Individual and Social Processes

Individual and Social Processes

In the book Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman, the central thesis that he tries to point out is that emotional intelligence may be more important than I.Q. in determining a person’s well being and success in life. At first I didn’t know what Goleman was talking about when he said emotional intelligence, but after reading the book I have to say that I agree completely with Goleman. One reason for my acceptance of Goleman's theory is that academic intelligence has little to do with emotional life. To me, emotions can be just as intelligent as your I.Q. In this essay I hope to provide sufficient evidence to show why I agree with Goleman’s thesis on emotional intelligence.

The first topic that I want to touch on is the idea of academic intelligence having little to do with emotional life. Goleman states that, “Emotional intelligence is the ability to motivate oneself, persist in the face of frustrations, regulate one’s moods and keep distress from swamping the ability to think.” I feel that academic intelligence gives you no preparation for the turmoil and opportunities that life brings. The funny thing is that our schools and our culture are still fixated on our academic abilities. Even though emotional intelligence is a new concept, the information that does exist suggests it can be as powerful as I.Q. Instead, we should acknowledge emotional intelligence as a set of traits that can matter immensely on our personal lifestyle. How good a person is at these traits shows that they can thrive in life while another person doesn’t. Goleman states, “Emotional aptitude is a meta ability, determining how well we can use whatever other skills we have, including raw intellect.” People that have high emotional intelligence are more likely to be satisfied and effective in their lives. Others who have trouble with this cannot manage themselves so their ability for successful work and clear thought are altered.

In contrast to this, you can say that I.Q. is better than emotional intelligence. Having a high I.Q. does offer a lot of benefits. Goleman states that people with a high I.Q. are ambitious, productive, and uneasy with sexual and sensual experience. That high I.Q. people are the caricature of the intellectual, adept in the realm of mind but inept in the personal world. And all of this is just for the men. Goleman states, “The profiles differ slightly for men and women.” High I.Q. women have intellectual confidence, are fluent in expressing their thoughts and have a wide range of intellectual and aesthetic interests. Goleman also does point out that these are extremes and that everyone mixes I.Q. and emotional intelligence in varying degrees. But this does give us an instructive look at what each of these dimensions