We are all irrational. No matter what logical chains a person builds when achieving or planning a goal, motives often depend on emotions. The ability to recognize the influence of feelings in yourself and in other people is call emotional intelligence. Let’s take a closer look at what it is.
History of the concept
The evolution of the understanding of emotional intelligence can be conditionally divid into 4 periods.
- 1872–mid-20th century. Charles Darwin was the first scientist to seriously consider the influence of instincts and emotions on both animals and humans in his scientific works. Others then tri to figure out what came first: physiological processes or emotions. In the 1920s, ward Thorndike introduc the concept of “social intelligence” and develop the first tests to determine it. In general, scientists began to realize that intellectual abilities do not always play a key role in a person’s success.
- 1960–1989. In 1964, the term “emotional telemarketing data intelligence” appear in the work of Michael Beldock. From that time on, it began to gain a foothold in other scientific works. The abbreviation EQ appear — by analogy with IQ (Emotional Quotient — Intelligence Quotient).
- 1990–1994. During this period, the knowlge that has surviv to this day is laid. In 1990, Peter Salovey and John Mayer write an article call “Emotional Intelligence.” Other scientists and journalists pay attention to it.
- 1995–1997 — popularization of the term. 8 ways to get the most out of developer interviews In 1995, Daniel Goleman publish the book Emotional Intelligence bas on Salovey and Mayer’s research. The book sold in huge print runs and brought the author great popularity.
- 1997–present. Emotional intelligence is being criticiz and re-evaluat. Different models are being disseminat, and neurophysiologists are thinking about a scientific approach to them.
The essence of emotional intelligence
The term and its essence are describ most clearly by Goleman in his popular science works. Emotional intelligence is a set of human qualities that are responsible for his self-motivation, control of his own emotions, understanding and managing the emotions of other people.
According to the writer’s model or the mix model, Taiwan Data emotional intelligence consists of five components.
- Self-awareness is the ability to feel your emotions, understand where they come from, what situations influence their origin. It is also very important to be aware of your values, strengths and weaknesses: life goals, self-esteem, sense of humor, prevalence of certain moods.
- Self-control is the ability to curb emotions and direct them in the right direction. The ability to adapt to new conditions and open up your feelings to others.
- Self-motivation is the ability to move towards your goal for the sake of achieving it, while receiving positive emotions from the process.
- Empathy is the ability to understand the feelings of others. Recognizing a person’s mood and emotional background bas on various signs. Empathy also includes the ability to sympathize, to “try on” other people’s feelings.
- Social interaction skills – managing the emotions of other people to achieve desir results, building relationships correctly.
Goleman in his books also denies the constancy and immutability of temperament. In his opinion, both the choleric and the melancholic can remove the features of temperament – increas impulsiveness and depress mood, respectively – and acquire opposite qualities.
In addition to this concept, there are a number of other common ones.
Model Reuven Bar-On
This model consists of 15 skills. They partially overlap with the abilities identifi by Goleman:
1) self-assessment;
2) emotional awareness;
3) assertiveness – clear expression of one’s feelings, firmness of one’s point of view when necessary;
4) independence;
5) empathy;
6) social responsibility – identification of oneself as a member of a group, useful cooperation;
7) interpersonal relationships – the ability to establish and maintain relationships bas on mutual benefit and emotional closeness;
8) adaptation;
9) stress resistance;
10) impulse control – the ability to limit oneself, to restrain oneself;
11) assessment of reality – comparison of one’s own subjective perception with real reality;
12) problem solving;
13) self-realization;
14) optimism;
15) happiness.
Mayer-Salovey model
This model is consider traditional. It was also the basis for the Goleman model, which became more popular. There are only four large components.
- Perception of one’s own and other people’s emotions.
- Using emotions to stimulate different types of thinking: creative activity, work.
- Understanding is the ability to determine the reasons, motives, and also to prict the occurrence of different moods and emotions.
- Managing emotions – your own and others’ – to achieve set goals, as well as the ability to build a strategy taking emotions into account.
These models make it clear why it is worth improving emotional intelligence: to increase your own effectiveness. There are quite a few methods for doing this. At the same time, most of them are abstract and vague. However, the very setting of skills already sets the correct vector of development and helps to determine which skills are poorly develop in yourself.
Measuring Emotional Intelligence
The concept of EQ was introduc in the second half of the 20th century. Emotional Quotient is literally “emotional coefficient”. This means that there are tests that allow you to measure it. The first one was creat in 1926 and was call the George Washington Social Intelligence Test.
Other tests offer to establish how true a statement is or how often the respondent behaves in a certain way. For example, how true is the statement: “A bad mood never prevents me from working.”
There are many tests and survey methods. One of the popular ones is the MSCEIT by Mayer and Salovey. The respondent is shown pictures of different emotional states of people, and he must determine the degree of this state on a three-point scale.
Another popular questionnaire: EQ-i by Reuven Bar-On. The test was taken by more than 42 thousand people in 36 countries. By profiling the results, it is possible to determine which professions and positions correspond to a particular EQ.
Application of EQ
EQ has already been us in large Western companies by HR specialists. Many questionnaires have undergone mass testing, thanks to which, bas on its results, it is easy to determine which person can be trust with a management leadership position, and which one is better to assign a subordinate position.
Criticism
The interpretation of emotional intelligence and EQ by some scientists and others, in scientific and popular science literature, can vary greatly.