Emotional Intelligence

History

Emotional Intelligence as a field had its start in the 1930s, when E. L. Thorndike, who is known as the father of modern educational psychology, first mentioned social intelligence and discussed the ability to get along with other people. In the 1940s, the conversation was moved forward by David Wechsler, a psychologist whose contribution was rooted in developing intelligence scales. He argued that effective components of individuals were essential to success in life. Continuing the evolution, in the 1950s, Abraham Maslow, a humanistic psychologist, discussed how people can build emotional strength. Slowly but surely, more writers and thinkers contributed to this conversation. Howard Gardner, in his 1975 book The Shattered Mind, writes of multiple intelligences that involve understanding the feelings and motivations not only of ourselves but others as well.

The first use of the term emotional intelligence was in a doctoral thesis by Wayne Pages in 1985. The term gained more traction in 1990 when Salovey and Mayer wrote their seminal article, “Emotional Intelligence,” in the Journal of Imagination, Cognition and Personality. Two years later, Goleman asked Salovey and Mayer for permission to use the phrase in an article he was writing. Since then, the definition has been expanded by Goleman and others to such an extent that it no longer has any scientific meaning or utility, as it is no longer a predictor of outcome.

The history and evolution of emotional intelligence is long, with ample supporters and detractors. Some define EI as a model that is personality based, while others see it through competencies, mental abilities, or even traits.

Goleman posits that EI is a set of competencies that are organized around self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and the ability to manage relationships. In a different paradigm, Mayer and Salovey look at a person's ability to perceive, use, and understand emotions in self and others.

A different model that is also prominent is trait-based and looks at sociability, emotionality, self-control, and well-being. There is no universal definition, standard, or even measure that indicates whether a person has some mastery over EI or how EI will affect an individual.

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