Emotional Intelligence

Lecture 8

Emotional Intelligence

ability to:-

• recognise, understand, manage own emotions

• recognise, understand, influence emotions of others (Goleman, 1996; Mayer & Salovey, 1990)

Benefit of Higher Emotional Intelligence

easier to form and maintain interpersonal relationships and ‘fit in’ group situations.

better at understanding own psychological state e.g. managing stress effectively, less likely to have depression.

Mayer & Salovey’s (1997) Model of Emotional Intelligence

EI = cognitive ability separate but associated to general intelligence (g).

• perception of emotion → capacity to accurately perceive emotions in face.voice of others

• emotional facilitation → emotions guide cognitive system; promote thinking, direct towards important matters

• understanding emotions → understand messages conveyed via emotions, capacity to reason about messages

• management of emotions → self-control; regulate and manage own and other’s emotions to promote goals

assessed using Mayer-Salovey-Caruso EI Test (MSCEIT) - 141 items assessing four branches.

Mayer & Salovey’s (1997) Model of Emotional Intelligence - Research

Mayer, Salovey & Caruso (1997) - Ps judge emotional content of stimuli (faces, designs, colours, etc). support for emotion perception branch.

Lane et al. (1990) - Ps who perform well responding to hypothetical emotional situations higher in emotion perception, lower in alexithymia. support managing + understanding branches.

Bar-On’s Emotional Social Intelligence Model (ESI) (2006)

emotional and social competencies, skills and facilitators (5 skill domains, 15 aspects):

• intrapersonal

  • emotional awareness, assertiveness, independence, self-regard, self-actualisation

• interpersonal

  • empathy, social responsibility, interpersonal relationships

• stress management

  • stress tolerance, impulse control

• adaptability

  • problem-solving, reality testing, flexibility

• general mood

  • happiness, optimism

Bar-On’s Emotional Social Intelligence Model (ESI) (2006) - Research

Bechara et al. (2000) - neurological patients w/ damage to areas associated with emotional signalling; making effective personal/interpersonal decisions = less effective.

Phineas Gage - injury to ventromedial prefrontal cortex - radical behavioural change.

Bar-On et al. (2003) - EI may be distinct from cognitive intelligence. EI important to both personal and social functioning.

measure using Emotional Quotient Inventory (1997) - 133 items, 5-point Likert scale.

Goleman’s (1988; 2001) - Competency Theory of EI

Competency Clusters:

personal competencies (managing ourselves):

• self awareness → emotional awareness, accurate self-assessment, self-confidence

• self-regulation → self-control, trustworthiness, conscientiousness, adaptability

• motivation → achievement drive, commitment, initiative, optimism

social competencies (managing others):

• social awareness/empathy → understanding others, developing others, service orientation, leveraging diversity, political awareness

• social skills/management → influence, communication, conflict management, leadership, team capabilities

measure using Emotional Competence Inventory (Goleman & Boyatzis, 2005).

EI and Stress - research

Ciarrochi & Deane (2001) - interpersonal EI lead to better interactions with health professionals → greater tendency to seek help, follow advice.

Saklofske et al. (2007) - EI linked to coping, particularly rational/problem-focused coping.

Parker et al. (2004) - academic success strongly associated with emotional intelligence.

Por et al. (2011) - EI positively related to wellbeing, problem-focused coping, perceived nursing competency. negatively related to perceived stress.

EI and Social Interaction - Research

Lopes et al. (2004) - positive relationship between ability to manage emotions and perceived social interaction quality (Lopes et al., 2004).

Mestre et al. (2006) - emotional abilities associated with effective social interaction strategies and quality.

Metaj-Mecula (2017) - EI influences communication and social interaction + perceived social support.

Emotional Intelligence and Social Competence - Research

Yip & Martin (2005) - associations among sense of humour, EI, and social competence.

Marquez et al. (2006) - relation between EI, social competence and academic achievement.

Boyatzis et al. (2017) - emotional and social intelligence competencies differentiate average/above average incident team commanders (wildfires).

Zeidner & Matthews (2017) - higher emotional intelligence has adaptive benefits during distress, mediated by social support.