Surely by now you’ve heard the term “emotional intelligence”, or “EQ.” From the way the term is casually thrown around, I’m under the impression that we are all supposed to know what it means. But do we? This week we have a guest author – a former student of mine, Ashley Sweet. Ashley is graduating with her M.A. from the Counselor Education Program at the University of South Florida and will soon practice counseling as a registered intern! I am excited to present her writing this week on this important topic. Thank you Ashley!
Emotional Intelligence, sometimes called EQ or EI, is a concept you may hear buzzing in the worlds of clinical psychology, pop psychology, or business. EI has taken on many definitions throughout the last thirty years, and has sometimes been criticized for being too vague or unscientific. Some camps, such as Daniel Goleman in his 1995 bestselling book, Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than I.Q., argue that emotional intelligence is a set of traits, such as altruism, empathy and self-awareness, that lead to greater happiness and social success. Yes, greater happiness than traditional IQ. Others, such as John D. Mayer, Peter Salovey and David R. Caruso, the most prolific researchers on the topic, argue that the view that Emotional Intelligence is a set of personality traits is incorrect. Instead, their research argues that Emotional Intelligence is actually made up of four unique branches, which an individual can better develop or improve upon (Mayer, Salovey & Caruso, 1999):
- Perception of Emotions: in this ground level branch, one is able to perceive the emotions of others through body language or other nonverbal expressions
- Assimilating Emotions in Thought: in the second level branch of EI, one begins to weigh emotions against thought, sensations, and other emotions in order to understand how to prioritize them
- Understanding Emotions: in the third level branch of EI, one begins to understand how emotions are connected to each other, and the characteristics of each one, “like the different pieces on a chessboard”
- Reflectively Regulating Emotions: the highest-level branch of EI involves the ability to manage and regulate emotions, such as knowing how to calm an angry person, or how to reduce anxiety
In a nutshell, they argue that EI is the ability to recognize, understand and work with emotions both within oneself, and with others. They argue that it is relevant in social life, and can be measured just like IQ can be. In fact, they developed an empirically validated test to measure emotional intelligence, called the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT for short). According to their findings (2004), a person with a high level of EI is likely to:
“better perceive emotions, use them in thought, understand their meanings, and manage emotions better than others. Solving emotional problems likely requires less cognitive effort for this individual… [and he/she] tends to be somewhat higher in verbal, social and other intelligences… [and] the individual tends to be more open and agreeable than others. The high EI person is drawn to occupations involving social interactions such as teaching and counseling… [and] relative to others, is less apt to engage in problem behaviors and avoids self-destructive, negative behaviors such as smoking, excessive drinking, drug abuse, or violent episodes than others… Such individuals may also be more adept at describing motivational goals, aims and missions (p.210).”
What’s your take? Do you think emotional intelligence is a valid form of measurement for success, or do you think it’s a gimmick? For a nice summary and some visuals, check out this video.
References:
Mayer, J., Caruso, D.R., & Salovey, P. (2004). Emotional intelligence: Theory, findings and implications. Psychological Inquiry, 15(3), 197-215.
Mayer, J., Caruso, D.R., & Salovey, P. (1999). Emotional intelligence meets traditional standards for an intelligence. Intelligence, 27(4), 267-298.
