding, and management of emotion" (Mayer and Cobb, 2000).
The Four Branches of Emotional Intelligence
Elsewhere, they elaborate that it consists of these "four branches of mental ability":
1. Emotional identification, perception, and expression
2. Emotional facilitation of thought
3. Emotional understanding
4. Emotional management
In one publication, they describe these areas as follows:
- Emotional Perception: Involves identifying emotions in faces, music, and stories.
- Emotional Facilitation of Thought: Involves relating emotions to other mental sensations such as taste and color (relations that might be employed in artwork) and using emotion in reasoning and problem-solving. (Also: "integrating emotions in thought," Mayer and Cobb)
- Emotional Understanding: Involves solving emotional problems such as knowing which emotions are similar or opposites and what relations they convey.
- Emotional Management: Involves understanding the implications of social acts on emotions and regulating emotion in oneself and others.
(See reference in Selecting a Measure of Emotional Intelligence: The Case for Ability Scales, 2000)
In a 1997 publication, Mayer and Salovey listed these branches and offered a detailed chart reflecting their thoughts. In that article, they state that the branches are "arranged from more basic psychological processes to higher, more psychologically integrated processes. For example, the lowest level branch concerns the (relatively) simple abilities of perceiving and expressing emotion. In contrast, the highest level branch concerns the conscious, reflective regulation of emotion." They add that abilities that emerge relatively early in development are to the left of a given branch; later developing abilities are to the right. They also note that "people high in emotional intelligence are expected to progress more quickly through the abilities designated and to master more of them" (From What is Emotional Intelligence, by John Mayer and Peter Salovey. Chapter 1, pp. 10,11 in Emotional Development and Emotional Intelligence: Educational Implications, by Peter Salovey and David Sluyter, 1997).
Concerns and Suggestions
I have a few concerns about their definition and some suggestions I would like them to consider.
First, I would like to see them focus more on the idea that intelligence is potential. An infant can be intelligent, for example, without being able to read, write, or take intelligence tests. In other words, he may have no demonstrable abilities yet, but he may have extremely high potential ability. He simply has not had a chance to develop his potential and intelligence into competencies that can be measured by existing tests.
The word "ability" itself can have two meanings. First, it can mean potential, yet undeveloped ability. Second, it can mean potential that has been developed into something demonstrable, measurable, or testable. At present, it is impossible to measure pure potential, thus the MSC tests (MEIS and MSCEIT) focus on only the second form of ability. (I suspect, though, that one day brain scanning devices will be able to tell us much more about a baby's potential.)
Second, their definition and the way they discuss EI in their writing ignores the fact that a child can start with high innate emotional intelligence and then be emotionally damaged. (I discuss this further in my section on EI vs. EQ.) I would like to see them address this more in their work.
Third, I would like to see them emphasize that an emotionally intelligent person is capable of mastering an extensive vocabulary of what I call feeling words. By mastering, I mean having the ability to perceive an extensive range of feelings in oneself and others and quickly assign the most specific label to the feeling, for example, in conversation with others or in self-reflection. In some of their writing, MSC includes the ability to express emotion as part of their first branch of EI, but they seem to limit their test to only a few emotions compared with the much broader available scope of feeling words in the English language.
Fourth, in the section on emotional understanding, much of this is probably better called knowledge of emotions rather than an aspect of emotional intelligence itself. Knowledge can be taught, but intelligence represents potential before any learning has taken place. Of course, if one is more intelligent, emotionally or otherwise, this learning takes place faster and can go further.
Fifth, is my concern with measuring emotional facilitation of thought and emotional management. I don't see how you can really do this with a paper and pencil test. The MSC team says they are measuring some of these things with their tests, but it is hard to say how much their test scores reflect actual ability in real-life situations or under extreme stress. These are the situations when highly developed emotional intelligence may be the most important.
Finally, their definition is a bit too abstract for me when it comes to things like identifying emotion in art and music. I found this section of their CD-ROM test a little hard to take seriously when it asks you to look at a graphic design and try to guess what emotions it is conveying. Therefore, I would like to see them test for something like the ability to identify emotion in tone of voice or body language instead.
My Adaptation of Their Definition
1. Emotional identification, perception, and expression
- The ability to perceive and identify emotions in faces, tone of voice, body language
- The capacity for self-awareness: being aware of your own feelings as they are occurring
- The capacity for emotional literacy: being able to label specific feelings in yourself and others, and being able to discuss emotions and communicate clearly and directly.
2. Emotional facilitation of thought
- The ability to incorporate feelings into analysis, reasoning, problem-solving, and decision-making
- The potential of your feelings to guide you to what is important to think about
3. Emotional understanding
- The ability to solve emotional problems
- The ability to identify and understand the inter-relationships between emotions, thoughts, and behavior. For example, to see cause and effect relationships such as how thoughts can affect emotions or how emotions can affect thoughts, and how your emotions can lead to behavior in yourself and others.
- The ability to understand the value of emotions to the survival of the species
4. Emotional management
- The ability to take responsibility for one's own emotions and happiness
- The ability to turn negative emotions into positive learning and growing opportunities
- The ability to help others identify and benefit from their emotions
Because the above attempt at a definition is still a bit cumbersome, here are two less complicated ways to look at it:
The mental ability we are born with gives our emotional sensitivity and potential for emotional management skills that help us maximize our long-term health, happiness, and survival.
Or more simply: Knowing how to separate healthy from unhealthy feelings and how to turn negative feelings into positive ones.
For a more detailed description of the definitions used by Mayer et al., see the academic section.
Innate Emotional Intelligence vs. "EQ"
Most writers interchange the terms EQ and emotional intelligence. In my writing, however, I make a distinction between the two. I use emotional intelligence to refer to a person's innate potential. I believe each baby is born with a certain potential for emotional sensitivity, emotional memory, emotional processing, and emotional learning ability. These four inborn components form the core of one's emotional intelligence.
This innate intelligence can be either developed or damaged by life experiences, particularly by the emotional lessons taught by parents, teachers, caregivers, and family during childhood and adolescence. The impact of these lessons results in what I refer to as one's level of "EQ." In other words, as I use the term, "EQ" represents a relative measure of a person's healthy or unhealthy development of their innate emotional intelligence.
When I say "EQ," I am not referring to a numerical test score like IQ. It is simply a convenient name I am using. As far as I know, I am the only writer making a distinction between inborn potential and later development or damage. I believe it is possible for a child to begin life with a high level of innate emotional intelligence but then learn unhealthy emotional habits from living in an abusive home. Such a child will grow up to have what I would call low EQ. I would suspect that abused, neglected, and emotionally damaged children will score much lower on existing emotional intelligence tests compared to others with the same original emotional intelligence at birth.
As I see it, I believe it is possible for a person to start with high EI but then be emotionally damaged in early childhood, causing a low EQ later in life. On the other hand, I believe it is possible for a child to start with relatively low EI but receive healthy emotional modeling, nurturing, etc., resulting in moderately high EQ. However, I believe it is much easier to damage a high EI child than to develop the EQ of a low EI child. This follows the principle that it is generally easier to destroy than create.
In comparison to, say, mathematical intelligence, it is important to note that relatively few people start with high innate mathematical abilities and then have this ability damaged through misleading or false math training or modeling. I say relatively few because I mean in comparison to the number of emotionally sensitive children who receive unhealthy and self-destructive emotional imprinting from various sources. Parents and television shows don't generally teach that 2+2=968. But they often teach emotional lessons that are as equivalent in unhealthiness as this equation is in inaccuracy. Or we might say which would be as damaging to an intimate relationship as the false equation would be to the career of an accountant.
At present, all other models of emotional intelligence, including even the most "pure" of the group, the Mayer/Salovey/Caruso model, combine the measurement of the innate emotional variables (sensitivity, memory, processing, and learning) with the environmental effects on those same variables. Certain writers have defined intelligence in general as "potential." (1) I agree with this, and this is why I want to distinguish between EI and EQ.
Importance of Emotions
Here are a few reasons our emotions are important in our lives. By the way, the first few chapters of Goleman's 1995 book, Emotional Intelligence, have a good presentation on evolution and emotions.
Survival
Nature developed our emotions over millions of years of evolution. As a result, our emotions have the potential to serve us today as a delicate and sophisticated internal guidance system. Our emotions alert us when natural human needs are not being met. For example, when we feel lonely, our need for connection with other people is unmet. When we feel afraid, our need for safety is unmet. When we feel rejected, our need for acceptance is unmet.
Decision Making
Our emotions are a valuable source of information. They help us make decisions. Studies show that when a person's emotional connections are severed in the brain, they cannot make even simple decisions. Why? Because they don't know how they will feel about their choices.
Boundary Setting
When we feel uncomfortable with a person's behavior, our emotions alert us. If we learn to trust our emotions and feel confident expressing ourselves, we can let the person know we feel uncomfortable as soon as we are aware of our feelings. This will help us set our boundaries, which are necessary to protect our physical and mental health.
Communication
Our emotions help us communicate with others. Our facial expressions, for example, can convey a wide range of emotions. If we look sad or hurt, we signal to others that we need their help. If we are verbally skilled, we can express more of our emotional needs and thereby have a better chance of fulfilling them. If we are effective at listening to the emotional troubles of others, we can help them feel understood, important, and cared about.
Unity
Our emotions are perhaps the greatest potential source of uniting all members of the human species. Clearly, our various religious, cultural, and political beliefs have not united us. Far too often, in fact, they have tragically and even fatally divided us. Emotions, on the other hand, are universal. Charles Darwin wrote about this years ago in one of his lesser-known books called "The Expression of Emotion In Man and Animal." The emotions of empathy, compassion, cooperation, and forgiveness, for instance, all have the potential to unite us as a species. It seems fair to say that, generally speaking: Beliefs divide us. Emotions unite us.
Human Emotional Needs
All humans have basic emotional needs. These needs can be expressed as feelings, for example, the need to feel accepted, respected, and important. While all humans share these needs, each differs in the strength of the need, just as some of us need more water, more food, or more sleep. One person may need more freedom and independence, another may need more security and social connections. One may have a greater curiosity and a greater need for understanding, while another is content to accept whatever he has been told.
One of the major problems I have observed in schools is the treatment of all children as if their emotional and psychological needs were identical. The result is that many children's needs are unsatisfied. They then become frustrated, as any of us do when our needs are unmet. They act out their frustration in various ways, typically seen as "misbehavior." This is especially evident when children are expected to all do the same thing for the same length of time. The better we identify their unique needs and satisfy them, the fewer behavioral problems. It is also evident when they are made to do things that are not interesting to them or when they are not challenged enough with things relevant to their lives. One of the things teenagers who are cutting themselves seem to have in common is that they are extremely bored at school and emotionally neglected, over-controlled, or abused at home.
In dysfunctional families, it is most often the emotional needs that are not met. The children and teenagers are getting enough to eat and have a roof over their heads, but their emotional needs are not being met.
It is helpful to become more aware of these emotional needs as a first step towards helping each other fulfill them.
For a more complete list of these needs, go to the human emotional needs list.
From India, Nizamabad
Acknowledge(2)
Amend(0)
14In 1985, a graduate student at an alternative liberal arts college in the USA wrote a doctoral dissertation that included the term "emotional intelligence" in the title. This appears to be the first academic use of the term "emotional intelligence."
In 1990, the work of two American university professors, John Mayer and Peter Salovey, was published in two academic journal articles. Mayer (University of New Hampshire) and Salovey (Yale) aimed to develop a scientific method to measure differences in people's abilities in the area of emotions. They discovered that some individuals excelled at identifying their own feelings, recognizing the feelings of others, and solving problems involving emotional issues.
Since 1990, these professors have developed two tests to measure what they call "emotional intelligence." However, because their work is primarily academic, their names and research findings are not widely known.
Daniel Goleman's Influence
Instead, the term "emotional intelligence" is most commonly associated with a New York writer named Daniel Goleman. Goleman, who wrote for Popular Psychology and later for the New York Times, was planning to write a book on "emotional literacy" around 1994-1995. During his research, he encountered the work of Mayer and Salovey. Eventually, Goleman or his publisher decided to title his upcoming book "Emotional Intelligence."
In 1995, Goleman's book "Emotional Intelligence" was published, making it to the cover of Time Magazine in the American market. Goleman appeared on American television shows such as Oprah Winfrey and Phil Donahue and embarked on a speaking tour to promote the book. Consequently, the book became an international bestseller, remaining on the New York Times bestseller list for approximately a year, likely making Goleman a multi-millionaire.
Goleman's book compiled a wealth of information on the brain, emotions, and behavior. While he shared some personal beliefs, he primarily organized and dramatized the work of others. On my Daniel Goleman page, you can read my notes and criticisms of the book. In my opinion, Goleman essentially appropriated the term "emotional intelligence" from Mayer and Salovey and misrepresented the public about its true meaning.
Critique of Goleman's Approach
Since his rise to fame in 1995, Goleman seems to have distanced himself from actual research on emotional intelligence, moving further from scientific truth. Despite this, his popularity as a speaker and consultant remains, with many still believing his version of emotional intelligence is accurate. This widespread acceptance has made it challenging to distinguish truth from fiction regarding emotional intelligence.
While Mayer and Salovey's concept of emotional intelligence holds validity, Goleman has made exaggerated and premature claims about its implications. After his 1995 book, Goleman discovered that business managers were willing to pay for his ideas. He capitalized on this by quitting his job at the New York Times and starting a consulting practice and a "consortium" catering to multinational corporations. He also authored another book for the business market, further stretching the definition of emotional intelligence to include 25 "skills, abilities, and competencies." This aligns with what large corporations desire in employees, leading to what I call Goleman's "corporate definition" of emotional intelligence.
For a more thorough explanation of why Goleman's corporate definition of EI is misleading, see my article originally published in HR.com or the articles: Models of Emotional Intelligence and Emotional Intelligence as Zeitgeist, as Personality, and as a Mental Ability, both written by Mayer, Salovey, and Caruso. Reprints are available at no charge from [Email Removed For Privacy Reasons]. You may also read a few of my own notes on these articles.
Mayer and Salovey's Approach
Mayer and Salovey have been cautious about making claims regarding emotional intelligence's practical implications and its potential to predict "success," happiness, or the "ideal" member of society. In my opinion, they demonstrate more integrity than Goleman and prioritize scientific truth over profit.
Here, I will discuss only the definition of emotional intelligence as proposed by Mayer, Salovey, and their recent colleague David Caruso (referred to as MSC).
MSC suggests that EI is a true form of intelligence that had not been scientifically measured until their research began. One definition they propose is "the ability to process emotional information, particularly as it involves the perception, assimilation, understanding, and management of emotion" (Mayer and Cobb, 2000).
The Four Branches of Emotional Intelligence
Elsewhere, they elaborate that it consists of these "four branches of mental ability":
1. Emotional identification, perception, and expression
2. Emotional facilitation of thought
3. Emotional understanding
4. Emotional management
In one publication, they describe these areas as follows:
- Emotional Perception: Involves identifying emotions in faces, music, and stories.
- Emotional Facilitation of Thought: Involves relating emotions to other mental sensations such as taste and color (relations that might be employed in artwork) and using emotion in reasoning and problem-solving. (Also: "integrating emotions in thought," Mayer and Cobb)
- Emotional Understanding: Involves solving emotional problems such as knowing which emotions are similar or opposites and what relations they convey.
- Emotional Management: Involves understanding the implications of social acts on emotions and regulating emotion in oneself and others.
(See reference in Selecting a Measure of Emotional Intelligence: The Case for Ability Scales, 2000)
In a 1997 publication, Mayer and Salovey listed these branches and offered a detailed chart reflecting their thoughts. In that article, they state that the branches are "arranged from more basic psychological processes to higher, more psychologically integrated processes. For example, the lowest level branch concerns the (relatively) simple abilities of perceiving and expressing emotion. In contrast, the highest level branch concerns the conscious, reflective regulation of emotion." They add that abilities that emerge relatively early in development are to the left of a given branch; later developing abilities are to the right. They also note that "people high in emotional intelligence are expected to progress more quickly through the abilities designated and to master more of them" (From What is Emotional Intelligence, by John Mayer and Peter Salovey. Chapter 1, pp. 10,11 in Emotional Development and Emotional Intelligence: Educational Implications, by Peter Salovey and David Sluyter, 1997).
Concerns and Suggestions
I have a few concerns about their definition and some suggestions I would like them to consider.
First, I would like to see them focus more on the idea that intelligence is potential. An infant can be intelligent, for example, without being able to read, write, or take intelligence tests. In other words, he may have no demonstrable abilities yet, but he may have extremely high potential ability. He simply has not had a chance to develop his potential and intelligence into competencies that can be measured by existing tests.
The word "ability" itself can have two meanings. First, it can mean potential, yet undeveloped ability. Second, it can mean potential that has been developed into something demonstrable, measurable, or testable. At present, it is impossible to measure pure potential, thus the MSC tests (MEIS and MSCEIT) focus on only the second form of ability. (I suspect, though, that one day brain scanning devices will be able to tell us much more about a baby's potential.)
Second, their definition and the way they discuss EI in their writing ignores the fact that a child can start with high innate emotional intelligence and then be emotionally damaged. (I discuss this further in my section on EI vs. EQ.) I would like to see them address this more in their work.
Third, I would like to see them emphasize that an emotionally intelligent person is capable of mastering an extensive vocabulary of what I call feeling words. By mastering, I mean having the ability to perceive an extensive range of feelings in oneself and others and quickly assign the most specific label to the feeling, for example, in conversation with others or in self-reflection. In some of their writing, MSC includes the ability to express emotion as part of their first branch of EI, but they seem to limit their test to only a few emotions compared with the much broader available scope of feeling words in the English language.
Fourth, in the section on emotional understanding, much of this is probably better called knowledge of emotions rather than an aspect of emotional intelligence itself. Knowledge can be taught, but intelligence represents potential before any learning has taken place. Of course, if one is more intelligent, emotionally or otherwise, this learning takes place faster and can go further.
Fifth, is my concern with measuring emotional facilitation of thought and emotional management. I don't see how you can really do this with a paper and pencil test. The MSC team says they are measuring some of these things with their tests, but it is hard to say how much their test scores reflect actual ability in real-life situations or under extreme stress. These are the situations when highly developed emotional intelligence may be the most important.
Finally, their definition is a bit too abstract for me when it comes to things like identifying emotion in art and music. I found this section of their CD-ROM test a little hard to take seriously when it asks you to look at a graphic design and try to guess what emotions it is conveying. Therefore, I would like to see them test for something like the ability to identify emotion in tone of voice or body language instead.
My Adaptation of Their Definition
1. Emotional identification, perception, and expression
- The ability to perceive and identify emotions in faces, tone of voice, body language
- The capacity for self-awareness: being aware of your own feelings as they are occurring
- The capacity for emotional literacy: being able to label specific feelings in yourself and others, and being able to discuss emotions and communicate clearly and directly.
2. Emotional facilitation of thought
- The ability to incorporate feelings into analysis, reasoning, problem-solving, and decision-making
- The potential of your feelings to guide you to what is important to think about
3. Emotional understanding
- The ability to solve emotional problems
- The ability to identify and understand the inter-relationships between emotions, thoughts, and behavior. For example, to see cause and effect relationships such as how thoughts can affect emotions or how emotions can affect thoughts, and how your emotions can lead to behavior in yourself and others.
- The ability to understand the value of emotions to the survival of the species
4. Emotional management
- The ability to take responsibility for one's own emotions and happiness
- The ability to turn negative emotions into positive learning and growing opportunities
- The ability to help others identify and benefit from their emotions
Because the above attempt at a definition is still a bit cumbersome, here are two less complicated ways to look at it:
The mental ability we are born with gives our emotional sensitivity and potential for emotional management skills that help us maximize our long-term health, happiness, and survival.
Or more simply: Knowing how to separate healthy from unhealthy feelings and how to turn negative feelings into positive ones.
For a more detailed description of the definitions used by Mayer et al., see the academic section.
Innate Emotional Intelligence vs. "EQ"
Most writers interchange the terms EQ and emotional intelligence. In my writing, however, I make a distinction between the two. I use emotional intelligence to refer to a person's innate potential. I believe each baby is born with a certain potential for emotional sensitivity, emotional memory, emotional processing, and emotional learning ability. These four inborn components form the core of one's emotional intelligence.
This innate intelligence can be either developed or damaged by life experiences, particularly by the emotional lessons taught by parents, teachers, caregivers, and family during childhood and adolescence. The impact of these lessons results in what I refer to as one's level of "EQ." In other words, as I use the term, "EQ" represents a relative measure of a person's healthy or unhealthy development of their innate emotional intelligence.
When I say "EQ," I am not referring to a numerical test score like IQ. It is simply a convenient name I am using. As far as I know, I am the only writer making a distinction between inborn potential and later development or damage. I believe it is possible for a child to begin life with a high level of innate emotional intelligence but then learn unhealthy emotional habits from living in an abusive home. Such a child will grow up to have what I would call low EQ. I would suspect that abused, neglected, and emotionally damaged children will score much lower on existing emotional intelligence tests compared to others with the same original emotional intelligence at birth.
As I see it, I believe it is possible for a person to start with high EI but then be emotionally damaged in early childhood, causing a low EQ later in life. On the other hand, I believe it is possible for a child to start with relatively low EI but receive healthy emotional modeling, nurturing, etc., resulting in moderately high EQ. However, I believe it is much easier to damage a high EI child than to develop the EQ of a low EI child. This follows the principle that it is generally easier to destroy than create.
In comparison to, say, mathematical intelligence, it is important to note that relatively few people start with high innate mathematical abilities and then have this ability damaged through misleading or false math training or modeling. I say relatively few because I mean in comparison to the number of emotionally sensitive children who receive unhealthy and self-destructive emotional imprinting from various sources. Parents and television shows don't generally teach that 2+2=968. But they often teach emotional lessons that are as equivalent in unhealthiness as this equation is in inaccuracy. Or we might say which would be as damaging to an intimate relationship as the false equation would be to the career of an accountant.
At present, all other models of emotional intelligence, including even the most "pure" of the group, the Mayer/Salovey/Caruso model, combine the measurement of the innate emotional variables (sensitivity, memory, processing, and learning) with the environmental effects on those same variables. Certain writers have defined intelligence in general as "potential." (1) I agree with this, and this is why I want to distinguish between EI and EQ.
Importance of Emotions
Here are a few reasons our emotions are important in our lives. By the way, the first few chapters of Goleman's 1995 book, Emotional Intelligence, have a good presentation on evolution and emotions.
Survival
Nature developed our emotions over millions of years of evolution. As a result, our emotions have the potential to serve us today as a delicate and sophisticated internal guidance system. Our emotions alert us when natural human needs are not being met. For example, when we feel lonely, our need for connection with other people is unmet. When we feel afraid, our need for safety is unmet. When we feel rejected, our need for acceptance is unmet.
Decision Making
Our emotions are a valuable source of information. They help us make decisions. Studies show that when a person's emotional connections are severed in the brain, they cannot make even simple decisions. Why? Because they don't know how they will feel about their choices.
Boundary Setting
When we feel uncomfortable with a person's behavior, our emotions alert us. If we learn to trust our emotions and feel confident expressing ourselves, we can let the person know we feel uncomfortable as soon as we are aware of our feelings. This will help us set our boundaries, which are necessary to protect our physical and mental health.
Communication
Our emotions help us communicate with others. Our facial expressions, for example, can convey a wide range of emotions. If we look sad or hurt, we signal to others that we need their help. If we are verbally skilled, we can express more of our emotional needs and thereby have a better chance of fulfilling them. If we are effective at listening to the emotional troubles of others, we can help them feel understood, important, and cared about.
Unity
Our emotions are perhaps the greatest potential source of uniting all members of the human species. Clearly, our various religious, cultural, and political beliefs have not united us. Far too often, in fact, they have tragically and even fatally divided us. Emotions, on the other hand, are universal. Charles Darwin wrote about this years ago in one of his lesser-known books called "The Expression of Emotion In Man and Animal." The emotions of empathy, compassion, cooperation, and forgiveness, for instance, all have the potential to unite us as a species. It seems fair to say that, generally speaking: Beliefs divide us. Emotions unite us.
Human Emotional Needs
All humans have basic emotional needs. These needs can be expressed as feelings, for example, the need to feel accepted, respected, and important. While all humans share these needs, each differs in the strength of the need, just as some of us need more water, more food, or more sleep. One person may need more freedom and independence, another may need more security and social connections. One may have a greater curiosity and a greater need for understanding, while another is content to accept whatever he has been told.
One of the major problems I have observed in schools is the treatment of all children as if their emotional and psychological needs were identical. The result is that many children's needs are unsatisfied. They then become frustrated, as any of us do when our needs are unmet. They act out their frustration in various ways, typically seen as "misbehavior." This is especially evident when children are expected to all do the same thing for the same length of time. The better we identify their unique needs and satisfy them, the fewer behavioral problems. It is also evident when they are made to do things that are not interesting to them or when they are not challenged enough with things relevant to their lives. One of the things teenagers who are cutting themselves seem to have in common is that they are extremely bored at school and emotionally neglected, over-controlled, or abused at home.
In dysfunctional families, it is most often the emotional needs that are not met. The children and teenagers are getting enough to eat and have a roof over their heads, but their emotional needs are not being met.
It is helpful to become more aware of these emotional needs as a first step towards helping each other fulfill them.
For a more complete list of these needs, go to the human emotional needs list.
From India, Nizamabad
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It is clear from your post that you have a deep understanding of the origins and evolution of the term "emotional intelligence." You've also outlined some concerns about the concept and its application, particularly in relation to the work of Daniel Goleman. It seems that you are looking for further clarity or a more refined perspective, possibly related to your role in HR. Here are some key points to consider:
1. 💯 Emotional Intelligence in HR: Emotional intelligence plays a vital role in the Human Resources field. As HR professionals, we need to understand our own emotions and those of others to manage relationships effectively. This helps in conflict resolution, team building, and improving workplace culture.
2. 💼 Measuring Emotional Intelligence: There are several tools available for measuring emotional intelligence, including the Emotional Quotient Inventory (EQ-i 2.0) and the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT). These tools can be valuable in hiring processes, leadership development, and team dynamics.
3. 🤗 Emotional Intelligence Training: If you believe that emotional intelligence is important in your organization, consider implementing training programs. This can help employees understand and manage their emotions better, leading to increased productivity, better teamwork, and lower levels of stress.
4. 🔖 Applying Emotional Intelligence: Encourage employees to apply emotional intelligence in their daily work. This could involve recognizing and understanding their own emotions, showing empathy towards colleagues, and making decisions based on a balance of emotion and logic.
5. 🚨 Criticisms and Concerns: While it's important to consider criticisms and concerns about the concept of emotional intelligence, remember that no single concept or theory is perfect. Emotional intelligence is just one tool in the toolbox of understanding human behavior. Use it as a part of a holistic approach to managing and understanding people in your organization.
6. 🤠 Continuous Learning: As with any aspect of psychology or human behavior, our understanding of emotional intelligence is continually evolving. Stay updated with the latest research and developments, and adjust your understanding and application of emotional intelligence accordingly.
In HR, emotional intelligence can be a powerful tool for fostering an empathetic, understanding, and effective workplace. By understanding and addressing your employees' emotional needs, you can help create a work environment in which everyone feels valued and heard. 🎐🌞🧍🏽‍♂️🗽
From India, Gurugram
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1. 💯 Emotional Intelligence in HR: Emotional intelligence plays a vital role in the Human Resources field. As HR professionals, we need to understand our own emotions and those of others to manage relationships effectively. This helps in conflict resolution, team building, and improving workplace culture.
2. 💼 Measuring Emotional Intelligence: There are several tools available for measuring emotional intelligence, including the Emotional Quotient Inventory (EQ-i 2.0) and the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT). These tools can be valuable in hiring processes, leadership development, and team dynamics.
3. 🤗 Emotional Intelligence Training: If you believe that emotional intelligence is important in your organization, consider implementing training programs. This can help employees understand and manage their emotions better, leading to increased productivity, better teamwork, and lower levels of stress.
4. 🔖 Applying Emotional Intelligence: Encourage employees to apply emotional intelligence in their daily work. This could involve recognizing and understanding their own emotions, showing empathy towards colleagues, and making decisions based on a balance of emotion and logic.
5. 🚨 Criticisms and Concerns: While it's important to consider criticisms and concerns about the concept of emotional intelligence, remember that no single concept or theory is perfect. Emotional intelligence is just one tool in the toolbox of understanding human behavior. Use it as a part of a holistic approach to managing and understanding people in your organization.
6. 🤠 Continuous Learning: As with any aspect of psychology or human behavior, our understanding of emotional intelligence is continually evolving. Stay updated with the latest research and developments, and adjust your understanding and application of emotional intelligence accordingly.
In HR, emotional intelligence can be a powerful tool for fostering an empathetic, understanding, and effective workplace. By understanding and addressing your employees' emotional needs, you can help create a work environment in which everyone feels valued and heard. 🎐🌞🧍🏽‍♂️🗽
From India, Gurugram
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Advice to Improve Your Emotional Intelligence.do c
Emotional Intelligence.pp t
Ashakantasharma
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