The Concept of Emotional Intelligence - Research Paper Example

Teacher Emotional Intelligence The result of the test indicate that I am just fine that my emotional intelligence is satisfactory butcould still use some improvement. I can relate well to others as well as can easily motivate myself to achieve the goals that I set for myself. It also says that my social interactions are quite easy and fulfilling because I am comfortable to allow others to be close to me by being vulnerable enough to show intimacy. It also tells that I am supportive of others and is sensitive to them. Emotional intelligence enables us to consider others as we relate to ourselves. In a way, it makes us self-centered and makes us realize that the world is composed of myself and others and that I need to relate well with others. This relationship with others reflects on our team identity, on how well we perform or get together, on our emotional maturity on how we handle our differences (because for sure there will be) and our over-all development both as professional and a person. In a way emotional intelligence makes us realize that to achieve something, we need to collaborate with others or with a team. And to be able to work effectively with others and/or team, we have to learn how to regulate ourselves so that we can achieve our team’s objectives as well as my objective. This was evident with the questions in the tests that asked if it is completely true, mostly true to completely false if “it takes a push from others to get me going (question #16) and whether I have an “obsessive mind” (question #20). These questions which represents the test tries to determine if I can motivate myself, control myself and if I can relate well with others. The idea of Emotional Intelligence can be first traced on the work of Thorndike (1920) who theorized that intelligence is not only confined to academics but also includes emotional and social component (qtd. in Mandell & Pherwarni, 2003). Later, investigators like Guilford (1967) and H. Eysenck (1995) presented that intelligence is such a multifaceted construct that it is composed of one hundred and twenty varying types of intelligence (Lyusin, 2006). In 1971, Shanley, Walker, and Foley (1971) already hypothesized that social intelligence was distinct from academic intelligence, but could not support it with empirical evidence that emotional intelligence is a separate construct. This was later provided by Howard Gardner when he articulated his theory of multiple intelligences categorizing it as intra personal and interpersonal intelligences within within the framework of multiple intelligences (Gardner, 1983). His concept on intrapersonal intelligence or the capacity and competence to understand one’s self and apply it effectively in its relationship to others and in life in general as articulated in his concept on interpersonal intelligence will serve as the basic building block upon which future theorists will build their research on (Carmeli & Josman, 2006). . Gardner also proposed that there are eight types of intelligences that includes “spatial, musical, intrapersonal, interpersonal, bodily—kinesthetic, naturalistic, and the traditional academic intelligence: linguistic and logical-mathematical. . . Later, Riggio, Murphy and Pirozzolo (2002) propose these multiple forms of intelligenceare possessed hy effective leaders and allow these leaders to respond successfully to a range of situations” (Mandel, 2003:388). It was however Peter Salovey and John Mayer who formally developed the term “emotional intelligence” which landed its model in the field of Psychology which researchers later expaned on. The first version of the model was defined as the as the “the ability to monitor one’s own and other’s feelings and emotions, to discriminate among them, and to use this information to guide one’s thinking and action” (Salovey and Mayer, 1990 qtd. In Lyusin, 2006: 55). It was interpreted as a complex construct consisting of three types of abilities; (1) the identification and expression of emotion as; (2) the regulation of emotions; and (3) the application of emotional information to thinking and action (Lyusin, 2006:55). This was later clarified by Mayer and Salovey that emotions contain information on how people or objects could connect at them (Mayer et al., 2001). The ability of connecting these emotions has led Salovey and Mayer to identify the four components of emotional intelligence which are “(1) the identification of emotions; (2) the use of emotions to increase the effectiveness of thinking and action; (3) the understanding of emotions; and (4) the guiding of emotions. In summary, these components relate to the emotions of others and the individual’s own self. There were also other models of EI that was different to this model. Most Notable was the work of Daniel Goleman (1995) which were more based on the earlier works of Salovey and Mayer (1990) only that he added other components to it such as zeal, persistence, and social skills and brought together cognitive abilites and personality traits. The product of which was Goleman’s book, “Emotional Intelligence” (1995) which became popular not only among professiona psychologists, but also with business professionals and the mainstream reading public. He was also the first to introduce the important of EQ in the workplace, noting that EQ is a more powerful predictor of success in the workplace and in life in general than IQ (Brackett et al, 2006). Also In 1997, Reuven Bar-On developed a method whereby emotional intelligence can be measured. He labeled his methodology of measuring emotional intelligence as Emotional Quotient (EQ). From Bar-On’s perspective, emotional intelligence differed such that it was non-cognitive and defined as “an array of non-cognitive capabilities, competencies, and skills that influence ones ahility to succeed in coping with environmental demands and pressures" (p. 14 qtd. In Mandel 389). The Bar-On Emotional Quotient Inventory (EQ-i) divides emotional intelligence into five major components. Bar-On (1996) labeled the components intrapersonal, interpersonal, adaptahility, stress management and general mood. (Mandell, 2006:389). The first development of EI models was the Salovey and Mayer’s Model (1995-1997) which incorporated only the cognitive aspect of EI which can process emotional information. Bar-On’s Model such as the Bar-On Emotional Quotient Inventory (EQ-i) focused more on personality trait and did not include the cognitive dimension of EI. Later, John Mayer, David Caruso, and Peter Salovey (1999) proposed the mix model which is a combination of cognitive trait and personality trait (Lyusin, 2006). References Carmeli, Abraham and Josman, Zvi, E. (2006). The Relationship Among Emotional Intelligence, Task Performance, and Organizational Citizenship Behaviors. Human Performance. (19)4: 403-419 LYUSIN, D. B. (2006). Emotional Intelligence as a Mixed Construct: Its Relation to Personality and Gender. Journal of Russian and East European Psychology. (44)6: 54-68 Mandell, Barbara, Pherwani (2003). RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE AND TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP STYLE: A GENDER COMPARISON. Journal of Business and Psychology. 17(3): 387-404 Salovey, P., Mayer, J.D.(1990). Emotional intelligence. Imagination, Cognition, and Personality, Read More