Emotional Intelligence
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Table of Contents
Introduction ............................................................................................................................................. 2
Importance of Emotional Intelligence.................................................................................................................. 3
Some myths about Emotional Intelligence .......................................................................................................... 4
History of Emotional Intelligence ........................................................................................................................ 4
Goldman’s dimensions of Emotional Intelligence in the workplace.......................................................................................... 4
Models of Emotional Intelligence ........................................................................................................................ 5
Ability Model ............................................................................................................................................................................. 5
Mixed Model ............................................................................................................................................................................. 6
Trait Model ................................................................................................................................................................................ 6
How to Manage Emotions? ................................................................................................................................. 6
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Introduction
Emotional Intelligence has two conceptual components, “emotions & intelligence”. Let us examine both of
them separately.
The word ‘emotion’ is derived from the Latin word ‘emovere’ which means to ‘excite’. It can be defined as a
subjective feeling.
Þ Emotions can be positive and negative
Positive Emotions Descriptions
Love/Affection Acceptance, adoration, longing, devotion, infatuation.
Happiness/Joy Cheerfulness, contentment, bliss, delight, amusement, enjoyment
Surprise Amazement, wonder, astonishment, shock
Negative Emotions Descriptions
Fear Anxiety, Alarm, Apprehension, Concern, Fright, terror.
Sadness Grief, disappointment, sorrow, gloom, despair, suffering, dejection
Anger Outrage, hostility, irritability, wrath, indignation
Disgust Contempt, disdain, abhorrence, revulsion, distaste
Shame Guilt, remorse, regret, embarrassment, humiliation
Each of these emotions is common in the workplace. For instance-
• Ishan is disgusted with favouritism which is shown to his colleague Chaitanya while assigning projects
to him
• Sarah feels happy when her boss comments in front of the sales team that she just landed the biggest
contract of the year.
Intelligence has been defined in many ways, the capacity for logic, understanding, self-awareness, learning,
emotional knowledge, reasoning, planning, creativity, critical thinking and problem-solving. More generally,
it can be described as the ability to perceive or infer information and to retain it as knowledge to be applied
towards adaptive behaviours within an environment or context.
Intelligence is most often studied in humans but has also been observed in both non-human animals and in
plants despite controversy as to whether some of these forms of life exhibit intelligence. Intelligence in
computers or other machines is called artificial intelligence.
Intelligence Characteristics
Logical Processes analytically, calculates, quantifies
Verbal Thoughts through work
Interpersonal Understands others, processes through interaction
Intrapersonal Thinks in quiet, likes to be alone, goal oriented
Visual Uses mental models, thinks three dimensionally
Musical Sensitivity in pitch, melody, rhythm, found in both performers and listeners
Bodily/kinaesthetic Physical movement involves whole body, processes by jumping or dancing
Naturalist Needs to be with/survive in nature
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Existential Not religion per se, knows why he or she is here, personal mission
Emotional Emotionally mature, recognizes own anger, reacts to emotions of self and others
Emotional Intelligence (sometimes called EI) is the ability to understand, use and manage our own emotions
in a positive way to relieve stress, communicate effectively, empathize with others and overcome challenges.
It can also help to connect with our feelings, turn intention into action and make informed decisions about
what matters most to us.
EI helps to build relationships with people and get along in different situations and thus command respect
in the group.
Thus, Emotional intelligence refers to emotional awareness and emotional management skills which provide
the ability to balance emotion and reason so as to maintain long-term happiness.
Importance of Emotional Intelligence
In today’s context, emotional intelligence is perceived as the most important element to a person’s success.
For example, while comparing IQ and EQ, theorists suggested that while 20% of success is contributed by IQ,
the remaining 80% of success is determined by EQ.
It is now widely believed that emotions rather than IQ may be the true measure of human intelligence.
Therefore, behavioural scientists are now focusing on emotional intelligence. In particular, emotional
intelligence is important in the following ways:
1. General happiness: Emotional intelligence leads to general happiness. A high EQ represents positive
feelings which result in general happiness. As against this low EQ generates negative feelings which result in
general unhappiness.
2. Rationality in Behaviour: Emotional intelligence leads to rationality in behaviour. With high EQ, a person
is able to see the situation under which the behaviour takes place from the right perspective. With such a
perspective, a person is able to establish the right relationship between the ends and means and his
behaviour tends to be rational.
A lack of emotional intelligence leads to the wrong perception of the situation and the person interprets the
information based on his emotions rather than reality. In fact, the emotional barrier in communication is
one of the biggest problems. As the result, the person does not show rational behaviour.
3. Fulfilling social objectives: Since human beings live in society, they are not only responsible to themselves
but also to society. Living in society, a person takes something from it and gives something to it. This
something may be in physical as well as psychological forms.
In the taking and giving process, a person with high EQ displays the same behaviour towards others that he
expects from them. If such a behaviour is reciprocated by others, the behaviour becomes gratifying to all the
persons concerned. This brings general happiness in society including family, friendship groups and work
organizations.
As against this, a person with low EQ acts with emotions and becomes self-centred. His behaviour is often
dysfunctional leading to general unhappiness in society. Thus, persons with high EQ are assets of society
while persons with low EQ are liabilities for it.
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Some myths about Emotional Intelligence
Emotional intelligence must be taken from the right perspective. However, certain myths about emotional
intelligence, it is not taken from the right perspective. Some of the most common myths about emotional
intelligence are as follows:
1. Emotional intelligence is sometimes treated as being nice to others which is not true. Emotional
intelligence generates rational behaviour which must suit the situation. In many situations, ‘being
nice to others’ is not rational behaviour because the person does not expect such nicety. In these
situations, even confronting or avoiding behaviour is the demand for emotional intelligence.
2. Emotional intelligence does not mean giving free rein to feelings. Rather, it involves managing
feelings so that these are expressed appropriately and effectively, enabling people to work together
towards a common goal.
3. There is a myth that men have higher emotional intelligence than women. It is not true. Various
research has shown that emotional intelligence has nothing to do with gender though there are
certain gender-specific characteristics of men and women. Men and women have their personal
profile of strengths and weaknesses which may vary among different groups of men and women.
4. There is a myth that emotional intelligence is fixed genetically and develops only in early childhood.
This is not true. While IQ does not change much after adolescence, emotional intelligence changes
over a period of time. This happens because IQ is a biological phenomenon while emotional
intelligence is a learned phenomenon.
Therefore, emotional intelligence changes over a period of time through learning which is a life-long
process. In fact, through training and development programmes, it has been possible to increase the
emotional intelligence of people.
History of Emotional Intelligence
In the 1990s, two psychologists John D. Mayer and Peter Salovey developed their first theory of Emotional
Intelligence (EI), which subsequently became popularized by Daniel Goleman. He published a book named
Emotional Intelligence in 1995.
He defines emotional intelligence as the capacity to recognise our own feelings and those of others, for
motivating ourselves and for managing emotions well in ourselves and in our relationships.
Goldman’s dimensions of Emotional Intelligence in the workplace
1. Self-awareness: It is understanding of own self and knowledge of true feelings at the moment. For
instance, Sarah recognises that she is very annoyed so she decided to cool down her anger before making
any important decision.
2. Self-Management: It involves handling one’s own emotions rather than hindering the task at hand,
shaking off negative emotions and getting back on a constructive track for solutions. For instance, Hina holds
back her impulse to become visibly upset and raises her voice at the customer’s unfair complaint and tries
to get more facts on what happened.
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3. Self-Motivation: To remain self-motivated and optimistic in any given situation. For instance, Peter
successfully completed the project in spite of various frustrations like a lack of resources and no
management support.
4. Empathy: It involves being sensitive to the feelings of others and being able to sense what others feel and
want. For instance, the head of the Finance Department found all team members were tired and exhausted
so she took them bowling during the break and ordered some refreshments for them.
5. Social skills: These include the ability to read social situations and smoothness, in interacting with others
and forming a network. For instance, Anurag guessed from non-verbal clues his staff members were not
convinced by the company’s new policy that he presented in the meeting, so after their meeting was over
he visited each of them to explain its benefits.
Models of Emotional Intelligence
Currently, there are three main models of EI:
I. Ability Model
II. Mixed Mode
III. Trait Model
Ability Model
The ability model of emotional intelligence is put forth by Mayer, Salovey and Caruso. This model defines
emotional intelligence in terms of ability, rather than a trait or characteristic. The model proposes four types
of emotional abilities which are as follows:
Emotional Perception: It refers to an individual’s ability to recognize his own emotions and to understand
the emotions expressed by others. This is the basic skill involved in EI because unless you can perceive
emotions you cannot manage them.
Emotional Use: The ability to use one’s emotions involves the skill of leveraging emotions to enhance our
thinking, decision making and relationships. For example, Channelizing anger at perceived injustice towards
fighting for one’s legitimate rights.
Emotional Understanding: It involves using the specific information that various emotions provide and
knowing how that might affect the behaviour of the person. For example, you promised your wife to take
her to the movie but you forgot. Once you return to home, you saw your wife being rude and angry. If you
are a man of high EQ, you can easily discover that the angriness of your wife is the result of your failure to
fulfil the promise.
Emotional Management: It refers to the ability of an individual to self-regulate emotions and to regulate
emotions in others. A person with a high level of this ability can harness positive or negative emotions and
manage them in a way that facilitates the completion of required tasks.
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Mixed Model
This model introduced by Daniel Goleman focuses on EI as a wide array of competencies and skills that drive
leadership performance. Goleman’s model outline five EI dimensions:
1. Self-awareness: The ability to know one’s emotions, strengths, weaknesses, drives, values and goals and
recognize their impact on others while using gut feelings to guide decisions
2. Self-regulation: It involves controlling or redirecting one’s disruptive emotions and impulses and adapting
to changing circumstances
3. Social Skills: These involve managing relationships to get along with others
4. Empathy: Considering other people’s feelings, especially when making decisions
5. Motivation: It includes being aware of what motivates them
Goleman includes a set of emotional competencies with each construct of EI. Emotional competencies are
not innate talents, but rather learned capabilities that must be worked on and developed to achieve
outstanding performance. Goleman posits that individuals are born with a general emotional intelligence
that determines their potential for learning emotional competencies.
Trait Model
The trait Model is the most recent model of EI given by Petrides. This model marks a break from the idea
that EI is ability-based and proposes that people have, as part of their personalities, a number of emotional
self-perceptions and emotional traits.
Simply put, Trait EI concerns people’s perceptions of their own emotional abilities. Trait EI is defined as “a
constellation of emotional self–perceptions located at the lower levels of personality hierarchies”.
Petrides terms this as a trait of emotional self-efficacy. This means that emotions are subjective and
emotional intelligence is quite simply, an individual’s own perception of his own ability to work with
emotions.
Petrides asserts that there is no standard profile of an emotionally intelligent person because certain traits
are adaptive, functional and useful in some situations while the same traits may hamper individuals in other
contexts. For example, being reserved would be useful in a job role that demands research in isolation (e.g.
job of a scientist) but may not be suited to a job role that expects social interaction and agreeableness (e.g.
job of a public servant)
Thus the trait model of EI focuses on particular personality traits helpful in perceiving and regulating
emotions. It emphasizes that emotional self-perceptions and emotional traits in one’s personality play a
significant role in one’s emotional intelligence.
How to Manage Emotions?
1. Self-awareness: For managing emotional intelligence, it is necessary that people must develop self-
awareness, that is, they should be able to evaluate themselves in the light of their emotions and feelings.
Equally important is the ability to be aware of the relationship between emotions and actions, that is, being
aware of what emotions have caused what actions. This awareness helps an individual to develop positive
emotions and overcome negative emotions.
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2. Managing Emotions: For effective emotional intelligence, it is necessary that one should able to control
those emotions which are dysfunctional like anger, fear, sadness, etc. These emotions may be channelized
into positive ones by continuous practice. One of the better ways of overcoming these feelings is to refrain
from taking any action when an individual is in grip of such emotions. After a certain period of time, he may
return to his normal behavioural pattern for taking any action.
3. Empathy: Empathy is the act of ‘putting one’s legs in another’s shoes, that is, understanding the emotions
and feelings of others while interacting with them. It is important to listen to others without getting carried
away by one’s own personal conditions. Thus, empathy helps in evaluating any situation in a better way.
4. Cooperation: Cooperation is a motto; a collective action of one person with another or other persons
towards a common goal. Since employees work as team members in an organization, it is essential for them
to know how and when to take the lead and when to follow. This knowledge brings better cooperation in
teamwork.
5. Resolving Conflicts: In an organizational setting, one must be able to resolve conflicts whether
interpersonal or intergroup. People in conflict are generally locked into a self-perpetuating emotional spiral
in which the genesis of the conflict is usually not clear. Therefore, by managing these emotional issues, the
conflict can be resolved. Understanding such emotional issues enables a person to resolve conflict.
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