Emotional Intelligence and Leadership - Literature review Example

Emotional intelligence Table of Contents Introduction 3 Emotional Intelligence (EI) – definitionand background 3 Salovey and Mayer’s theory of emotional intelligence 4 Petrides’s theory of emotional intelligence 5 Goleman’s theory of emotional intelligence 6 Critical comparison of the EI theories 7 Emotional intelligence and leadership 7 Conclusion and recommendations 9 Reference List 10 Bibliography 12 Introduction Emotional intelligence cannot be considered as an emerging concept as its base was established long back when Darwin posited in his work that emotional expression is essential for survival of living beings. He theorised that emotions helps in expressing biological needs and their fulfilment. However, emotional intelligence as a field of research is definitely emerging with moderate degree of work done in this regard and vast unexplored areas for research in this context. Emotional intelligence has been defined in various ways by different authors as it is highly subjective in nature (MTD Training, 2012). It was determined that until recently, intelligence was strictly considered within the purview of cognitive functions and was primarily related with areas such as problem solving, learning and memory. It was not until the 19th century when scientist advanced their research and established that non-cognitive aspect of intelligence exist as well. Emotional intelligence is often referred to as a subset of social intelligence and it comprises vast scope for research. By the end of 20th century, significant researches were observed to be undertaken regarding emotional intelligence (MTD Training, 2012). Some of the prominent researchers who made logical contribution with innovative insight are Mayer and Salovey, Petrides, Thorndike, Gardner and Goleman. The paper is a crucial study of emotional intelligence and pertinent theories in this regard. In the following sections, a brief background and definition of EI has been present and alongside, some of the prominent theories has been assessed and compared. Furthermore, the paper evaluated role of EI in leadership, performance and wellbeing and present recommendations in this regard. Emotional Intelligence (EI) – definition and background Over the years, EI has been successful in emerging as one of the main constructs in mainstream and cognitive psychology. During its initial phase of development, Thorndike explained it as a loosely defined subset of social intelligence (Thorndike and Stein, 1937). The notion was further developed by Gardner (1975) under the theoretical approaches on non-cognitive intelligence. In simple words, EI determines the way an individual perceives and reacts to personal and external emotions. EI is referred to the ability of a person to perceive, assess and control various emotions and coordinate the same with their bodily languages. A number of researchers have proposed that certain emotional intelligence can be acquired, learnt and developed while most characteristics were considered to be acquired by birth (Bar-On and Parker, 2000). In the 90s, John Mayer and Peter Salovey were considered as eminent researchers regarding emotional intelligence. In one of their articles in this regard, the authors defined EI as a subset of social intelligence that entails ability of monitoring one’s personal as well as others’ emotions, distinguishing among them and using the information for guiding one’s actions and thought patterns (Salovey and Mayer, 1990). The concept of social intelligence, as discussed previously, was originally identified by Edward Thorndike as a capability to be social with others. Early researcher such as David Wechsler argued that emotional aspect of intelligence can be considered important in achieving success in life. In 50s, Abraham Maslow presented humanistic viewpoints in this regard while suggesting measures to develop emotional strength. In this regard, several theories were proposed and one of those was theory of multiple intelligences by Gardner. However, noted contribution was made by Salovey and Mayer in 90s and later by Daniel Goleman. In the following section, proposition by these authors regarding EI has been discussed and contrasted with each other for better understanding of EI (Bar-On and Parker, 2000). Salovey and Mayer’s theory of emotional intelligence Salovey and Mayer (1990) did not present a conventional theory on emotional intelligence; instead, they developed a framework of EI that present a clear definition of the concept and its implication with other intelligences. Gardner (1975) classified non-cognitive intelligence in social intelligence and personal intelligence (which was further classified as inter and intra personal intelligence). Working on this thought, Salovey and Mayer (1990) expressed emotional intelligence as a kind of social intelligence. For clearer analysis of EI, they defined emotions as structured response with respect to various psychological subsystems such as cognitive, experiential and motivational layers. The authors also distinguished emotions from mood by suggesting that emotion is comparatively short-lived and intense. Based on the definition of emotion, the authors explained and categorised the concept of emotional intelligence as appraisal and expression of emotion, regulation of emotion and utilisation of emotion. Appraisal and expression of emotion: This attribute of emotional intelligence can be further classified as self emotion and emotion in others. Salovey and Mayer (1990) explained that one’s own emotion can be expressed and appraised verbally by means of language but require significant reliance on social learning and introspection. Another dimension that should be considered with respect to verbal expression is the nature of content of emotion (negative & positive and pleasant and unpleasant). The authors also emphasised on nonverbal aspect of expression which has so far been largely neglected as a mental ability of communication. With respect to other’s emotion, the authors stressed upon non-verbal expression and empathy as emotional expression and appraisal. Regulation of emotion: Emotional regulation is prominently associated with mood because management of emotion result in development of good or bad moods. Regulation of emotion was ascertained as an important contributor in the EI framework because it presumed to result in adaptive and strengthening mood states. Individuals are often empowered with ability of regulating mood and emotion in others and in them. Emotionally intelligent people aim at learning emotional regulation so that this proves useful in achieving specific goals. Regulation of emotion was determined to be motivating and charismatic on positive note while its negative aspect may result in manipulation and act of misleading (Salovey and Mayer, 1990). Utilisation of emotion: Salovey and Mayer (1990) articulated that harnessing emotions for problem solving purpose varies considerably from person to person. The authors established that emotions and mood has subtle yet systematic impact on various problem solving strategies. As per the view point of Salovey and Mayer, emotions can be employed to resolve various intellectual activities that are complex in nature; for instance, tasks like flexible planning, motivation and creative thinking can be induced by appropriate utilisation of emotions. Petrides’s theory of emotional intelligence Recent research in the field of EI validates that EI plays a significant role in determining certain pragmatic outcome such as interpersonal relationship quality and scholastic success (Platsidou, 2013). It was also validated in the studies that the role played by EI in these outcomes is significantly different from that played by general intelligence and cognitive science (Petrides, Frederickson and Furnham, 2004; Petrides, Pérez-González and Furnham, 2007). A variety of theories and constructs were provided to address the subject of emotional intelligence and it was agreed over the time by different authors that measurement of EI will make supplementary contribution towards academic advancement in this regard (Petrides, Frederickson and Furnham, 2004). Petrides and Furnham (2001) proposed trait EI and ability EI as a fundamental distinction in the process of measurement of EI. Trait EI is primarily related with emotions with respect to personal perceptions that can be measured by means of self-report while ability EI is concerned with cognitive emotional abilities where mental abilities with cognitive and emotional aspects are measured by deploying maximum-performance tests. The operational implication of ability EI was found to be problematic and consequently trait EI was determined as real intelligence. Trait EI can be defined as one’s perception regarding their personal emotional capabilities (Petrides, Pita and Kokkinaki, 2007). Petrides established that trait EI plays an important role directly as well as indirectly in educational, social and health context (Petrides, Frederickson and Furnham, 2004; Petrides and Furnham, 2001). Goleman’s theory of emotional intelligence David Goleman made efforts towards establishing implication of EI not only on individuals’ personal lives but also on their professional lives. Goleman (1998) presented an emotional competence framework to describe the functionality of emotional intelligence at workplace. Goleman’s model of EI focused on several competencies that result in leadership and quality performance. The elements of Goleman’s EI framework are discussed as follows: Self-awareness: Self-awareness prominently focuses on recognising and understanding one’s own feelings, values, strengths, goals, driving forces and weaknesses and assessing their impact on others. Self-awareness is essential for guiding and providing direction to an individual’s decision. Self-regulation: The ability of an individual to redirect and control disruptive thoughts, impulses and mood is referred as self-regulation or self-management. Self-management also comprises tactic of suspending judgmental attitude and making conscious decision prior to acting. Self-regulation generally results in flexibility, integrity and trustworthiness. Internal motivation: Internal motivation is also referred as internal driving factors that influence an individual to pursue or achieve visions and goals that are beyond monetary rewards and status. Internal or self-motivation is generally driven by passion, persistency and willingness. Empathy: Empathy is referred to the ability of understanding an individual’s emotional set-up at a particular point of time. It is an essential skill that helps in understanding people and their behaviour in a particular scenario and helps in developing cross cultural sensitiveness. Social skills: Social skills are essential for ensuring expertise in relationship development, management and retention. Social skills are necessary for building communication network and ensuring persuasiveness and leadership in team management (Goleman, 1998; 1995). Critical comparison of the EI theories The paper has discussed three important theories or propositions towards comprehensive development of EI. It was gathered that each researcher has continued their research while integrating the work that has been done other researchers in this regard. For instance, a strong framework regarding emotional intelligence has been presented by Salovey and Mayer (1990) on which both Petrides and Goleman worked to develop greater degree of elaboration. Petrides recognised that in the process of measurement of EI, ability EI is not measureable being subjective in nature whereas trait EI is highly useful in understanding emotional stability of individuals under different contexts. Goleman’s work focussed on building emotional intelligence from the perspective of organisational framework. Overall, it was determined that each theory has only contributed progression of the concept of EI and there lies no conflict among these theories. Emotional intelligence and leadership Leadership is primarily connected with continuous interaction between individuals or team members with their leaders. Increasing involvement in social interaction besides work related discussion result in significant influence of emotional awareness and regulation on the quality of interaction. Leaders in an organisational context are heavily responsible for resolving complex issues and for that, they require clear understanding of their own emotions as well as that of others around them (Pastor, 2014). Presently, most organisations has multicultural environment and correspondingly employers are increasingly expressing demand for employees and leaders with strong emotional competences so that smooth interpersonal relationships are developed and social cohesion is maintained in the organisation. A number of researchers have agreed that emotional intelligence acts as a prominent variable that influence performance of leaders (Pastor, 2014; Mayer, Salovey and Caruso, 2000). It was determined that leaders equipped with strong emotional quotient have fair amount of competitive advantage in employee management and mitigating organisational challenges. Although emotional intelligence is not considered within the purview of leadership theories but emotions play important role in motivating employees to deliver maximum output. Over the years, EI has gained significant importance as a measure to develop strong leadership skills among individuals. Traits of EI were considered essential in the process of leadership and studies suggest that in EI analysis with respect to leadership, individuals with transformations skills in place of transactional skills were considered as effective leaders. It was also gathered that EI shares positive correlation with various aspects of transformational leadership reflecting its importance in leadership development (Palmer, et al., 2001). Emotional intelligence and performance The variables of emotional intelligence occupy a chief role in developing workplace research and culture. High level of EI has often been associated with generation of significant number of positive outcomes regarding interpersonal relationships (Schutte, et al., 1998). The authors also agreed that high EI at workplace also result in greater degree of cooperative behaviour. O’Boyle, et al. (2011) conducted several meta-analyses and revealed that an organization with more emotionally intelligent employees tend to generate better performance and output. Furthermore, emotionally intelligent employees exhibit superior quality of leadership and constructive conflict management. Houghton, et al. (2012) explained that individuals with high level of emotional intelligence tend to have strong sense of authority at work environment and deliver strong support to other members. Additionally, they observed that employee with high EI make significant contribution towards development social capital. EI helps in building strong sense of capability, authority and control among employees resulting to increased level of organizational commitment and output. Emotional support from colleagues and team leaders act as buffer against various negativities at workplace. Organizational performance improves with increased level of EI because it delivers regulation and understanding of emotions and scope for motivation (Schutte and Loi, 2014). Emotional intelligence and wellbeing Besides leadership and performance, emotional intelligence was considered to have significant influence on wellbeing of human beings. Every human being is associated with one or more profession and it has been established that individuals with high level of EI tend to experience greater success in work life as well as personal life compared to individuals with low EI (Carmeli, Yitzhak-Halevy and Weisberg, 2009). Psychological wellbeing was determined to be a multidimensional and relatively complex construct which presents a generalised sense of happiness. Wellbeing has been related with long term growth, happiness and positive functioning by a number of authors (Bond and Donaldso-feilder, 2004). The model of positive wellbeing is represented by a number of factors such as life satisfaction, self acceptance and self esteem which are related to cognitive as well as social intelligence. Theories suggest that individuals with high emotional quotient can easily maintain positive mental balance by understanding, generating, recognising, promoting and regulating emotional factors. A number of studies also reveal that positive relationship between subjective wellbeing and EI exists and emotionally intelligent individuals are more capable of making right decision and accurate problem solving (Mavroveli, et al., 2007). Conclusion and recommendations Emotional intelligence is an emerging field of research. Since 1990, significant contribution has been made in this regard by different authors. The concept was appropriately described by Salovey and Mayer in 1990 and later on significant contribution was made by other authors in this regard. Salovey and Mayer classified EI in three categories, such as, assessment, regulation and utilization of emotions. Petrides made contribution in this regard by describing scope of measurement of operationalisation of EI. Goleman’s contribution was observed to be relatively innovative as the author discussed about ways by which EI can be implemented in workplace. With respect to workplace, the paper briefly discusses impact of EI on leadership, performance and wellbeing. It was gathered that strong scope of future research exists in the field of EI and the concept is still underdeveloped from organizational perspective, therefore, it is recommended that EI should be incorporated in various model of organizational behavior and development. Reference List Bar-On, R. E. and Parker, J. D., 2000. The handbook of emotional intelligence: Theory, development, assessment, and application at home, school, and in the workplace. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Bond, F. W. and Donaldso-feilder, E. J., 2004. The relative importance of psychological acceptance and emotional intelligence to workplace well-being. British Journal of Guidance & Counselling, 32(2), pp. 187-203. Carmeli, A., Yitzhak-Halevy, M. and Weisberg, J., 2009. The relationship between emotional intelligence and psychological wellbeing. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 24(1), pp. 66-78. 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