EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE

What is emotional intelligence?

  Recent discussions of EI proliferate across the American landscape -- from the cover of Time,
to a best selling book by Daniel Goleman, to an episode of the Oprah Winfrey show. But EI is
   not some easily dismissed "neopsycho-babble." EI has its roots in the concept of "social
   intelligence," first identified by E.L. Thorndike in 1920. Psychologists have been uncovering
other intelligences for some time now, and grouping them mainly into three clusters: abstract
intelligence (the ability to understand and manipulate with verbal and mathematic symbols),
concrete intelligence (the ability to understand and manipulate with objects), and social
intelligence (the ability to understand and relate to people) (Ruisel, 1992). Thorndike (1920:
228), defined social intelligence as "the ability to understand and manage men and women,

boys and girls -- to act wisely in human relations." And (1983) includes inter- and intrapersonal
intelligences in his theory of multiple intelligences (see Gardner for an interesting interview
with the Harvard University professor). These two intelligences comprise social intelligence.
He defines them as follows:

    Interpersonal intelligence is the ability to understand other people: what motivates
    them, how they work, how to work cooperatively with them. Successful salespeople,
    politicians, teachers, clinicians, and religious leaders are all likely to be individuals
    with high degrees of interpersonal intelligence. Intrapersonal intelligence ... is a
    correlative ability, turned inward. It is a capacity to form an accurate, veridical model
    of oneself and to be able to use that model to operate effectively in life.

Emotional intelligence, on the other hand, "is a type of social intelligence that involves the
ability to monitor one's own and others' emotions, to discriminate among them, and to use the
information to guide one's thinking and actions" (Mayer & Salovey, 1993: 433). According to
Salovey & Mayer (1990), EI subsumes Gardner's inter- and intrapersonal intelligences, and
involves abilities that may be categorized into five domains:

 Self-awareness:
        Observing yourself and recognizing a feeling as it happens.
 
Managing emotions:
        Handling feelings so that they are appropriate; realizing what is behind a feeling;
        finding ways to handle fears and anxieties, anger, and sadness.
 
Motivating oneself:
        Channeling emotions in the service of a goal; emotional self control; delaying
        gratification and stifling impulses.
 
Empathy:
        Sensitivity to others' feelings and concerns and taking their perspective; appreciating
        the differences in how people feel about things.
 
Handling relationships:
        Managing emotions in others; social competence and social skills.

Self-awareness (intrapersonal intelligence), empathy and handling relationships (interpersonal
intelligence) are essentially dimensions of social intelligence. See the Time magazine piece for
an overview of emotional intelligence. Their article basically summarizes Daniel Goleman's
   Emotional Intelligence book in a few simple pages, interjecting other experts' opinions and
   pieces of research to lend to a more balanced critique of emotional intelligence. In addition,
look st the piece on emotional intelligence from a Hindu newspaper article. It offers a more
theoretical and historical perspective on emotional intelligence.
 
 
 
 (This information was provided by Cornell University)