Emotional Intelligence

Conceptual Overview

EI has particular value to organizations. Current research validates that individuals who improve their EI and emotional competencies in ways that parallel job demands demonstrate higher levels of performance. The list of behaviors potentially influenced by EI includes such diverse outcomes as job performance, positive work attitudes, leadership potential, self-efficacy, and change management. How well one can recognize and manage the emotions of oneself and others may constitute a differentiating characteristic between success and failure for individuals, [Page 434]teams, and organizations. Although the evidence is mixed regarding the extent of the influence of EI on performance, there are clear indications that EI does determine a significant variance in the overall effectiveness of employees and their organization.

To understand EI, a review of the primary architects is required. EI finds its construction within a body of research concerning social intelligence. The historical authors and constructs are Thorndike's practical intelligence, Gardner's intra- and interpersonal intelligence, and Bar-On's emotional quotient (EQ). The modern construction credits Salovey and Mayer with originating the EI concept and Goleman with popularizing EI.

Thorndike believed in three distinct types of intelligence: (1) abstract or scholastic intelligence, defined as the ability to understand and manage ideas; (2) mechanical or visual-spatial intelligence, defined as the ability to understand and manipulate concrete objects; and (3) social or practical intelligence, defined as the ability to understand others, manage people, and act wisely in social contexts. While social or practical intelligence resonated intuitively, psychologists focused on the first aspect, abstract or scholastic intelligence, as attempts to refine, measure, and understand social intelligence proved unsuccessful.

Gardner continued the inquiry into multiple intelligences in an effort to answer the question of what additional capacities are attributed to our potentials for productivity. Gardner illuminated a distinction between intellectual and emotional capacities, classifying these additional intelligences as interand intrapersonal. Inter-personal intelligence is the capacity to understand other people and, consequently, to work effectively with others. Intra-personal intelligence is the capacity to understand oneself and to use such information effectively in regulating one's own life. These two definitions provide the theoretical basis for EI and are the common denominators for most contemporary conceptions of EI.

...