Virtuously Emotional: The EI Goldmine and How it Works

Modern psychology bears no shortage of promising research; every week, papers are published that open new doors and resolve old questions in areas ranging from sex to drug addiction to cognitive dissonance. However, anybody would be very hard pressed to find a concept more auspicious than that of emotional intelligence. While certainly not a brand-new concept, it has, in the past decade, revolutionized multiple, entire fields of psychology, especially the industrial/organizational and the social arenas. The whole idea of emotional intelligence, or EI, is still in its infancy, but its implications for the present and future are exceptional.

The modern concept of EI, first discussed objectively by John Mayer and Peter Salovey in 1990 (Mayer & Salovey, 1990), refers to a new intelligence, an intelligence not of crunching numbers or deciphering puzzles but of decoding and managing a far greater enigma: human emotion. While the theory surrounding EI is based off of previous mentions of "social" or "intrapersonal" intelligences, it is not merely so. As a universal construct for EI is gradually elucidated, golden oppurtunities for potential applications arise that could result in a global educational and social revolution. EI does not solely belong to the scientific domain, however; little over a decade ago, a barely nascent EI theory was picked up by Dr. Daniel Goleman and soon underwent a gargantuan transformation.

EI exploded into the popular culture scene in 1995, when Goleman published his first book on the subject, Emotional Intelligence. Since then, the EI concept has suffered from an immense amount of popularization, overexaggeration, and all-round hype, mostly centered on a claim that it is the paramount human intelligence, far more important than the apparently rustic "IQ." Lecturers, self-help companies, and the corporate world itself siezed onto the idea and ran with it. For better or for worse (probably a little bit of both), EI--also known as EQ or EQI--was thrust into the plebeian dominion.

There are three main concepts of emotional intelligence currently in circulation (Stys and Brown, 2004). John Mayer and Peter Salovey consider EI a pure intelligence, in that it is reducible to certain definitive cognitive abilities. Reuven Bar-On holds that EI is a combination of cognitive abilities and personality, and revolves around how a combination of the two have a benign effect on personal well-being. The third concept, the one most popularly cited by the general public, was originated by Daniel Goleman. His model focuses more on how mixed cognitive abilities and personality traits affect workplace success. This paper, to decrease reliance on too great a deal of subjectivity, will refer only to the model presented by Mayer and Salovey.

EI theory is still not accepted by one hundred percent of the scientific community of course--it has been criticized on multiple accounts. However, it is felicitous to note that a majority of the criticism is not aimed at scientific, objective constructs such as that of Mayer and Salovey, but at the "naïve popularizations of the concept, and particularly the irresponsible claims in the popular press" (Mayer et al., 2004). Mayer and his colleagues (2004) acknowledge further criticisms, some of self-report measures sometimes used in measuring EI, some of the ability of current EI-testing devices, among others. The authors label most of these as "legitimate," and as "[serving] to move the field forward." It is most important to understand that for any test, any scientific theory, especially any in its nascent stages, will bear a long list of ideal criteria or procedures. Thus, a balance must be found between accepting constructive criticisms and negating pointless or misinformed ones.

EI's importance in an individual's life is certainly prodigious, increasing all-round well being and success in life. The research question is, in what ways and to what extent does emotional intelligence affect an individuals' vital success? Mainly in three ways: by enhancing their ability to achieve academically at a young age, by facilitating accomplishments their professional career, and by enabling them to be happy over the course of their lifetime due to their empathetic and relationship skills.

EI IN A NUTSHELL

First, in order to understand emotional intelligence (EI), it is necessary to distinguish between the popularized definitions and the objective, scientific definition. EI has been widely proliferated in popular literature since Dr. Daniel Goleman published his first book on the subject in 1995, thus gaining myriad representations that "have little or nothing to do with emotion or intelligence" (Mayer et al., 2004). There is, however, a scientifically operational definition of EI, as written by Mayer and Salovey in 1997; they define the term as

"the capacity to reason about emotions, and of emotions to enhance thinking. . .the abilities to accurately perceive emotions, to access and generate emotions so as to assist thought, to understand emotions and emotional knowledge, and to reflectively regulate emotions so as to promote emotional and intellectual growth."

This is the definition used throughout this essay for the term "emotional intelligence."

Research on non-cognitive aspects of intelligence began around the mid-20th century. In 1943, David Weschler suggested that "non-intellective abilities are essential for predicting one's ability to succeed in life"(Cherniss, 2000). As early is the 1930s, Robert Thorndike was mentioning a "social" intelligence (Thorndike and Stein, 1937). Then, in 1983, Howard Gardner wrote that relationship-oriented intelligences were equally as important as the IQ measured by conventional tests (Gardner,1983). Modern EI was pioneered in 1990 by Mayer and Salovey.

EI AFFECTS ACADEMIC SUCCESS

EI begins to take effect early in a person's life, even during the teenage, high school years. There is a great deal of scientific, empirical support for a positive correlation between students' EI scores and their academic success. Educatees with a high emotional intelligence are likely able to manage their emotions more effectively and thus maintain a positive mood, and retain negative moods or less time (Mayer et al., 2004). This overall advantage in personal disposition simply allows high EI students to pay attention in class better, and work at home and at school with increased efficiency over those with low EI. Without a great deal of distracting emotional circumstances, students also excel in retaining the knowledge that they gain from doing that work.

However, EI's effect on students is certainly not one-dimensional. One can not simply assert that with a higher EI score comes better grades. One study in the United Kingdom, performed by K.V. Petrides et al. in 2002 (published two years later), found that students with lower IQs were actually more affected academically than their high-IQ counterparts. Using the Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire (TEIQue) in tandem with standard UK scholastic assessments and a verbal reasoning test, they questioned an evenly male and female group of 901 secondary school students. Their most interesting discovery, perhaps, is that the highest correlation of emotional intelligence to academic performance was found in the group with low IQs but high EI scores. The high IQ group, on the other hand, was not as eminently affected by EI or the lack thereof (Petrides et al. 2004).

The group explained this phenomenon by conjecturing that students who are not as intellectually adept as their counterparts find it harder to manage their coursework and thus reap the largest benefit from high-EI traits such as the ability to maintain a positive self image or manage one's mood. As for explaining the extant general effect of EI on scholastic achievment, Petrides and his colleagues attributed the positive correlation between these two factors to the supposition that proficiency in the area of EI may aid in subjects comprised of "affect-related issues," such as literature or the arts.

Another study performed in Spain as recently as 2006 has yielded further evidence for EI's facilitative affect on academic achievement. Using a different measure, the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT), Paloma Gil-Olarte Márquez and two colleagues (2006) compared EI to social competencies, general intelligence, and official school records. The resultant positive correlations were quite high in both prosocial behavior and Academic performance, although EI's inverse to correlation to maladaptive behavior was not as well pronounced.

The benefits of EI-related abilities are quite apparent to any teenager or student who utilizes those abilities. If a student's friend, for example, were having a bad day for whatever reason and thus behaving in a negative manner, the student with high EI would not only be able to acutely recognize the emotional distress of his/her friend, but decipher the source or the underlying meaning of those emotions and control his/her own emotions to keep them in the field of equanimity while dealing with that friend. That high EI student would not experience many, if any negative emotions from interatctions with that friend and would thus feel better at the end of the day, having been able to manage their own emotions and perhaps even help his/her friend do the same.

Simple skills like these play a gigantic role in reducing any student's day-to-day stress, which in turn enhances that student's academic performance, but it doesn't stop there. Doubtlessly, the decreased affinity for self-destructive behaviors (Mayer et al., 2004) such as smoking and alcohol or drug abuse is another instrumental portion of EI's positive effect on academic success.

EI's affect on academic achievment is highly evident in secondary school, but may become more or less central as students become more specialized, during college or graduate programs. For example, a graduate-level astrophysics student performing calculations on a computer for hours on end may not utilize emotional intelligence, persay, as much as general logical or analytical intelligence. On the other hand, a graduate-level psychology student would utilize EI to a much greater extent, as much of the work of psychologists of any kind involves understanding and empathizing with other people. Ultimately, in any area where teamwork or empathy is a factor in school success, EI will will have a large degree of effect.

Psychological literature on emotional intelligence, even though still in its infantile stages, provides ample support for a general link between EI and academic success. EI's benefit to students transcends academics, though. The abilities to recognize, understand, and manage emotions in teenagers are immensely useful, especially amidst all of the personal issues involved with adolescence and puberty. Because of these advantages, it might even prove beneficial to integrate social and emotional learning into the curriculum in schools worldwide, although further longitudinal studies would have to be carried out to determine whether these would have any effect.

EI AFFECTS PROFESSIONAL SUCCESS

A fair amount of work also exists on emotional intelligence's effect on the individual's success in many professional occupations. The abilities to deal with workplace stress and manage personal feelings have proven to be significant factors for career success (Cherniss, 2000). Because of its importance in this area, EI and topics associated with it have become a staple of the industrial/organizational field of psychology, a field that exists to improve corporate efficiency through the application of psychological principles. Gary Cherniss noted in his essay that was presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology in New Orleans that "social and emotional abilities

It is quite noticeable that in most service professions, the manager or senior employees are generally the most charismatic and most helpful to customers. Even a personality trait such as charisma may to a degree just be another benefit of having a high EI, because the major part of charisma is having positive social interactions, a task at which individuals with higher EIs generally tend to excel (Mayer et al., 2004). Anybody who has ever had problems with a waiter at a restaurant, for example, has noticed that the manager is very affable indeed, and is very adept at sympathizing and working out a solution to whatever problem has arisen.

It is interesting to note, in light of all the aforementioned examples, that Mayer and his colleagues (2004) have found when using the MSCEIT across multiple organizations that there is not any perfectly clear distinction or certainty that EI is always necessary to ascend in a corporation. Actually, they suggest that "EI may decline going up the corporate ladder." This sort of finding would suggest that corporate executives may not actually be involved in much of the face-to-face management of the people in their company, but rather dictate goals and aims to lower-down department or area managers. For this sort of scenario the higher executive performs more IQ-related tasks, like how to maximize profit or efficiency or reach the most customers, but leaves the task of communicating these visions and goals to other leaders in the company that perhaps excel at more EI-related tasks. Indeed, Mayer and his colleagues (2004) suggest that high EI individuals are "more adept at describing motivational goals, aims, and missions."

Even when a product is not being sold, EI is a powerful tool in almost any profession. If empathy is not central in a given job, EI can prove vital simply due to its teamwork and cooperation implications. A molecular biologist, for example, would utilize the skill sets stemming from emotional intelligence when cooperating with other scientists in his/her field or collaborating on any given project, which would likely end up in a more successful research team altogether--one that works quicker and functions smoothly so as not to create stress for the participants. The same applies to a surgeon at a hospital; surgery is almost always performed with teams of doctors, instead of just one. There may be a head doctor in charge of the operation, but he/she relies on and works closely with other doctors and medical technicians to ensure that the operation runs smoothly. EI in a situation like this one can be a literal life saver, reducing friction between all parts of the group and allowing them to successfully and smoothly complete a task with the potential to be extremely difficult and monotonous. High difficulty tasks in any area are usually best performed in teams, and being part of a successful team in any case requires cooperation and mutual understanding, which are facilitated by EI. Clinical psychologists certainly make use of EI in their everyday work. It is necessary that they be able to identify their patients' emotions, and the meanings of those emotions, as well as empathize and provide quality advice.

Of all professional occupations, EI's significance in medicine is paramount. The health care professions are centered around the necessity to create therapeutic doctor-patient relationships in which the doctor is both technically able to deal with the patient's disease, as well as any accompanying emotional aspects. Therefore, many health professions are now taking EI into consideration as a means to provide better patient-centered care, characterized by empathy and trust. In the Journal of Clinical Nursing, Akerjordet and Severinsson (2007) report that several facets of EI are critical to the nursing profession, such as empathy, effective communication, and self-management. They even suggest that EI could even be a vital factor in reducing stress and thus maintaing nurses' health. For pharmacists, "emotional intelligence may prove to be critical for the development of productive therapeutic pharmacist-patient relationships" (Romanelli et al., 2006). Romanelli and his colleagues acknowledge that "for pharmacy students or pharmacists to successfully provide care of any type, they must cultivate patient interactions that engender trust, empathy, and self-awareness." In years to come, EI is likely, if a generally accepted construct can be attained, to become a major element of medical training and practice all over the world.

It is probably most accurate to say that EI aids career performance most when that career closely involves the "maintenance of positive personal commitments" (Mayer et al., 2004). In other words, the more anyone has to deal with other workers and customers directly and influence them in a positive fashion, the greater EI's effect on that worker's individual success.

EI AFFECTS VITAL SUCCESS

The final area of success that this essay examines is perhaps not the typical conception of what success is, in that it doesn't involve money or fame. Nor does it stem from rather sensational but altogether unfounded claims by writers such as Goleman that portray EI as the chief factor in a person's self-esteem level, perseverance, or work ethic. Rather, the object is how EI can affect an individual's relationships with others and sense of self-fulfillment later in life. Mayer, Salovey, and Caruso have provided a snapshot of the high EI individual:

"The high EI individual, relative to others, is less apt to engage in problem behaviors and avoids self-destructive, negative behaviors such as smoking, excessive drinking, drug abse, or violent episodes with others. The high EI person is
The first section of that illustration refers to a disaffinity towards self-destructive behavior. It is popular knowledge that toxins such as tobacco, alcohol or other drugs can have noxious effects on the body's health. However, the consequences of abusing any of the above can supercede mere physical sickness, ranging from psychological disorders to destroyed families. EI reduces the chance of a person abusing these substances, and thus the likelihood of that person experiencing any of the problems associated with such behavior. In other words, EI provides a sort of freedom to those who possess it, from problems that prevent many people from attaining success in their personal lives.

Mayer and his colleagues (2004) also talk about a high EI person having "more positive social interactions," most likely due to the inherent qualitites of EI discussed earlier. People tend to be drawn to others who they feel care about them and understand them, and with the ability to perceive and understand emotions, a high EI individual would be a strong candidate in any case to fulfill those criteria.

CONCLUSION

Despite all the confusion, hype, and criticism swirling in a rhetorical vortex around the concept of EI, it is possible to extract a solid, valid construct. One merely has to reach into that hypothetical vortex with a hand of empiricism and an eye for real science. Without a doubt, all fields of "EI" research will burgeon in the next few decades, but it is my express hope that the lens of the public as well as the scientific community will turn towards the real science behind the theory. Indeed, the construct of EI that Mayer and Salovey pioneered in 1990 is both qualititatively and quantitatively superior. Over the next few years, it is the hope of myself and many scientists that more researchers will prolifically amass additional results on the topic, to supplement and improve the modest research that has been performed so far. Namely, improving the methods by which EI is measured and examining its effects in closer detail.

There is no doubt in my mind that high EI has an augmentive effect on any individual's success, throughout that individual's life, in all areas of life. Consider a prototypical high EI woman: as a teenager, she might experience decreased stress and more intimate and generally positive relationships, aiding her self-esteem and academic performance. As a young adult, she might manage herself more successfully and healthily than most, once she is finally out on her own. Professionally, she might rise more quickly to a high position and be more happy within her job. In the later years, high EI might help her raise children, have a good marriage, and feel self-fulfilled. Ultimately, EI is an intelligence; more emotionally intelligent people simply perform better in emotional tasks, a trait which can prove, as shown throughout this essay, to be incredibly salubrious and beneficial.

The future is golden: with increased understanding of emotional intelligence, we as a society can make the world a better place for the world's posterity. Whether this involves teaching EI in school, parents being more keen to educate their children in EI-related matters, or simply the ability to discover and learn about true EI, the applications of this understanding are magnficently auspicious. I believe that the emotional intelligence of the world's populous today is comparable to the IQ of a world's populous in which nobody reads. In other words, the most important aspect of understanding EI further is that one day, we might as a global society be able to make ourselves and our posterity more emotionally intelligent, a change that would benefit this world in untold, wonderful ways.

Works Cited

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Gardner, H. (1983). Frames of mind. New York: Basic Books.

Márquez, P. G-O., Martin, R. P., Brackett, M.A. (2006). Relating emotional intelligence to social competence and academic achievment in high school students. Psicothema, 18, 118-123.

Mayer, J. D., Caruso, D. R., Salovey, P. (2000). Emotional intelligence meets traditional standards for an intelligence. INTELLIGENCE, 27(4), 267-298.

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Research Branch, Correctional Service of Canada. A review of the emotional intelligence literature and implications for corrections. Ottawa, ON: Stys, Y. & Brown, S.

Romanelli, F., Cain, J., Smith, K. M. (2006). Emotional intelligence as a predictor of academic and/or social success. American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education, 70 (3), article 69.
Thorndike, R. L., & Stein, S. (1937). An evaluation of the attempts to measure social intelligence. Psychological Bulletin, 34, 275-284.