Emotional Intelligence
Emotional intelligence (EQ) or the ability to identify, understand and manage one’s own emotions, as well as the those of others is a concept made popular by psychologist Daniel Goleman following the publication of his book ‘Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ’ in 1996. The idea of emotional intelligence was, however, first conceptualised by Professor Peter Salovey from Yale University and Professor John Mayer from the University of New Hampshire, both in the US, in a paper published in the journal ‘Imagination, Cognition and Personality’ in 1990.
Emotional intelligence – the capabilities
The idea of emotional intelligence is actually a collection of factors or capabilities:
- Emotion appraisal – the ability to assess and evaluate their own and others’ emotions in both verbal and non-verbal communications or displays. This is the basis of empathy.
- Emotion regulation, or the capability to control, change and influence their own and others’ experience of:
- Which emotions are experienced
- When those emotions are experienced
- How they experience and express their emotions
- Use of emotions to:
- Increase cognitive flexibility
- Engage in creative thinking
- Control, direct and redirect their attention
- Control, increase or decrease their motivation and enthusiasm
These tend to be considered skills which can be developed. However, there are a number of factors which can both inhibit an individual’s own level of emotional intelligence and impede their ability to develop the skills needed. The following can all limit the capacity to perceive and process emotional information as well as develop regulatory skills:
- Cultural background
- Linguistic proficiency
- General intelligence or IQ
- Individual biological factors, including neurological and genetic factors
- Early life experience
- Previous emotional trauma
- Family background
- Conditions like depression, anxiety or personality disorders
General intelligence and emotional intelligence
Whilst Goleman states that emotional intelligence is more important than general intelligence for success, the research does not hold with this view. They interact with each other and higher levels of both tend to predict success and performance. However, general intelligence is only weakly correlated with emotional intelligence. In short, one does not predict the other.
A new study
A new meta-analytic study containing 50,894 participants by researchers from the Psychological Sciences Research Institute in Belgium, the Research Center in Vocational Psychology and Career Counseling, Institute of Psychology, Universié de Lausanne, and the Division of Research and Innovation, University of Applied Sciences and Arts, both in Switzerland and the Laboratoire de Psychologie et d’Ergonomie Appliquées (LaPEA), Université Paris Cité and Université Gustave Eiffel, in France has looked at what work or career outcomes emotional intelligence iscorrelated with.
Findings
The study found that emotional intelligence is significantly correlated with:
- Career adaptability.
- Career decision-making self-efficacy, or the confidence to make career decisions and solve career and work problems.
- Entrepreneurial self-efficacy, or the belief in one’s ability to successfully perform and achieve desired outcomes in entrepreneurial tasks or ventures.
- Entrepreneurial intentions.
- Salary level.
- Commitment to, and persistence with, a career or profession.
- Career and job satisfaction.
The study also found that emotional intelligence is not correlated with:
- Career decision-making difficulties
- Turnover intentions (intention to leave a job)
The study also found that:
- Belief in one’s ability to successfully search for the right job
- Belief in how employable they are.
are not correlated with emotional intelligence.
Primary reference
How emotional intelligence makes a difference during performance reviews
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