What is Emotional Intelligence & What Does it Have to Do With You?
What do you see and hear and feel whenever you listen to the news on the radio or read it on the computer or watch it on TV?
What common themes pop out to you in the news . . . in world events . . . in your daily life, even?
I like to focus on the positive. I like to surround myself with an uplifting, harmonious atmosphere. I love to learn about mindset and I love to teach and coach on it. But, unfortunately, much of our world is mired in the negative . . . in chaos and hate and rage and lack of self-worth. It can be seen in the ways that people treat themselves and others . . . in unhealthy choices . . . in the road rage that occurs daily . . . in the verbal abuse we hear . . . in the anger in relationships . . . in the wars in our world.
And that's what emotional intelligence has to do with you . . . and with me . . . and with everyone.
Emotional intelligence, or lack of it, effects everyone.
There are ripple effects whether the primary focus is emotional intelligence or emotional unintelligence.
So, what is it? Very generally, EI (the abbreviation) is about being intelligent emotionally. It's about developing a core or a foundation from which your decisions flow. It's relates closely to your values. It has to do with how you live your life and the choices you make. It's about being aware of emotion, expressing it in a way that isn't destructive to others or the world and building positive, healthy relationships, including with yourself. It's about kindness and service.
This is a powerful subject for me and an important one, I believe, for every person on our planet. Near the end of the lens you can read a bit more about my perspective.
Before getting to the end, though, I review some of the major descriptions of what emotional intelligence is to give you a better understanding of the topic. Each major interpretation begins with a heading and a quote that describes the perspective. For those who want to go into more detail, text follows that does just that. It's not hard to read, but it is from my research, so it's a little more intellectual than personal.
Other than that, enjoy the participatory parts of the lens and I look forward to hearing from you!
Note: Quotes are from: Salovey, Peter, Marc A. Brackett, and John D. Mayer, eds. Emotional Intelligence: Key Readings on the Mayer and Salovey Model. New York: Dude Publishing, 2004 unless otherwise stated. Text is my own paraphrase and interpretation of this work and other sources. Images are from Photobucket or Cover Browser.
What You'll Find Here About Emotional Intelligence
- Emotional Intelligence: Mayer and Salovey
- Emotional Intelligence: Daniel Goleman
- Emotional Intelligence: Reuven Bar-On
- Emotional Intelligence: Six Seconds
- Emotional Intelligence: Laura Belsten
- Real World Emotional Intelligence
- Emotional Intelligence Books
- More Emotional Intelligence Resources
- Emotional Awareness
- Emotional Intelligence on Video
- Where to Learn More About Emotional Intelligence
- What Does Wikipedia Have to Say About Emotional Intelligence?
- About Me
- What Do You Think of Emotional Intelligence?
Emotional Intelligence:
Mayer and Salovey
Emotional intelligence is "the process involved in the recognition, use, understanding, and management of one's own and others' emotional states to solve emotion-laden problems and to regulate behavior."
Emotional Intelligence: Mayer and Salovey
The Beginnings
Since Mayer and Salovey combined the words "emotion" and "intelligence," they were careful to stay true to the research being done in both areas, working to prove that EI is an actual intelligence according to established standards and showing how emotion can facilitate thought.
Mayer and Salovey also only dealt with abilities specifically related to emotion and intelligence, not with personality traits like self-esteem or optimism as the other models of EI came to do. So, their model is called an "ability" model.
In 1990, Mayer and Salovey defined EI as, "the ability to monitor one's own and others' feelings and emotions, to discriminate among them and to use this information to guide one's thinking and actions."
Based on research findings, Mayer and Salovey improved their definition in 1997 to state that emotional intelligence is "the process involved in the recognition, use, understanding, and management of one's own and others' emotional states to solve emotion-laden problems and to regulate behavior."
More specifically, they state that emotional intelligence is a "set of [mental, or cognitive] abilities pertaining to (a) accurately perceiving and expressing emotion, (b) using emotion to facilitate cognitive activities, (c) understanding emotions, and (d) managing emotions for both emotional and personal growth."
Mayer and Salovey go into detail about this in their book, Emotional Intelligence: Key Readings on the Mayer and Salovey Model, which you can get below (this is where the quotes are from).
Mayer and Salovey, along with David Caruso, developed the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT) in order to assess EI. Consistent with their ability model of EI, their assessment is an "ability" assessment.
In other words, it's a task or performance-based test that measures an individual's actual, objective behavior or performance of EI, not a test that focuses on an individual's subjective reporting of how emotionally intelligent they think they are (which may or may not accurately reflect their actual behavior) as other tests do.
And, consistent with their concern for rigorous standards, Mayer and Salovey have worked to ensure that the MSCEIT is scientifically reliable and valid.
Emotional Intelligence:
Daniel Goleman
According to Daniel Goleman, EI is about knowing your emotions, managing your emotions, motivating yourself, recognizing emotions in others and handling your relationships. He's more about the application of EI than the theoretical aspects.
Emotional Intelligence: Daniel Goleman
Emotional Intelligence is Popularized
As the Brain and Behavioral Sciences Reporter for The New York Times, Daniel Goleman, Ph.D., came across an article on emotional intelligence written by Mayer and Salovey.Goleman became passionate about EI as a result of reading this article and, in 1995, wrote Emotional Intelligence: Why it Can Matter More Than IQ.
The book popularized the concept of EI and, if you've heard of emotional intelligence, you've probably heard of it in relation to Daniel Goleman.
Rather than emphasizing a description of the theory itself as Mayer and Salovey do, Goleman focuses on:
- the application of emotional intelligence in relationships, interactions, physical health and work
- the learning of emotional intelligence at home and in school
- and the workings of the brain in relation to emotion
- Knowing your emotions
- Managing your emotions
- Motivating yourself
- Recognizing emotions in others
- Handling your relationships
Emotional Intelligence:
Reuven Bar-On
Reuven Bar-On states that "emotional-social intelligence is a cross-section of interrelated emotional and social competencies, skills and facilitators that determine how effectively we understand and express ourselves, understand others and relate with them, and cope with daily demands."
Emotional Intelligence: Reuven Bar-On
Assessment of EI
Going into more depth about Reuven Bar-On's definition of emotional intelligence (above), the emotional and social competencies, skills and facilitators include:- the ability to recognize, understand and express emotions and feelings (intrapersonal)
- the ability to understand how others feel and related with them (interpersonal)
- the ability to manage and control emotions (stress management)
- the ability to manage, change, adapt and solve problems of a personal and interpersonal nature (adaptability)
- the ability to generate positive affect and be self-motivated (general mood)
- be aware of themselves
- understand their strengths and weaknesses
- express their feelings and thoughts in a non-destructive way
- be aware of others' emotions, feelings and needs
- establish and maintain cooperative, constructive and mutually satisfying relationships
- realistically and flexibly cope with the immediate situation, solve problems and make decisions
- manage emotions so that they work for them and not against them
- be sufficiently optimistic, positive and self-motivated
Emotional Intelligence:
Six Seconds
Six Seconds defines emotional intelligence as "the capacity to get optimal results from your relationships with yourself and others." They believe that there are three main areas of EI: 1) Know yourself, 2) Choose yourself, and 3) Give yourself.
Emotional Intelligence: Six Seconds
Making the Research Practical
This action-focused model defines three areas of emotional intelligence:
- Know yourself (growth in self-awareness and understanding of how you function):
- enhance emotional literacy (make sense of all the emotions you can feel, label them, comprehend their causes and effects, understand how emotions affect you physically, see the connection among thought and feeling and action)
- recognize patterns (see your patterns of thought, feeling and action and modify them to be more effective)
- Choose yourself (consciously choosing your thoughts, feelings and actions):
- apply consequential thinking (think about the effect of your thoughts, feelings and actions and delay them if the consequences will be negative)
- navigate emotions (feeling all your emotions, not denying them and taking the time to choose how to respond)
- engage in intrinsic motivation (find your own inner motivation to act)
- exercise optimism (see your future as positive and valuable)
- Give yourself (using empathy and conscious choice to positively impact your world):
- increase empathy (build conscious empathy, do to others what you'd want them to do to you)
- pursue noble goals (these are long-term goals that guide you)
You can learn more at the Six Seconds website.
Emotional Intelligence:
Laura Belsten
Laura Belsten defines EI as "a dimension of intelligence that's responsible for our ability to be aware of our own emotions and the emotions of others and then use that awareness to manage ourselves and manage our relationships with others" (Belsten, Laura. Coaching Emotional Intelligence: The Art & Science of Accelerating the Achievements of Your Clients. Colorado: LearnMore Communications, Inc. 2006).
Emotional Intelligence: Laura Belsten
Into the Coaching Arena
Dr. Laura Belsten (Ph.D. in Human Communication) is a coach. She also teaches a course in coaching emotional intelligence at the University of Denver, as well as courses in communication.
I took Laura's supplementary coaching program through Coach Training Alliance after I completed my life coaching certification.
Laura Belsten has worked with Reuven Bar-On and Daniel Goleman (and others) and is certified in several EI assessments.
In addition to her definition of EI above, she describes EI as having four elements. Each element includes various competencies:
Laura Belsten has also created a self-report assessment for EI called the Emotional Intelligence Profile.
Learn more at Laura Belsten's website.
Real World Emotional Intelligence
"As you act with emotional intelligence, you create positive ripples that expand around the world. It's the AIR you breathe . . . Act and Interact; Don't React" (Leanne Chesser).
Real World Emotional Intelligence
My Comments
I understand the importance within Psychology of being scientific and scholarly.
I respect it.
And I think it's necessary to study all the models of EI to properly understand it. That's why I've included them here.
However, regardless of whether or not a measurement tool is classified as an ability test or as a self-report measure, and regardless of whether or not EI is rigorously proven to be a true intelligence or something more like a set of personality traits, the fact is that there is far too much "emotional unintelligence" in our world.
People don't need to try to decipher some hard-to-understand jumble of scholarly words. They need something that's accessible and usable. They need something that's going to create change in their lives.
For this reason, I like the Six Seconds model for its simplicity and its relevance in real life. I also appreciate Laura Belsten's work. It's directed to coaches, but she does present an excellent description of emotional intelligence that's thorough, but simple and accessible - real world emotional intelligence.
Maybe, in order to respect the work of Mayer and Salovey and others, people like myself should call the concept "emotional responsibility" or "emotional consciousness." Regardless, I've created my own way to remember it:
It's the AIR you breathe . . . Act and Interact; Don't React.
"Act" refers to stopping, thinking and choosing to respond responsibly.
"Interact" refers to stopping, thinking and choosing to interact effectively.
"Don't React" refers to not reacting impulsively, irresponsibly or ineffectively.
And as you act with emotional intelligence, you create positive ripples that expand around the world.
Emotional Intelligence Books
Emotional Intelligence: 10th Anniversary Edition; Why It Can Matter More Than IQ
Amazon Price: $19.14 (as of 01/08/2010) 
The Handbook of Emotional Intelligence : Theory, Development, Assessment, and Application at Home, School and in the Workplace
Amazon Price: $64.00 (as of 01/08/2010)
Emotional Intelligence: Key Readings on the Mayer and Salovey Model
Amazon Price: $21.28 (as of 01/08/2010)
Emotional Intelligence For Dummies
Amazon Price: $16.49 (as of 01/08/2010)
The Educator's Guide to Emotional Intelligence and Academic Achievement: Social-Emotional Learning in the Classroom
Amazon Price: $35.05 (as of 01/08/2010)
More Emotional Intelligence Resources
Stop! Think! Choose!: Building Emotional Intelligence in Young People (Book and Poster Set)
Amazon Price: $71.95 (as of 01/08/2010)
Seven Skills for School Success: Activities to Develop Social and Emotional Intelligence in Young Children
Amazon Price: $10.17 (as of 01/08/2010)
Stop! Think! Choose! poster set: Building Emotional Intelligence in Young People
Amazon Price: $21.24 (as of 01/08/2010)
Test Your EQ: Assess Your Emotional Intelligence with 22Personality Questionnaires (Testing Series)
Amazon Price: $14.00 (as of 01/08/2010)
Teaching Emotional Intelligence: Strategies and Activities for Helping Students Make Effective Choices
Amazon Price: $32.98 (as of 01/08/2010)
Emotional Awareness
Emotional Intelligence on Video
Where to Learn More About Emotional Intelligence
- Emotional Competency
- Learn all about emotions on this comprehensive site.
- Character Inc.
- Join Julie Watson Smith as she coaches kids to be tomorrow's leaders today and works with them and their families to develop emotional intelligence and character.
- Emotional Intelligence Training Company
- This is the source for emotional intelligence training, assessment and coaching services.
What Does Wikipedia Have to Say About Emotional Intelligence?
Emotional Intelligence (EI) describes the ability, capacity, skill or, in the case of the trait EI model, a self-perceived ability, to identify, assess, and manage the emotions of one's self, of others, and of groups. Bradberry, Travis and Greaves, J...
About Me
Lensmaster LeanneChesser has been a member since November 10 2007, has rated 608 lenses, favorited 158, and has created 50 lenses from scratch. Leanne Chesser donates their royalties to Earthjustice and Covenant House. This member's top-ranked page is "Feed the Homeless ". See all my lenses
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What Do You Think of Emotional Intelligence?
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Reply
- LeanneChesser LeanneChesser Oct 4, 2009 @ 9:26 am | in reply to Sylvestermouse
- I'm glad this lens stimulated your thinking! I'd love to hear your thought process.
I see two sides to the answer. One side is that there really isn't any scientific or scholarly research to answer this. But the other side is the practical side. There's a lot of character education and social-emotional education that occurs in schools that I believe is effective in teaching emotional intelligence. I do believe that we can learn EI and that we can grow in it throughout our lives. Some people agree, some don't.
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Reply
- Sylvestermouse Sylvestermouse Oct 3, 2009 @ 11:18 pm
- Interesting lens. My initial response is something along the lines of "Is EI something you can teach someone?" I want to think about this for a while. Now see, that alone means that you have written a great lens and introduced an interesting subject.
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Reply
- luvmyludwig luvmyludwig Oct 3, 2009 @ 8:57 pm
- Great job on this, I could see a whole niche here.
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Reply
- BevsPaper BevsPaper Oct 3, 2009 @ 5:27 pm
- Interesting information about Emotional Intelligence.
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by LeanneChesser
I'm a mom of 4 kids, aged 13, 16, 19 & 20, although some aren't "kids" anymore... (more)
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