A good IQ and academic success don’t guarantee life success. Many academically talented people face issues in family, work, and relationships. Psychologists suggest that this may be due to a lack of emotional intelligence. This concept was first introduced by Salovey and Mayer and popularised by Daniel Goleman.
- Salovey and Mayer(1977) defined emotional intelligence as “the ability to monitor one’s own and other’s emotions, to discriminate among them, and to use the information to guide one’s thinking and actions“.
- Goleman(1998) in his widely acclaimed book, ‘Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ?’, clearly explained that only 20% of life’s successes are due to IQ, while the remaining 80% are attributed to emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence, according to him , is “the capacity for recognizing our own feelings and those of others, for motivating ourselves and for managing emotions well in ourselves and in our relationships. Emotional intelligence describes abilities distinct from but complementary to academic intelligence or the purely cognitive capacities measured by IQ.”
The theory of intelligence proposes four types of emotional competencies which make the unique identity of an individual:
- Self Awareness: The ability to understand own emotions, strengths, and weaknesses.
- Self Management: The ability to manage motives and balance behavior.
- Social Awareness: The ability to understand other people’s deeds, expressions,and causes.
- Social Skills: The ability to achieve personal goals through behavioral management in society.
According to Goleman, in various fields of life, emotional competence is needed. Therefore, he has coined his model as the ‘theory of performance.’
- Bar-on (1997), “Emotional intelligence reflects one’s ability to deal with daily environmental changes and helps predict one’s success in life, including professional and personal pursuit.”
- Salovy vs Goleman
Salovy’s definition covers four aspects of emotional intelligence(emotional perception, emotional integration, emotional understanding, and emotional management), Whereas Goleman defined EQ as a cluster of traits relating to the emotional side of life. Goleman proposed 5 aspects (Knowing one’s own emotions, Managing one’s own emotions, Motivating oneself, Recognizing the emotions of others, Handling emotions) of Emotional Intelligence.
Characteristics of Emotionally Intelligent Persons
- Perceive and be sensitive to your feelings and emotions.
- Perceive and be sensitive to various types of emotions in others by noting their body language, voice and tone, and facial expressions.
- Relate your emotions to your thoughts so that you take them into account while solving problems and making decisions.
- Understand the powerful influence of the nature and intensity of your emotions.
- Control and regulate your emotions and their expressions while dealing with self and others to achieve harmony and peace.
Significance of E.I in Personal & Professional Life
In Professional Life –
- Improved Communication: EI enhances interpersonal skills, leading to clearer and more effective communication. For Eg. IAS Divya Devrajan (Learned Gondi within 3 months for Effective communication )
- Conflict Resolution: Individuals with high EI can manage and resolve conflicts more effectively, fostering a collaborative work environment. For eg. IPS Chetan Singh Rathor persuaded protesters to sing the national anthem.
- Leadership Skills: EI helps leaders inspire and motivate their teams by understanding their emotions and needs. For eg. IAS N Prabhakar Reddy enrolled his children in a government.
- Adaptability: High EI enables professionals to adapt to changing situations and navigate workplace challenges with resilience. For eg. IAS Tina Dabi’s Navo Barmer Mission
- Better Decision-Making: EI facilitates emotional regulation, leading to more rational and balanced decision-making processes.
In Personal Life –
- Enhanced Relationships: EI improves empathy and understanding, leading to deeper and more meaningful personal relationships.
- Stress Management: Individuals with high EI can manage stress better, leading to improved mental health and well-being.
- Self-Awareness: EI promotes self-reflection, helping individuals understand their emotions and triggers, which aids in personal growth.
- Conflict Management: It enables individuals to handle conflicts in personal relationships calmly and constructively.
Empathy and Compassion: EI fosters a sense of empathy, allowing individuals to connect with others’ feelings and experiences, promoting stronger bonds.
Aristotle wrote about Emotional Intelligence in 325 BC. In 1995, Daniel Goleman wrote the “Emotional Intelligence – Why it can matter more than IQ” which became a best seller and the reason behind popularity of the term Emotional intelligence. In simple terms, Emotional intelligence is the ability to identify and manage your own emotions and the emotions of others.
Emotional Intelligence: Definition
- Emotional intelligence (EI), refers to the ability to perceive, control and evaluate emotions of oneself, of others, and of groups. (Mayer & Salovey, 1997).
- Goleman (1998) defines emotional intelligence as the capacity for recognising our own feelings and those of others, for motivating ourselves, and for managing emotions, well in ourselves and in our relationships.
Models of Emotional Intelligence (EI):
There are three main models of emotional intelligence:
- Ability model
- Mixed model
- Trait model
Ability Model
The Ability model by Peter Salovey and John Mayer perceives EI as a form of pure intelligence. It regards EI as a cognitive ability. As per Mayer and Salovey, EI is the ability:
- To perceive emotions,
- To generate emotions to assist thought,
- To understand emotions
- To effectively regulate emotions
to promote emotional as well as intellectual growth. Hence, Mayer and Salovey identified four areas (branches) of EI:
- Perceiving emotions – the ability to detect and decipher emotions in faces, pictures, voices, and cultural artifacts—including the ability to identify one’s own emotions. Perceiving emotions represents a basic aspect of emotional intelligence, as it makes all other processing of emotional information possible.
- Reasoning with emotions – the ability to harness emotions to facilitate various cognitive activities, such as thinking and problem solving. The emotionally intelligent person can capitalize fully upon his or her changing moods in order to best fit the task at hand.
- Understanding emotions – the ability to comprehend emotion language and to appreciate complicated relationships among emotions. For example, understanding emotions encompasses the ability to be sensitive to slight variations between emotions, and the ability to recognize and describe how emotions evolve over time.
- Managing emotions – the ability to regulate emotions in both ourselves and in others. Therefore, the emotionally intelligent person can harness emotions, even negative ones, and manage them to achieve intended goals.
Measurement:
As the model considers, EI as type of cognitive ability, the EI tests are modeled on ability-based IQtests. The current measure of Mayer and Salovey’s model of EI, the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT) is based on a series of emotion-based problem-solving items.
Mixed Model:
Includes two models:
- Reuven Bar-On Model
- EI model by Daniel Goleman
Reuven Bar-On Model
Reuven Bar-On (1988) considered EI in the framework of personality theory, specifically a model of well-being. The model focuses on a range of emotional and social abilities, including the ability to be aware of, understand, and express oneself, the ability to be aware of, understand, and relate to others, the ability to deal with strong emotions, and the ability to adapt to change and solve problems of a social or personal nature (Bar-On, 1997). Bar-On model has five components of EI:
- Intrapersonal,
- Interpersonal,
- Adaptability,
- Stress management
- General mood.
This model postulates that EI develops over time and that it can be improved through training, programming, and therapy (Bar-On, 2002).
EI model by Daniel Goleman
The model introduced by Daniel Goleman and focuses on EI as a wide array of competencies and skills that drive leadership performance. Goleman’s model outlines five main EI constructs:
- Self-awareness – the ability to know one’s emotions, strengths, weaknesses, drives, values and goals and recognize their impact on others while using gut feelings to guide decisions.
- Self-regulation – involves controlling or redirecting one’s disruptive emotions and impulses and adapting to changing circumstances.
- Social skill – managing relationships to move people in the desired direction
- Empathy – considering other people’s feelings especially when making decisions
- Motivation – being driven to achieve for the sake of achievement.
Goleman includes a set of emotional competencies within each construct of EI. Emotional competencies are not innate talents, but rather learned capabilities that must be worked on and can be developed to achieve outstanding performance.
Trait Model:
This model was proposed by Konstantinos Vasilis Petrides (“K. V. Petrides”). He defined the trait model as “a constellation of emotional self-perceptions located at the lower levels of personality.” Trait model is based on an individual’s self-perceptions of their emotional abilities.
Measurement:
- Trait Model uses personality framework to investigate trait EI.
