Golemans Emotional Intelligence - Book Report/Review Example

A Review of Goleman’s Emotional Intelligence: Emotional Intelligence, Critical to Success? Not all intelligent people are successful in life because not all of them have enough emotional intelligence. Goleman points this out in his seminal book Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ. His book aims to examine how EI explains the hidden dimension of overall intelligence. Goleman interprets the work of Mayer, Salovey, and other scholars, who worked on emotional intelligence, to explain the antecedents of social, academic, and workplace success. His main argument is that emotional intelligence helps explicate the success of many people, while the lack of it underlies why some of the brightest people have not reached success in their personal or workplace lives or both. Examining the reliability of his claims is critical to proving the soundness of his beliefs and conclusions regarding EI. After using four academic articles, it is ascertained that Goleman has somewhat skewed the results of the studies connecting EI and self-awareness and confidence because of other factors that impact the latter, although his premise on the contribution of EI to neuroplasticity that shapes intelligence as a whole have garnered sufficient scientific evidence. One of the premises of Goleman is that EI leads to personal success because it teaches self-awareness and confidence to children. Goleman explains the mechanism of EI that contributes to successful futures: “…helping children improve their self-awareness and confidence…[results to] improved behavior [and]… measurable academic achievement” ( 4). He supports this premise with a meta-analysis study that Weisberg conducted. Based on this study, programs that enhance social and emotional learning (SEL) increased the achievement scores of around fifty percent of participating children, while around thirty-eight percent experienced rising grade-point averages (Goleman 4). Goleman concludes that EI has dimensions that enhance self-awareness and confidence among children, which in turn, help develop positive study habits and greater In addition, Goleman supports this premise of EI’s connection to academic success by offering brain imaging evidence. He states that: “…a good part of SEL came from is impact in shaping children’s developing neural circuitry, particularly the executive functions of the prefrontal cortex, which manage working memory…and inhibit disruptive emotional impulses” (Goleman 5). He is saying that EI has an independent function from cognitive intelligence, but which can also shape the latter. Another way of saying this is that emotions are important to learning and intelligence. In order to evaluate the validity of these claims and inferences, the relationship between improving EI, self-awareness, and confidence have been explored in other studies. Furthermore, the effect of EI education on the brain has been examined. The first premise to be discussed is the connection between EI and self-awareness. Self-awareness pertains to “[o]ne’s ability to perceive emotions within oneself accurately [that] is related to the ability to assess them in others” (Barbuto and Burbach 55). Self-awareness among leaders has been related to greater management performance (Barbuto and Burbach 55). Teaching people to become more emotionally intelligent includes preparing them to become emotionally self-aware. Walter, Cole, and Humphrey study the relevance of EI to leaders and leadership development in their article, “Emotional Intelligence: Sine Qua Non of Leadership or Folderol?” They reviewed empirical evidence on how EI develops leadership traits and abilities. Findings showed that in relation to self-awareness, EI itself is not always directly related to self-awareness (Walter, Cole, and Humphrey 46). Walter, Cole, and Humphrey concluded that it is too early to assume that EI can automatically develop great leadership traits and skills because EI is still a contested concept and continues to undergo growth in its definition and measurement tools (56). They also mentioned that scholars must be careful in generalizing the results of EI education or training because individual, social, cultural, and other demographic and contextual factors can affect intelligence (Walter, Cole, and Humphrey 46). Scholars must remember to identify other control variables that can confound the effects of EI on intelligence and leadership (Walter, Cole, and Humphrey 46). This study suggests that it is too early to assume that EI produces or increases self-awareness. Some people might be self-aware too and yet have poor EI scores to some extent. Organizational scholars should indeed be careful in making inferences on what EI can do because they might be attributing to it something that another factor is producing or causing. The second premise to be explored is the connection between EI and confidence. The study by Barbuto and Burbach, “The Emotional Intelligence of Transformational Leaders: A Field Study of Elected Officials,” explored the relationship between EI and transformational leadership. Findings showed that emotional intelligence is positively correlated with the subscales of transformational leadership (Barbuto and Burbach 57). However, they also learned that mood-regulation is negatively related to “leaders’ self-reported intellectual stimulation, inspirational motivation, and idealized influence” (Barbuto and Burbach 58). Apparently, leaders, who regulate their moods less, display more transformative leadership behaviors (Barbuto and Burbach 58). In relation to confidence, it is inferred that having more EI is not necessarily related to confidence. Leaders can display confidence in managing their teams or organizations without exhibiting EI. A good example is how some authoritarian leaders, often said to be with poor EI, can successfully lead their organizations through their iron fist. Thus, EI is not proven to produce confidence. The third premise pertains to the relationship between EI education and brain activity and development, particularly through the action of neuroplasticity. In “The Anatomy of Emotional Intelligence and Implications for Educating People to be Emotionally Intelligent,” Bechara, Damasio and Bar-On attempt to investigate the neural circuitry of EI. Their findings showed that the neural systems that manage EI affect neural systems that direct the production of emotions but not the neural systems connected with cognitive intelligence (Bechara, Damasio and Bar-On 278). They also learned that damage to the neural structures that manage emotions and feelings, but not those influencing cognitive intelligence, is connected with “changes in emotional processing, EI, personal judgment in decision-making, and social functioning” (Bechara, Damasio and Bar-On 278). They indicated that development and education in boosting these neural systems through neuroplasticity can be attained through EI development (Bechara, Damasio and Bar-On 278). Krueger et al. confirm these findings in their article, “The Neural Bases of Key Competencies of Emotional Intelligence.” They stressed that even if the neural substrates of EI are not yet determined, some evidence showed that the “prefrontal cortex (PFC) plays a crucial role in human social-emotional behavior” (22488). They examined veterans from the Vietnam Head Injury Study, which is a prospective, long-range examination of veterans with head injuries at the focal part of their brains. They used the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test to test the two key competencies of EI: 1) “Strategic EI as the competency to understand emotional information and to apply it for the management of the self and of others” and they wanted to know also 2) “Experiential EI as the competency to perceive emotional information and to apply it for the integration into thinking” (Krueger et al. 22488). Findings showed that EI depends on competencies that are different from neural PFC substrates (Krueger et al. 22488). They stressed that EI complements cognitive intelligence and that the former is important to a holistic understanding of intelligence (Krueger et al. 22488). These studies showed that EI have separate neural devices but impacts cognitive intelligence through its effects on the ability of people to express and regulate their emotions. They prove that EI education can help people develop that part of their brain that can help them think properly regarding feeling properly. Hence, on this regard, Goleman provides compelling evidence that EI can affect neuroplasticity. This book will impact this student’s workplace because it sheds proof on how EI can be used to improve social interactions and learning. This student does not argue that EI alone can enhance social skills, but it can be useful in attaining better socialization abilities. In the workplace, it can be suggested that EI can be used to train people who deal particularly with clients or are in people-oriented positions. This training can equip them with emotional regulation tools so that they can have better learning and emotional management skills. In addition, training people for EI can enhance their happiness too as workers and human beings. This is important because many people feel burned out due to their conflicting roles and responsibilities in life. Many full-time female workers, for instance, continue to bear the brunt of childcare and household management tasks and responsibilities, while making money for the family. One can only imagine the stress that they go through every day. However, giving EI training to overstressed and overburdened employees can help them cope with realities that they cannot change, but they have to cope with anyway. Moreover, EI will help enhance leadership development skills. Although many leaders do not need EI education, some may also benefit from the tools and knowledge that EI education can provide them. At the same time, people who want to be emotionally intelligent leaders can benefit the most. They will be prepared for their leadership roles through enhancing that part of their intelligence that matters in dealing with people and workplace stress. The book affects personal experiences and skills too because it hones emotional management skills that impact interpersonal relationships at home and at work. EI is not only about the workplace but about daily life itself. For this student, it helps improve coping skills because of the ability to look at situations and their emotions without being emotionally caught up in the drama of it all. Instead of being sucked into the workplace politics too, EI helps understand what personal feelings are and how others also feel. The balancing of self-emotions and the need to respond to the emotions of other can be done in a more systematic manner. Moreover, EI is extremely helpful in personal life. When people are busy with their school and work, their family life can suffer a great deal. EI knowledge helps this student become more balanced in approaching different roles and responsibilities. It helps plan life because of the awareness of self-needs and the needs of others. Although some studies might say that EI does not cause self-awareness, it is personally attained on this student’s part. EI has become a way of knowing the self and the others and the connections needed to be happier in life. Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ does not claim that EI can and should replace IQ. Instead, it opens people to the varied dimensions of intelligence, which can improve cognitive, social, and emotional skills. This book is recommended to students, leaders, parents, teachers, and to anyone who want to be more emotionally and socially intelligent. It is not the answer to their social and personal problems, but it can provide great tools for managing them. Feeling can be more about thinking because EI pushes people to think before they react. It will help people ironically become more rational than emotional, as they learn to set aside their passions for a rational thinking approach to their emotions and other people’s emotions. Works Cited Barbuto, Jr., John E., and Mark E. Burbach. “The Emotional Intelligence of Transformational Leaders: A Field Study of Elected Officials.” Journal of Social Psychology 146.1 (2006): 51-64. Education Research Complete. Web. 24 Oct. 2012. Bechara, Antoine, Damasio, Antonio R., and Reuven Bar-On. “The Anatomy of Emotional Intelligence and Implications for Educating People to be Emotionally Intelligent.” Educating People To Be Emotionally Intelligent. Eds. Reuven Bar-On, J.G. Maree, and Maurice Jesse Elias. Westport, CT, US: Praeger Publishers/Greenwood Publishing Group, 2007. 273-290. PsycINFO. Web. 24 Oct. 2012. Goleman, Daniel. Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ. New York: Bantam Books, 1995. Print. Krueger, F., Barbey, A.K., McCabe, K., Strenziok, M., Zamboni, G., Solomon, J., Raymont, V., and J. Grafman. “The Neural Bases of Key Competencies of Emotional Intelligence.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 105.52 (2009): 22486-91. MEDLINE. Web. 24 Oct. 2012. Walter, Frank, Cole, Michael S., and Ronald H. Humphrey. “Emotional Intelligence: Sine Qua Non of Leadership or Folderol?” Academy of Management Perspectives 25.1 (2011): 45-59. Business Source Complete. Web. 24 Oct. 2012. Read More