Emotional Intelligence

Essay by ksenia2005A-, July 2009

download word file, 13 pages 0.0

Emotional intelligence "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). This concept has received a lot of recent attention in the field of psychology. While others first developed the theory of emotional intelligence, and a graduate student by the name of Wayne Leon Payne is credited for being the first to use the term in his dissertation in 1985, psychologist Daniel Goleman has popularized it, writing two best-selling books Emotional Intelligence (1995) and Working with Emotional Intelligence (1998) that have brought the topic into the public arena. The earliest research in this field took place in the early 1990's when two American university professors, John Mayer (U. of New Hampshire) and Peter Salovey (Yale), who were conducting studies on the differences in people's ability in the area of emotions, found that some people were better than others at things like identifying their own feelings, identifying the feelings of others, and solving problems involving emotional issues.

Goleman has made considerable claims about the potential of emotional intelligence. These claims are not necessarily supported by the research, however, there is little doubt that this area of intelligence has much to do with interpersonal effectiveness. Anecdotal evidence suggests that individuals high in emotional intelligence seem to be more successful in relationships and in the workplace. The Biology of EmotionsGoleman describes the biology of emotions in his video on emotional intelligence. He speaks about the critical role of empathy -- knowing what someone is feeling without them telling you in words. Empathy is what keeps people from harming each other. We all have the power to help each other feel better or worse. Teaching empathy is...