Studies in Emotional Intelligence

There is a growing interest in the concept of emotional intelligence, and with that growth is a gap between what we know and what we need to know. In the article, Emotional Intelligence: Issues and Common Misunderstandings, Robert J. Emmerling and Daniel Goleman inquire as to what emotional intelligence is, how it differs from other established constructs within psychology, whether or not it can be developed, whether or not it can be a better predictor of work performance than traditional measures of intelligence, whether or not it should be measured at all, and how it relates to ethics.

Emotional intelligence has a potential utility in predicting a range of criterion across different populations, but its predictive validity depends on the context, criterion of interest, and specific theory used. Traditional intelligence measures have been unable to account for a significant portion of variance in career success and work performance. IQ was originally thought to account for twenty-five percent of how well people perform in their careers, while it was later discovered that IQ actually accounted for between four and ten percent. A more recent study found that IQ is a better predictor of work and academic performance than EI, but when it comes to becoming an extraordinary performer, IQ may be a less powerful predictor than EI. The failure of IQ to account for the variance between performance and success is especially evident among managers and senior leaders. IQ alone is unable to predict this as well as competencies that integrate emotional, social and cognitive abilities.

Emotions and cognition are interwoven in the aspects of emotional intelligence, especially in interpersonal functioning, empathy, motivation, affective self-regulation, self-awareness, and complex decision-making. The range restriction on the variable of IQ among managers and senior executives may be the cause of IQ’s inability to predict the variance in performance among managers. Leaders must process a great deal of complex information on a daily basis, and that requires a high level of cognitive ability. IQ simply provides a basis on which to recognize a minimal capability that all who are within a certain job pool should have to keep their job. IQ should remain a predictor of the vocations that are available to an individual of a certain intelligence, but once in that vocation, the predictive validity of IQ should diminish.

It has been said that having a high level of emotional intelligence might compensate for having a low IQ. This would allow those with a low IQ, but a high level of emotional intelligence to thrive with only average intelligence. This gives individuals the idea that IQ matters very little. Emotional intelligence has begun to challenge the assumptions about what leads to success, and to bring a balanced view to the role of emotion and cognition in determining life outcomes. In order to validate claims of the importance that emotional intelligence and traditional intelligence possess in the prediction of certain criterion, more research is needed.

Within the emotional intelligence paradigm there exists several theories that attempt to better understand and explain the abilities, skills, and traits associated with emotional and social intelligence. Researchers have been able to demonstrate the discriminant validity of trait-based approaches to emotional intelligence. Recent research shows that emotional intelligence is a unique construct that accounts for unique variance when IQ and personality are controlled. Emotional intelligence has not been around for very long, and evidence continues to develop that shows how EI represents many traits and abilities that are not fully accounted for by traditional measures of personality and cognitive intelligence. The traditional intelligence field has not been threatened or discredited for having several theories. Our knowledge and practical applications of intelligence assessment to a wide variety of issues has been increased by our thorough research on traditional intelligence. All of the theories within the emotional intelligence paradigm strive to find a concept of how individuals manage, utilize, understand and perceive emotions to predict and maintain effectiveness.

The first major theory in the emotional intelligence paradigm was that of Bar-On and it was developed in 1988. In his theory he coined the term emotional quotient (EQ). His model is defined by a selection of abilities and traits related to social and emotional knowledge that influence our ability to cope with environmental demands. It can be viewed as a model of psychological adaptation and well-being. The Bar-On model includes the abilities to be aware of, understand, and express oneself, to be aware of, understand and relate to others, to deal with strong emotions and control one’s impulses,