emotional intelligence or intellectual intelligence essay

Emotional Intelligence vs. Intellectual Intelligence: Key Differences and Interactions

Explore the vital role of Emotional Intelligence (EQ) and Intellectual Intelligence (IQ) in our lives. This article delves into how EQ and IQ distinctly contribute to and interact in our personal and professional relationships. Understanding the balance between EQ and IQ is crucial for effective communication, decision-making, and interpersonal skills. Learn how these two forms of intelligence are essential for holistic personal development and success.

The Foundation of EQ and IQ

Emotional Intelligence (EQ): EQ is the wellspring of empathy, self-awareness, and the ability to navigate and understand emotions. It plays a pivotal role in how we connect with others on an emotional level.

Intellectual Intelligence (IQ): IQ, our cognitive prowess, is the realm of logic, analytical thinking, and problem-solving skills. It forms the bedrock of our ability to process information, learn, and strategize.

Navigating Relationships: The EQ-IQ Synergy:

1. Effective Communication: Here, EQ takes the lead by enabling us to empathize with our partners, understand their feelings, and express our thoughts with emotional intelligence. This creates a fertile ground for meaningful and constructive dialogues.

2. Conflict Resolution: EQ and IQ complement each other in conflict situations. While EQ encourages us to approach conflicts with empathy and compassion, IQ aids in logical problem-solving, leading to effective conflict resolution.

3. Building Trust and Bonding: EQ is the primary player in fostering trust, as it allows us to attune to the emotional needs of our loved ones, nurturing deep connections. However, IQ contributes by strategizing and executing plans that demonstrate reliability and commitment.

4. Supporting Growth: IQ plays a vital role in supporting the growth and development of our relationships by helping us make informed decisions and adapt to changing circumstances. EQ, on the other hand, aids in understanding our partner's emotional journey and supporting their growth with empathy and encouragement.

The Key to Relationship Success:

In the grand scheme of our relationships, EQ and IQ are not adversaries; they are allies. The essence of a successful relationship lies in recognizing when to leverage each form of intelligence. It's about finding a harmonious balance that allows us to connect emotionally, while also making sound decisions that benefit both parties.

By understanding the essentials of EQ and IQ and how they interact within our relationships, we can cultivate connections that are not only emotionally fulfilling but also intellectually enriching. This synergy of emotional and intellectual intelligence paves the way for thriving relationships and personal growth.

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Emotional Intelligence Essay | Essay on Emotional Intelligence for Students and Children in English

February 13, 2024 by Prasanna

Emotional Intelligence Essay:  Emotional intelligence is the capability and the ability to understand and manage your own emotions in a positive manner. It is a positive way to release stress and communicate effectively. It helps to make relations stronger.

It is as important as intellectual ability. It helps to connect with feelings and turns intentions into actions. It is a helping hand in achieving personal goals.

You can also find more  Essay Writing  articles on events, persons, sports, technology and many more.

Long and Short Essays on Emotional Intelligence for Students and Kids in English

We are providing the students with essay samples on a long essay of 500 words and a short essay of 150 words on the topic of Emotional Intelligence Essay for reference.

Long Essay on Emotional Intelligence 500 Words in English

Long Essay on Emotional Intelligence is usually given to classes 7, 8, 9, and 10.

Emotional intelligence is one of the essential components of leadership and an inbuilt ability of an individual to perceive the emotions and feelings of other people. It is also known as emotional quotient or EQ. It is defined as the capability of individuals to identify their own emotions. To discern between different feelings and to use the appropriate emotional guide to label each feeling and emotion in the correct way forms a part of emotional intelligence.

Empathy is an emotion that is somewhat related to emotional intelligence because it relates to an individual who connects their personal experiences with those of others. Emotional intelligence is commonly divided into four attributes which include self attributes in which a person can control his impulsive feelings and behaviour and manage his or her emotions in healthy ways. The second attribute is self-awareness, where the person gets to recognize his emotions and the thoughts that affect his behaviour.

The third attribute of emotional intelligence is social awareness. The person has empathy and can understand emotions, needs and concerns of other people. The person who has empathy can pick up on emotional cues and is able to recognize the power of dynamics in a group. The last attribute is the aspect of relationship management. This attribute helps to develop and maintain good relationships and to communicate early and manage a conflict.

Emotional intelligence has its affects. High emotional intelligence helps to navigate the social complexities of the workplace or place of education and helps to motivate others and excel in a career. Emotional intelligence helps to manage emotions. If the emotions are not handled properly, then the stress will not be handled ideally. Being in proper tune with emotions, a social purpose can be served. It helps to connect to people all around the world.

The skills that make up emotional intelligence can be learned at any time. There lies a difference between learning emotional intelligence and applying it in your daily life activities. In order to permanently change behaviour to stand up to pressure, one needs to learn how to overcome stress to be emotionally aware.

Self-awareness is an essential feature of emotional intelligence. It helps an individual to know their own strengths and use them wisely. In today’s scenario, emotional intelligence is one of the most significant aspects to reach the goal and succeed in life. Emotional intelligence leads to general happiness.

Having emotional intelligence leads to a satisfied and peaceful mind. It also leads to rationality in behaviour. With this aspect, a person can see the situation under which the behaviour takes place in the right perspective. With such a perspective, the person can establish the right relationship. Studies say that people with high EI have more excellent mental health, better job performance, leadership skills and better personality traits.

High emotional intelligence helps to deal with low self-esteem and helps a person to upgrade his life and have a better living scenario.

Short Essay on Emotional Intelligence 150 Words in English

Short Essay on Emotional Intelligence is usually given to classes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6.

Emotional intelligence or emotional quotient is an aspect or an ability to manage emotions in a positive way. It also defines the capability of managing the emotion of others. Emotional intelligence generally includes three skills which are, emotional awareness, the ability to harness a person or others’ emotions and regulating them.

There is no validated psychometric test or scale for emotional intelligence. A highly emotional intelligent individual is both highly conscious of his or her own emotional states, like negativity, frustration or sadness and being able to manage those aspects and emotions.

It is a crucial component of leadership. It is considered to be one of the most vital indicators of workplace performance. Studies have shown that 90% of top performers possess high emotional intelligence. There are online courses and training that an individual can undertake to boost the emotional intelligence and perform better in life and reach their desired goal.

10 Lines on Emotional Intelligence Essay in English

1. Building emotional intelligence helps an individual to coach teams effectively at a workplace. 2. Writing down thoughts of your entire day, be it negative or positive will help to spot behavioural patterns of an individual. 3. Daniel Goleman’s work on emotional intelligence points out five areas of intelligence. 4. A person with high emotional intelligence can express himself openly and respectfully without the fear of offending his co-workers. 5. High emotional intelligence can navigate complex and challenging decision making with the ideal emotional response. 6. Emotional intelligence impacts every aspect of a career to be successful. 7. Psychologists Peter Salovey and John D. Mayer coined the term “emotional intelligence” in the year 1990. 8. It is a critical factor in leadership effectiveness. 9. Emotional intelligence takes diligence and practice to incorporate into interactions on a daily basis. 10. It helps to identify a person’s triggers.

FAQ’s on Emotional Intelligence Essay

Question 1. What are the four types of emotional intelligence?

Answer: The four types of emotional intelligence are social awareness, self-awareness, self-management and relationship management.

Question 2. How is Emotional Intelligence different from Regular Intelligence?

Answer: Emotional intelligence is the ability to express and control emotions. Regular intelligence is used to define academic abilities.

Question 3.  Does emotional intelligence matter in the workplace?

Answer: Yes, emotional intelligence matters in the workplace.

Question 4.  Why do we take up the topic of emotions in the context of business?

Answer: Emotions drive behaviour, thus by engaging with the emotions of your team, you are more likely to be successful in your interaction.

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Emotional Intelligence (EQ)

Mia Belle Frothingham

Author, Researcher, Science Communicator

BA with minors in Psychology and Biology, MRes University of Edinburgh

Mia Belle Frothingham is a Harvard University graduate with a Bachelor of Arts in Sciences with minors in biology and psychology

Learn about our Editorial Process

Saul Mcleod, PhD

Editor-in-Chief for Simply Psychology

BSc (Hons) Psychology, MRes, PhD, University of Manchester

Saul Mcleod, PhD., is a qualified psychology teacher with over 18 years of experience in further and higher education. He has been published in peer-reviewed journals, including the Journal of Clinical Psychology.

Olivia Guy-Evans, MSc

Associate Editor for Simply Psychology

BSc (Hons) Psychology, MSc Psychology of Education

Olivia Guy-Evans is a writer and associate editor for Simply Psychology. She has previously worked in healthcare and educational sectors.

Emotional intelligence refers to the ability to perceive, understand, and manage one’s own emotions and relationships. It involves being aware of emotions in oneself and others and using this awareness to guide thinking and behavior. Emotionally intelligent individuals can motivate themselves, read social cues, and build strong relationships

Some researchers propose that emotional intelligence can be learned and strengthened, while others argue it is an inborn characteristic.

The ability to express and manage emotions is essential, but so is the ability to understand, diagnose, and react to the emotions of others. Imagine a world in which one could not understand when a friend felt sad or a classmate was angry.

Why is Emotional Intelligence Critical?

Emotional Intelligence is the “ability to monitor one’s own and other people’s emotions, to discriminate between different emotions and label them appropriately, and to use emotional information to guide thinking and behavior” (Salovey and Mayer, 1990).

Having a higher level of emotional intelligence allows one to empathize with others, communicate effectively, and be both self and socially aware. How people respond to themselves and others impacts all types of environments.

Living in this world signifies interacting with many diverse kinds of individuals and constant change with life-changing surprises.

Being emotionally intelligent is key to how one reacts to what life throws. It is furthermore a fundamental element of compassion and comprehending the deeper reasons behind other people’s actions.

It is not the most intelligent people who are the most prosperous or the most fulfilled in life. Many people are academically genius and yet are socially incompetent and unsuccessful in their careers or their intimate relationships.

Intellectual ability or intelligence quotient (IQ) is not enough on its own to achieve success in life. Undoubtedly, IQ can help one get into university, but your Emotional Intelligence (EI) will help one manage stress and emotions when facing final exams.

IQ and EI exist in tandem and are most influential when they build off one another.

Emotional intelligence is also valuable for leaders who set the tone of their organization. If leaders lack emotional intelligence , it could have more far-reaching consequences, resulting in lower worker engagement and a higher turnover rate.

While one might excel at one’s job technically, if one cannot effectively communicate with one’s team or collaborate with others, those specialized skills will get neglected.

By mastering emotional intelligence, one can positively impact anywhere and continue to advance one’s position and career in life. EI is vital when dealing with stressful situations like confrontation, change, and obstacles.

Emotional intelligence helps one build stronger relationships, succeed at work or school, and achieve one’s career and personal goals, as well as reduce group stress, defuse conflict, and enhance job satisfaction.

It can also help connect with one’s inner feelings, turn purpose into action, and make informed decisions about what matters most to oneself.

During these times, it is essential to remember to practice kindness, and being in touch with our emotions can help us do just that.

Examples of Emotional Intelligence

How does one become emotionally intelligent? Below we will discuss what one can do to learn to improve the skills that are behind emotional intelligence (EI).

Emotional intelligence refers to the ability to recognize the meanings of emotions and to reason and problem-solve based on them (Mayer, Caruso, & Salovey, 1999).

By working on and improving these skills, one can become more emotionally intelligent and, therefore, more successful!

Emotional Awareness and Understanding

Self-awareness, or the ability to recognize and comprehend one’s own emotions, is a vital emotional intelligence skill. Beyond acknowledging one’s feelings, however, is being conscious of the effect of one’s actions, moods, and emotions on other people.

According to research by Tasha Eurich, an organizational psychologist, 95% of individuals believe they are self-aware. Still, only 10 to 15 percent genuinely are, which can cause problems for the people one interacts with.

Being with people who are not self-aware can be frustrating and lead to increased stress and decreased encouragement.

To become self-aware, one must be capable of monitoring one’s emotions while recognizing different emotional reactions and correctly identifying each distinct emotion.

Self-aware individuals also can recognize the connections between the things they feel and how they act.

These individuals also acknowledge their strengths and weaknesses, are open to new data and experiences, and learn from their exchanges with others.

Furthermore, people who maintain self-awareness have a fine sense of humor, are confident in themselves and their capabilities, and know how others perceive them.

Here are some tips on improving one’s self-awareness:

Ask for constructive feedback from others.

Keep a journal of one’s thoughts and feelings.

Practice mindfulness – try meditating.

Pay careful attention to one’s thoughts and emotions.

Pursue one’s passions and do what makes one happy.

Learn new skills and set goals for oneself.

Reflect on one’s experiences and be grateful.

Use positive self-talk daily.

Work on building a growth mindset.

Emotional Self Regulation (Managing Emotions)

In addition to being aware of one’s own emotions and the impact one has on others, emotional intelligence requires one to regulate and manage one’s emotions .

This does not mean taking emotions out of sight and essentially “locking” them away, hence hiding one’s true feelings. It just means waiting for the right time and place to express them. Self-regulation is all about communicating one’s emotions appropriately in context. A reaction tends to be involuntary.

The more in tune one is with one’s emotional intelligence, the easier one can transition from an instant reaction to a well-thought-out response. It is crucial to remember to pause, breathe, compose oneself, and do what it takes to manage one’s emotions.

This could mean anything to oneself, like taking a walk or talking to a friend, so that one can more appropriately and intentionally respond to tension and adversity.

Those proficient in self-regulation tend to be flexible and acclimate well to change. They are also suitable for handling conflict and diffusing uncomfortable or difficult situations.

People with healthy self-regulation skills also tend to have heightened conscientiousness. They reflect on how they influence others and take accountability for their actions.

Here are some tips on improving one’s self-regulation:

Look at challenges as opportunities.

Be mindful of thoughts and feelings.

Build distress and anxiety tolerance skills.

Work on accepting reflections and emotions.

Find ways to manage difficult emotions.

Practice communication and social skills.

Recognize that one has a choice in how one responds.

Use cognitive reframing to change emotional responses and thought patterns.

Social Empathy (Perceiving Emotions)

Empathy , or the capability to comprehend how other people are feeling, is crucial to perfecting emotional intelligence.

However, it involves more than just being able to identify the emotional states of others. It also affects one’s responses to people based on this knowledge.

How does one respond when one senses someone is feeling sad or hopeless? One might treat them with extra care and consideration, or one might make a push to lift their mood.

Being empathetic also allows one to understand the authority dynamics that frequently influence social relationships, especially in the workplace.

This is essential for guiding one’s daily interactions with various people. In fact, it is found that empathy ranks as the number one leadership skill.

Leaders proficient in empathy perform more than 40% higher in coaching, engaging others, and decision-making. In a different study, researchers found that leaders who show more empathy toward their co-workers and constructive criticism are viewed as better performers by their supervisors.

Those competent in this element can recognize who maintains power in different relationships. They also understand how these forces impact feelings and behaviors. Because of this, they can accurately analyze different situations that hinge on such power dynamics.

Here are some tips on improving social empathy:

Be willing to share emotions.

Listen to other people.

Practice meditation.

Engage in a purpose like a community project.

Meet and talk to new people.

Try to imagine yourself in someone else’s place.

Social Skills (Using Emotions)

The ability to interact well with others is another vital aspect of emotional intelligence. Solid social skills allow people to build meaningful relationships with others and develop a more robust understanding of themselves and others.

Proper emotional understanding involves more than just understanding one’s own emotions and those of others. One also needs to put this information to work in one’s daily interactions and communications.

In the workplace or professional settings, managers benefit by being able to build relationships and connections with employees.

Workers benefit from developing a solid rapport with leaders and co-workers. Some prefer to avoid conflict, but it is crucial to address issues as they arise correctly.

Research shows that every unaddressed conflict can waste almost eight hours of company time on unproductive activities, damaging resources and morale. Essential social skills include active listening , verbal communication, nonverbal communication, leadership , and persuasiveness.

Here are some tips on improving social skills:

Ask open-ended questions.

Find icebreakers that will help start conversations.

Practice good eye contact.

Practice active listening with the entire body.

Notice other people’s social skills.

Show interest in others and ask them personal questions.

Watch one’s body language and that of others.

In The Workplace

Emotional intelligence includes showing genuine compassion, empathizing with the needs of individuals, and encouraging the ongoing personal growth of individuals.

When a leader takes into account the emotions of their followers, they then learn how to best engage with them.

1. Lending a Compassionate Ear to a Frustrated Co-Worker

Employees will inevitably get upset, have bad moods, argue, and just generally have bad days. In practice, compassion, understanding, and awareness are definite signs of emotional intelligence.

Awareness of and reacting to other people’s emotional states shows an understanding that all humans experience intense emotions and says that a person’s feelings matter.

2. Listening to Others Respectfully

Ever been to a conference when it seems like everyone is speaking over each other, trying to get the last word?

This is not only an indication of egos taking over and a lack of consideration for others; these are also indications of there being a lack of emotional intelligence.

When individuals are allowed to speak, and others listen without persistent interruptions, it is a good sign of EI. It shows reciprocal respect between parties and is more likely to lead to a productive conclusion in meetings.

3. Being Flexible

Flexibility is a critical term in organizations today. Building flexibility into how people function can be the difference between keeping the best workers and drifting out the door.

Emotionally intelligent leaders comprehend the changing needs of others and are ready to work with them rather than attempting to impose rigid restrictions on how people go about their work.

They do not expect everyone to work the hours they do, hold the same priorities, or live by precisely the same values.

In Healthcare

1. being patient with hurting individuals.

When in healthcare, it is expected that doctors and nurses will have to manage people in pain. Emotional intelligence not only allows for better patient care but also for better self-care.

For instance, if a patient is lashing out, and one can see that they are in pain, one will be far less likely to take their combativeness personally and treat them better.

2. Acting as the Effective Leader

In healthcare, there is a necessity to have influential leaders, a trusting environment with a helpful team, critical thinking, and quality patient and family-centered care.

A higher emotional intelligence will allow healthcare professionals to respond and react better to patients. Studies have shown a correlation between emotional intelligence and positive patient outcomes.

3. Responding Better to Stressful Situations

Multiple occasions in healthcare involve an urgent situation involving a life or death scenario. Doctors and nurses must check their own emotions.

Being in healthcare is a highly emotional career, and being aware of your feelings when they come up is key to effective self-care.

Interacting with patients can cause overwhelming joy or deep sadness, and these fluctuations can be utterly exhausting.

The ability to deal with these feelings, take breaks, and ask for help when you need it is another example of good emotional intelligence that nurses should practice.

Tips for Improving EI

Be more self-aware.

Awareness of one’s emotions and emotional responses to others can significantly improve one’s emotional intelligence. Knowing when one is feeling anxious or angry can help process and communicate those feelings in a way that promotes healthy results.

Recognize how others feel

Emotional intelligence could start with self-reflection, but measuring how others perceive one’s behavior and communication is essential. Adjusting one’s message based on how one is being received is an integral part of being emotionally intelligent.

Practice active listening

People communicate verbally and nonverbally, so listening and monitoring for potentially positive and negative reactions is essential. Taking the time to hear others also demonstrates a level of respect that can form the basis for healthy relationships.

Communicate clearly

Solid communication skills are critical for emotional intelligence. Knowing what to express or write and when to offer information is crucial for building strong relationships.

For instance, as a manager in a work environment, communicating expectations and goals is required to keep everyone on the same page.

Stay positive

A positive attitude is incredibly infectious. Emotionally intelligent people comprehend the power of positive words, encouraging emails, and friendly gestures. When one can also remain positive in a stressful situation, one can help others stay calm. It can also encourage further problem-solving and collaboration.

Thinking about how others might be feeling is an essential quality of emotional intelligence. It means you can empathize with feelings that one may not be feeling oneself and respond in a way that is respectful and relaxing to others.

Be open-minded

Emotionally intelligent people are comfortable to approach because they are good listeners and can consider and understand other viewpoints. They are also receptive to learning new things and embracing novel ideas.

Listen to feedback

It is essential to be the type of person who can hear feedback, whether it is positive on a recent presentation or more critical advice on how you should commission tasks more efficiently.

Being receptive to feedback means taking responsibility for one’s actions and being willing to improve how one communicates with others.

Stay calm under pressure

It is essential to approach stressful situations with a calm and positive attitude. Pressures can quickly escalate, primarily when people are operating under deadlines, so keeping steady and concentrating on finding a solution will help everyone complete their goals.

History of Emotional Intelligence

In the 1930s, psychologist Edward Thorndike explained the concept of “social intelligence” as the ability to get along with other individuals.

During the 1940s, psychologist David Wechsler suggested that different practical elements of intelligence could play a critical role in how successful people are in life.

In the 1950s, the school of thought was known as humanistic psychology, and scholars such as Abraham Maslow concentrated attention on how people could build emotional strength.

Another critical concept to arise in the development of emotional intelligence was the concept of multiple intelligences . This idea was put forth in the mid-1970s by Howard Gardner, presenting the idea that intelligence was more than just a single, broad capacity.

Emotional intelligence did not come into our vernacular until around 1990. The term “emotional intelligence” was first utilized in 1985 as it was presented in a doctoral dissertation by Wayne Payne.

In 1987, there was an article written by Keith Beasley and published in Mensa Magazine that used the term emotional quotient or EQ.

Then in 1990, psychologists John Mayer and Peter Salovey published their milestone article, Emotional Intelligence , in the journal Imagination, Cognition, and Personality .

They described emotional intelligence as the capability to monitor one’s and others’ feelings and emotions, discriminate among them, and use this knowledge to guide one’s thinking and actions.

Salovey and Mayer also initiated a research study to develop accurate measures of emotional intelligence and explore its significance. For example, they found in one investigation that when a group of people saw an upsetting film, those who ranked high on emotional clarity, or the ability to recognize and label a mood that is being experienced, recovered more quickly.

In a different study, people who scored higher in the ability to perceive accurately, understand and appraise others’ emotions were sufficiently capable of responding flexibly to changes in their social environments and building supportive social networks.

But despite it being a relatively new term, attraction to the concept has grown tremendously. In 1995, the concept of emotional intelligence was popularized after the publication of Daniel Goleman’s book  Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is emotional intelligence important in the workplace.

Researchers have indicated that emotional intelligence influences how excellently employees interact with their colleagues, and EI is also considered to play a role in how employees manage stress and conflict.

It also affects overall performance on the job. Other studies have connected emotional intelligence with job satisfaction.

Studies have shown that workers with higher scores on measures of EI also tend to be ranked higher on criteria of interpersonal functioning, leadership abilities, and stress management.

While standard intelligence was associated with leadership success, it alone was not enough. People who are prosperous at work are not just brilliant; they also have a high EI.

But emotional intelligence is not simply for CEOs and senior executives.

It is a quality that is essential at every level of a person’s career, from university students looking for internships to seasoned workers hoping to take on a leadership role.

Emotional intelligence is critical to success if one wants to succeed in the workplace and move up the career ladder.

Can emotional intelligence be taught?

As it turns out, the question whether emotional intelligence can be learned is not a straightforward one to answer.

Some psychologists and researchers claim that emotional intelligence is a skill that is not quickly learned or improved. Other psychologists and researchers, though, believe it can be improved with practice.

One key to improving EI is sustained practice – especially in high-stakes situations. Referring back to the above tips, one could read them and say those guidelines are pretty straightforward.

But, the challenging task is to do these practices in real-time and consistently. It takes practice to develop these skills. Then as you acquire them, you have to rehearse them under stress.

Can emotional intelligence be measured?

Several different assessments have arisen to gauge levels of emotional intelligence. These trials typically fall into one of two types: self-report tests and ability tests.

Self-report tests are the most abundant because they are the quickest to administer and score. Respondents respond to questions or statements on such tests by rating their behaviors.

For example, on a comment such as “I sense that I understand how others are feeling,” a test-taker might describe the statement as strongly agree, somewhat agree, somewhat disagree, or strongly disagree.

On the other hand, ability tests involve people responding to situations and assessing their skills. These tests often require people to demonstrate their abilities, which a third party rates.

If one is taking an emotional intelligence trial issued by a mental health professional, here are two measures that could be used: Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT) and the Emotional and Social Competency Inventory (ESCI).

What is the dark side of emotional intelligence?

The dark side of emotional intelligence is using one’s understanding of emotions manipulatively, to deceive, control, or exploit others.

High emotional intelligence can mask hidden agendas, enabling insincere charm or feigned empathy, potentially leading to deceitful or self-serving actions.

Boyatzis, R. E., & Goleman, D. (2011). Emotional and social competency inventory (ESCI): A user guide for accredited practitioners.  Retrieved December ,  17 , 2019.

Eurich, T. (2018). What self-awareness really is (and how to cultivate it).  Harvard Business Review , 1-9.

Gardner, H. E. (2000). Intelligence reframed: Multiple intelligences for the 21st century . Hachette UK.

Goleman, D. (1996).  Emotional intelligence: Why it can matter more than IQ . Bloomsbury Publishing.

Mayer, J. D., Caruso, D. R., & Salovey, P. (1999). Emotional intelligence meets traditional standards for an intelligence.  Intelligence, 27 (4), 267-298.

Mayer, J. D., & Salovey, P. (1993). The intelligence of emotional intelligence.  Intelligence, 17 (4), 433-442.

Mayer, J. D., & Salovey, P. (2007).  Mayer-Salovery-Caruso emotional intelligence test . Toronto: Multi-Health Systems Incorporated.

Payne, W. L. (1985). A study of emotion: developing emotional intelligence; self-integration; relating to fear, pain and desire.

Salovey, P., & Mayer, J. D. (1990). Emotional intelligence .  Imagination, cognition and personality ,  9 (3), 185-211.

Thorndike, R. L., & Stein, S. (1937). An evaluation of the attempts to measure social intelligence.  Psychological Bulletin ,  34 (5), 275.

Wechsler, D., & Kodama, H. (1949).  Wechsler intelligence scale for children  (Vol. 1). New York: Psychological corporation.

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IQ vs. EQ: How Are They Different?

Kendra Cherry, MS, is a psychosocial rehabilitation specialist, psychology educator, and author of the "Everything Psychology Book."

Amy Morin, LCSW, is a psychotherapist and international bestselling author. Her books, including "13 Things Mentally Strong People Don't Do," have been translated into more than 40 languages. Her TEDx talk,  "The Secret of Becoming Mentally Strong," is one of the most viewed talks of all time.

Understanding the IQ vs. EQ Debate

• Key Differences

How IQ and EQ Are Measured

Which is more important.

• Impact of Bias
• Improving IQ and EQ

What's more important in determining life success—book smarts or street smarts? This question gets at the heart of an important debate contrasting the relative importance of cognitive intelligence (IQ) and emotional intelligence (EQ).

Proponents of so-called "book smarts" might suggest that IQ plays the most critical role in determining how well people fare in life. Those who advocate for the importance of what might be called "street smarts" would instead suggest that EQ is even more important.

This article compares IQ vs. EQ and how the two are different. It also discusses how EQ is measured, potential biases that may exist, and what you can do to improve your EQ.

In his book  Emotional Intelligence , author and psychologist Daniel Goleman suggested that EQ (or emotional intelligence quotient) might actually be more important than IQ. Why? Some psychologists believe that standard measures of intelligence (i.e. IQ scores) are too narrow and do not encompass the full range of human intelligence.

The psychologist Howard Gardner, for example, has suggested that intelligence is not simply a single general ability. Instead, he suggests that there are actually multiple intelligences and that people may have strengths in a number of these areas.

Instead of focusing on a single, general intelligence , usually called the g factor, some experts believe that the ability to understand and express emotions can play equal, if not more important, role in how people fare in life.

What Kind of Intelligence Do You Have? Try Our Quiz

If you'd like to know more about your intelligence style, try our fast and free quiz to learn more about what makes you tick.

The Difference Between IQ and EQ

In order to understand how IQ and EQ are different, it is important to first look at what they measure and how they are assessed.

Intelligence quotient, or IQ, is a number used to express a person's overall mental ability. This score is derived from a standardized test .

On the original IQ tests, scores were calculated by dividing the individual's mental age by chronological age and multiplying that number by 100. A child with a mental age of 15 and a chronological age of 10 would have an IQ of 150.

Today, scores on most IQ tests are calculated  by comparing the test taker's score to the average scores of other people in the same age group. IQ represents abilities such as:

• Visual and spatial processing
• Knowledge of the world
• Fluid reasoning
• Working memory and short-term memory
• Quantitative reasoning

Emotional intelligence refers to a person's ability to perceive, control, evaluate, and express emotions.

Researchers such as John Mayer and Peter Salovey, as well as writers like Daniel Goleman, have helped shine a light on emotional intelligence, making it a hot topic in areas ranging from business management to education. EQ is centered on abilities such as:

• Identifying emotions
• Evaluating how others feel
• Controlling one's own emotions
• Perceiving how others feel
• Using emotions to facilitate social communication
• Relating to others

Since the 1990s, emotional intelligence has gone from a semi-obscure concept found in academic journals to a popularly recognized term. You can no buy toys that claim to help boost emotional intelligence or enroll kids in  social and emotional learning  (SEL) programs designed to teach emotional intelligence skills. Social and emotional learning is a curriculum requirement in some schools in the United States.

Emotional quotient

Measure of emotional competency

Involves identifying, controlling, and using emotions

Affects motivation, empathy, relationships, self-awareness, and self-control

Intelligence quotient

Measure of cognitive abilities

Involves processing, knowledge, memory, and reasoning

Affects academics, expertise, critical thinking, and logic

IQ and EQ also utlilize different assessments to measure these abilities. IQ tests first emerged to assess cognitive abilities in school children, while EQ tests have been introduced more recently to assess emotional abilities.

Measuring IQ

Several different IQ tests can be used. Some are designed for use with adults, while others are developed to measure IQ in children. Some of the most commonly used IQ tests include:

• The Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale
• The Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale
• The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children
• The Woodcock-Johnson Tests of Cognitive Abilities

Measuring EQ

Several different assessments can be used to measure EQ. Some of these assessments are self-report tests in which people respond to questions about their own feelings, thoughts, and behaviors. Some other tests involve having an observer rate another person's abilities and behaviors.

Two tests that are commonly used to measure emotional intelligence are the:

• Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT) : In this test, people engage in tasks that measure the four components of EQ under the observation of a mental health professional.
• Emotional and Social Competence Inventory (ESCI) : In this assessment, an individual who knows you well answers questions to rate your emotional competency.

There are also a number of different online self-assessments. While such tests are not diagnostic tools, they may help you get a general idea about your emotional abilities.

At one point in time, IQ was viewed as the primary determinant of success. People with high IQs were assumed to be destined for a life of accomplishment and achievement, and researchers debated whether intelligence was the product of genes or the environment (the nature versus nurture debate ).

However, some critics began to realize that high intelligence was no guarantee for success in life. It was also perhaps too narrow a concept to fully encompass the wide range of human abilities and knowledge.

IQ is still recognized as an important element of success, particularly when it comes to academic achievement. People with high IQs  typically to do well in school, often earn more money, and tend to be healthier in general.  

But today experts recognize that IQ is not the only determinant of life success. Instead, it is part of a complex array of influences—one that includes emotional intelligence. Many companies now mandate emotional intelligence training and use EQ tests as part of the hiring process.

Research has found that individuals with strong leadership potential also tend to be more emotionally intelligent, suggesting that a high EQ is an important quality for business leaders and managers.  

Emotional abilities can also influence consumers' choices when confronted with buying decisions. Nobel-prize-winning psychologist Daniel Kahneman found that people would rather deal with a person they trust and like than someone they do not, even if that means paying more for an inferior product.

The Impact of Bias

It is also important to note that both IQ and EQ are influenced by environmental variables. They are not simply inherent, unchangeable qualities. Not only does a person's environment affect their IQ and EQ, but the measurement of these abilities is also prone to bias.

The validity of IQ tests has long been questioned. While these tests often purport to evaluate inherent mental abilities, factors such as nutrition, educational quality, socioeconomic status, health status, and motivation levels can all affect people's IQ scores. Research also indicates that IQ tests are often biased against certain groups of people, including Black and Hispanic Americans.  

Emotional intelligence is also affected by environmental variables. While research suggests that temperament can play an important role, other factors, including upbringing, experiences, cultural factors, and trauma, can affect a person's EQ.

It is important to remember the measurement of IQ and EQ is subject to limitations. These are not purely fixed, inherent qualities. Tests cannot capture all aspects of intelligence and may be affected by bias.

Can IQ and EQ Be Improved?

If emotional intelligence is so important, can it be taught or strengthened? According to research on the effects of social and emotional learning programs, the answer to that question is an unequivocal yes.

One study found that kids enrolled in SEL programs had better achievement scores. These programs were also linked to lower suspension rates, increased school attendance, and reduced disciplinary problems.

And while IQ was once thought to be set in stone, it is now believed that it is a capacity that can be improved and strengthened.

Improving IQ

Some ways to boost your IQ include:

• Practicing memory activity : Doing tasks to improve your memory, such as jigsaw puzzles, concentration games, and sudoku, may help boost different aspects of IQ.
• Improve your reasoning skills : Games that rely on higher-order reasoning skills may also help sharpen your intellectual abilities. 
• Build your relational skills : Developing your ability to understand relationships and associations may help boost IQ scores. Strategies that may help include reading and making comparisons between objects.
• Learn a new language : Learning and practicing a new language may help boost your cognitive abilities.

Improving EQ

Strategies that can help strengthen EQ include the following:

• Focus on how you feel : Building self-awareness is essential for good emotional intelligence. Spend time observing your emotions and considering what made you experience those feelings. Keeping a journal can be a great way to help build this self-awareness.
• Put yourself in someone else's shoes : Empathy is a key component of emotional intelligence. Make an effort to consider how other people might feel in different situations. Put yourself in their place and reflect on what they might be feeling in that moment.
• Become more open-minded : It is crucial to approach situations with openness and a lack of judgment. Doing so will better help you understand others and consider new perspectives and ideas.
• Practice mindfulness : Mindfulness involves fully focusing on the present moment without worrying about the past or future. It can be an excellent tool for developing a greater awareness of your feelings.

Strategies for teaching emotional intelligence include character education, modeling positive behaviors, encouraging people to think about how others are feeling, and finding ways to be more empathetic toward others.

A Word From Verywell

Life success is a result of many factors. Both IQ and EQ play roles in overall success, as well as health, wellness, and happiness. Rather than focusing on which factors have a more dominant influence, the greatest benefit may lie in learning to improve skills in multiple areas. In addition to strengthening cognitive abilities, such as memory and mental focus , you can also acquire and improve social and emotional skills.

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Drigas AS, Papoutsi C. A new layered model on emotional intelligence . Behav Sci (Basel). 2018;8(5). doi:10.3390/bs8050045

Richardson K, Norgate SH. Does IQ really predict job performance? . Appl Dev Sci. 2015;19(3):153-169. doi:10.1080/10888691.2014.983635

Srivastava K. Emotional intelligence and organizational effectiveness . Ind Psychiatry J. 2013;22(2):97-9. doi:10.4103/0972-6748.132912

Rupande G. The impact of emotional intelligence on student learning . IJMSR . 2015;3(9):133-136.

Reynolds C, Altmann R, Allen D.  The problem of bias in psychological assessment .  Mastering Modern Psychol Test . 2021;1621:573-613. doi:10.1007/978-3-030-59455-8_15

Gardner KJ, Qualter P, Whiteley H. Developmental correlates of emotional intelligence: Temperament, family environment and childhood trauma . Australian Journal of Psychology . 2011;63(2):75-82. doi:10.1111/j.1742-9536.2011.00010.x

Hart S C, DiPerna JC, Lei P-W, Cheng W. Nothing lost, something gained? Impact of a universal social-emotional learning program on future state test performance . Educational Researcher . 2020;49(1):5–19. doi:10.3102/0013189X19898721

Snyder F, Flay B, Vuchinich S, et al. Impact of a social-emotional and character development program on school-level indicators of academic achievement, absenteeism, and disciplinary outcomes: A matched-pair, cluster randomized, controlled trial .  J Res Educ Eff . 2010;3(1):26-55. doi:10.1080/19345740903353436

Stankov L, Lee J. We can boost IQ: Revisiting Kvashchev's experiment .  J Intell . 2020;8(4):41. doi:10.3390/jintelligence8040041

Fissler P, Küster OC, Loy LS, et al. Jigsaw Puzzles as Cognitive Enrichment (PACE) - the effect of solving jigsaw puzzles on global visuospatial cognition in adults 50 years of age and older: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial .  Trials . 2017;18(1):415. doi:10.1186/s13063-017-2151-9

Cassidy S, Roche B, Colbert D, Stewart I, Grey IM. A relational frame skills training intervention to increase general intelligence and scholastic aptitude . Learning and Individual Differences . 2016;47:222-235. doi:10.1016/j.lindif.2016.03.001

Wong PCM, Ou J, Pang CWY, et al. Language training leads to global cognitive improvement in older adults: a preliminary study .  J Speech Lang Hear Res . 2019;62(7):2411-2424. doi:10.1044/2019_JSLHR-L-18-0321

By Kendra Cherry, MSEd Kendra Cherry, MS, is a psychosocial rehabilitation specialist, psychology educator, and author of the "Everything Psychology Book."

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Emotional Intelligence vs. Intellectual Intelligence | Vladyslav Kachur | TEDxIvanaFrankaStED

Emotional Intelligence , or emotional quotient (EQ) , is defined as an individual's ability to identify, evaluate, control, and express emotions . People with high EQ usually make great leaders and team players because of their ability to understand, empathize , and connect with the people around them. IQ , or intelligence quotient , is score derived from one of several standardized tests designed to assess an individual's intelligence.

IQ is used to determine academic abilities and identify individuals with off-the-chart intelligence or mental challenges. EQ is a better indicator of success in the workplace and is used to identify leaders, good team players, and people who best work by themselves.

Comparison chart

What is EQ?

According to the University of New Hampshire psychology department, emotional intelligence is the "ability to validly reason with emotions and to use emotions to enhance thought." EQ refers to an individual's ability to perceive, control, evaluate, and express emotions. People with high EQ can manage emotions, use their emotions to facilitate thinking, understand emotional meanings and accurately perceive others' emotions. EQ is partially determined by how a person relates to others and maintains emotional control.

What is IQ?

Intelligence quotient or IQ is a score received from standardized assessments designed to test intelligence. IQ relates directly to intellectual pursuits such as the ability to learn as well as understand and apply information to skill sets. IQ covers logical reasoning, word comprehension and math skills. People with higher IQ can think in abstracts and make connections by making generalizations easier.

Can EQ or IQ be Enhanced?

Emotional awareness is best inculcated from an early age by encouraging qualities like sharing, thinking about others, putting oneself in another person's shoes, giving individual space and the general principles of cooperation. There are toys and games available to increase emotional intelligence, and children who do not do well in social settings are known to perform significantly better after taking SEL (Social and Emotional Learning) classes. Adult EQ can also be enhanced, although to a limited extent through effective coaching.

There are some conditions like high functioning autism (HFA) or Asperger's where one of the symptoms may be low-empathy. While some studies found that adults with Asperger's have low-empathy, there are have been studies with control groups that indicate EQ can be changed in individuals with HFA or Aspergers.

IQ is more of a genetic make, but there are several ways to tap an individual's IQ to its highest potential through brain-food and mental ability exercises like puzzles, lateral thinking problems, and problem-solving techniques that make you think outside the box.

In the video below, Laci Green of DNews talks about what science has discovered about emotionally intelligent people:

What's More Important — IQ or EQ?

There are differing perspectives on whether EQ or IQ is more important. Those in the EQ camp say "A high IQ will get you through school, a high EQ will get you through life."

There are also those who believe cognitive ability (IQ) is a better predictor of success and EQ is overrated , sometimes even in emotionally demanding jobs. One meta-study compiled results from several studies comparing IQ and EQ, and researchers found that IQ accounted for more than 14% of job performance; emotional intelligence for less than 1%.

Applications

For a long time, IQ was believed to be the ultimate measure for success in careers and life in general, but there are studies that show a direct relation between higher EQ and successful professionals. People with high EQ generally achieve more, excel at teamwork and service and take more initiative. Several corporations and large organizations have mandated EQ tests during the hiring process, and have coaching seminars on emotional and social skills. Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) is gaining a lot of popularity not only with professionals, but also among students.

IQ tests are used most in the field of education and psychology. IQ tests are standardized to recognize highly capable/gifted individuals as well as individuals who need special assistance in the classroom. IQ predicts success with academic achievements, and has often been used to determine career options for graduating students.

Measurement and Testing

Although measuring EQ is very subjective , there are several standardized tests that measure emotional intelligence. Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test puts testers through a series of emotion-based problem-solving questions. The score reflects a person's capacity for reasoning with emotional information. Goleman's model of measurement focuses on emotional competencies. Goleman's model utilizes one of two tests: the Emotional Competency Inventory or the Emotional Intelligence Appraisal. Both tests have their own set of proponents and critics.

Theorists have attempted to make IQ testing more objective . The Stanford-Binet test was the first true IQ assessment because it factored in age. The score is based on the test-taker's mental age, as evaluated by the test, divided by the chronological age multiplied by 100. American psychologist David Wechsler developed three IQ tests; one for preschool and primary children, one for older children and one for adults. The score is based on factor analysis. Sub-tests of the assessment are evaluated against age-based norms. Another commonly-used test is the Woodcock-Johnson Test of Cognitive Abilities. With the Woodcock-Johnson, extensive tests assess a wide variety of cognitive abilities. All three tests are still in use, and no one test is commonly considered the best or most accurate.

Pros and Cons of Testing

Both EQ and IQ testing is controversial. For EQ testing, proponents cite that EQ helps predict work success and teamwork ability. However, because emotional intelligence runs contrary to the conventional definitions of intelligence, testing is not an accurate predictor of academic or work success. So, while people with high EQ do well in the workplace, tests do not necessarily predict who has a high EQ. Part of the problem comes in the unreliability of the results. Often, people may not answer accurately because they're trying to do well. Therefore, by definition, the results are subjective.

IQ tests are in regular use in education especially, as well as other industries. Proponents of testing cite that it is a standardized assessment that shows intelligence transcends class, measures the need for special education and measures the effectiveness of special training and programs. IQ testing can also reveal unsuspected talents. But the limitation of these tests is that they provide limited information. They do not test underlying cognitive processes, nor do they predict success at work because they do not encompass non-academic intellectual abilities. Likewise, original or novel responses get marked as wrong even if they show intelligent thinking. Knowing an IQ score may limit children. Finally, IQ tests may reflect bias against minorities or other cultures with certain types of questions.

The theory of EQ only dates back to 1985. Wayne Payne proposed the theory in his doctoral thesis "A Study of Emotion: Developing Emotional Intelligence." The idea of EQ became more widely known with Daniel Goleman's 1995 book Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ .

The idea of quantifying intelligence dates back to 1883. English statistician Francis Galton's wrote about the idea in his paper "Inquiries into Human Faculty and Its Development." French psychologist Alfred Binet developed a test in 1905. This first IQ test was an attempt to classify school children in France based on intellectual ability.

• What's Your "E.Q."? - Northern Illinois University
• What Is Emotional Intelligence? - University of New Hampshire
• Intelligence quotient - Princeton University
• The IQ and Intelligence - University of North Carolina
• Measuring Your Emotional Intelligence at Work - University of Washington
• Wikipedia: Emotional intelligence
• Wikipedia: Intelligence quotient
• Wikipedia: Woodcock-Johnson Tests of Cognitive Abilities
• Do IQ tests help to identify the best performers? - Reliable Plant
• Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test - Multi-Health Systems

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The Importance of Emotional Intelligence (Incl. Quotes)

Can you manage those feelings without allowing them to swamp you?

Can you motivate yourself to get jobs done? Do you sense the emotions of others and respond effectively?

If you answered yes to these questions, it is likely that you have developed some or all of the skills that form the basis of emotional intelligence.

Emotional intelligence ( EI ) forms the juncture at which cognition and emotion meet, it facilitates our capacity for resilience, motivation, empathy, reasoning, stress management, communication, and our ability to read and navigate a plethora of social situations and conflicts. EI matters and if cultivated affords one the opportunity to realize a more fulfilled and happy life.

Before you read on, we thought you might like to download our three Emotional Intelligence Exercises for free . These science-based exercises will not only enhance your ability to understand and work with your emotions but will also give you the tools to foster the emotional intelligence of your clients, students or employees.

This Article Contains:

What is the importance of emotional intelligence, five categories of emotional intelligence (ei/eq), value and benefits of emotional intelligence.

• Self Management, Self Regulation, and EQ

Resilience and EQ

Does emotional intelligence matter more than iq, is there a link between ei and job performance, how about emotional intelligence and motivation, using emotional intelligence to deal with stress, linking ei and decision-making, can emotional intelligence and success be related, goals and ei, how eq affects communication, why emotional intelligence matters for happiness.

• 6 Youtube Videos and TED Talks on Emotional Intelligence

21 Quotes on the Value of Emotional Intelligence

A take-home message.

The term ‘ Emotional Intelligence ’, first coined by psychologists Mayer and Salovey (1990), refers to one’s capacity to perceive, process and regulate emotional information accurately and effectively, both within oneself and in others and to use this information to guide one’s thinking and actions and to influence those of others.

Emotional intelligence can lead us on the path to a fulfilled and happy life by providing a framework through which to apply standards of intelligence to emotional responses and understand that these responses may be logically consistent or inconsistent with particular beliefs about emotion.

As the workplace evolves, so too does the body of research supporting that individuals (from interns to managers) with higher EI are better equipped to work cohesively within teams, deal with change more effectively, and manage stress – thus enabling them to more efficiently pursue business objectives.

Goleman (1995) recognized five distinct categories of skills which form the key characteristics of EI and proposed that, unlike one’s intelligence quotient (IQ), these categorical skills can be learned where absent and improved upon where present.

Thus, EI, unlike its relatively fixed cousin, IQ, is instead a dynamic aspect of one’s psyche and includes behavioral traits that, when worked upon, can yield significant benefits, from personal happiness and wellbeing to elevated success in a professional context.

Self-awareness is the first step toward introspective self-evaluation and enables one to identify behavioral and emotional aspects of our psychological makeup which we can then target for change.

Emotional self-awareness is also about recognizing what motivates you and, in turn, what brings you fulfillment.

• Self-regulation: the ability to manage one’s negative or disruptive emotions, and to adapt to changes in circumstance. Those who are skilled in self-regulation excel in managing conflict, adapt well to change and are more likely to take responsibility.
• Motivation: the ability to self-motivate, with a focus on achieving internal or self-gratification as opposed to external praise or reward. Individuals who are able to motivate themselves in this way have a tendency to be more committed and goal focused.
• Empathy: the ability to recognize and understand how others are feeling and consider those feelings before responding in social situations. Empathy also allows an individual to understand the dynamics that influence relationships, both personal and in the workplace.
• Social skills: the ability to manage the emotions of others through emotional understanding and using this to build rapport and connect with people through skills such as active listening, verbal and nonverbal communication.
• Self-awareness: the ability to recognize and understand one’s own emotions and their impact on others.

Emotional intelligence has been shown to play a meaningful role in academic success, mental and physical health, as well as attainment in professional domains; the findings of Bar-On (1997) suggested that people with higher EI performed better than those with lower EI in life.

In the modern, agile workplace, there is an ever-increasing emphasis from employers on the importance of EI over academic qualifications.

The importance of EI should not go unappreciated; the ability to understand and manage your emotions is the first step in realizing your true potential. How can we achieve meaningful progress if we don’t recognize and acknowledge the point from where we’re starting? When checking directions on your sat-nav, a destination is useless unless we know the origin.

Whether it be connecting with others and improving interpersonal communication, achieving success in the workplace or social relationships, dealing with stress and improving motivation or refining decision-making skills – emotional intelligence plays a central role in realizing success in both personal and professional life.

The value and benefits of emotional intelligence are vast in terms of personal and professional success. It is a core competency in many vocations, can support the advancement towards academic and professional success, improve relationships, and boost communication skills, the list goes on.

Bar-On (1997) goes so far as to suggest that people with higher EI tend to perform better than those with lower EI in life overall, regardless of IQ. There has been much discussion regarding the benefits of teaching EI in schools , with an emphasis on the idea that emotionally intelligent children grow up to become emotionally intelligent adults.

Proficiency in EI is becoming a vital prerequisite in prolonged or intense areas of ‘emotional work’ such as nursing, social work, the service industry, and management roles. High EI improves the physical and psychological health of people and encourages academic and business performance (Bar-On & Parker, 2000).

Emotional intelligence is an integral part of forming and developing meaningful human relationships. Schutte et al (2001) found that, over a series of studies, there were significant links between high EI and more successful interpersonal relations.

Those participants who exhibited higher levels of EI also showed a greater propensity for empathic perspective taking, cooperation with others, developing affectionate and more satisfying relationships as well as greater social skills in general.

So far, we have focused on the social and psychological benefits of EI, it is important to note that self-awareness – the ability to manage emotions and stress – and the ability to solve personal, as well as interpersonal problems, are also significantly related to physical health.

Chronic stress and the prolonged negative effects which accompany it such as anger, depression, and anxiety can precipitate the onset and progression of hypertension, heart problems, and diabetes; increase susceptibility to viruses, and infections; delay healing of wounds and injuries; and exacerbate conditions such as arthritis and atherosclerosis (Bar-On, 2006, Black & Garbutt, 2002).

The value of EI is immense; developing emotional intelligence encourages many positive traits, from resilience to communication, motivation to stress management, all of which can be seen as conducive to effectively achieving personal, physical and occupational health, and success.

Undoubtedly you know how valuable it is to develop your emotional intelligence abilities, but have you ever wondered exactly why?

Research shows there are many benefits for those with high levels of emotional intelligence, including greater resilience, social skills and connection.

But how do you reach a stage where you can reap these benefits? What barriers stand in your way? How can you help your clients, friends, colleagues, students and even your children develop excellent EI skills?

For answers to all these questions and more, check out our Emotional Intelligence Masterclass© .

Self-Management, Self-Regulation, and EQ

While it’s commonly accepted that our emotions are driven by impulses over which we have little-to-no control, we do have the capacity for self-management and  self-regulation ; the ability to manage – if not control – the resultant emotions and our reactions thereto.

Consider the calm and rational pilot despite the aircraft’s landing gear being jammed or the surgeon who carries on with their duties despite losing a patient.

This form of self-regulation builds on the basis of self-awareness and is an integral part of becoming emotionally intelligent by exercising the capacity to liberate ourselves from impulse-driven reaction (Goleman, 1995).

Self-management builds on this further and allows an individual to use knowledge about their emotions to better manage them in order to self-motivate and to create positive social interactions.

Leaders with an aptitude for self-regulation are far less likely to be aggressively confrontational and make snap decisions. Self-regulation and self-management do not pertain to the absence of anger; rather it’s about remaining in control of your emotions and not allowing your actions to be emotion-driven.

In instances of negative emotions such as anger, EI can help identify what you are feeling and determine the cause of the emotion through reflection and self-analysis allowing one to respond in a rational manner.

Self-regulation is critical in relation to other facets of EI and can be developed from early childhood, adolescence and throughout adulthood. Mastering self-management allows us the opportunity to open the door to the other beneficial aspects of EI while in the absence of self-regulation other competencies, such as effective communication and conflict management, are challenging.

The good news is that it’s never too late to embark on self-management and regulation training; the potential benefits are numerous and should not be underestimated.

The skills enabled through the development of self-regulation can aid success for (but by no means limited to) counselors, psychotherapists, small business owners, managers, and executives.

Those with stronger skills in this area are less likely to become angry or exhibit stress while being more likely to respond calmly to negative environments, harness personal needs in order to achieve goals and remain motivated.

Emotional intelligence is undoubtedly a valuable tool to utilize in the face of adversity; it has the potential to enhance not only leadership abilities and teamwork effectiveness but also personal resilience.

Focusing on the impact of EI on one’s resilience, that is, one’s ability to cope with stressful conditions, research suggests that those who display higher levels of emotional intelligence are less likely to succumb to the negative impacts of stressors.

In the context of a leadership role, one might expect increased responsibility to coincide with elevated potential stressors, highlighting the importance of strong EI for those in leadership or management positions.

An investigation into the relationship between emotional intelligence and the stress process found that participants who displayed higher levels of EI were less likely to be negatively impacted by the presence of stressors.

Participants completed an ability-based test of EI before rating the subjectively perceived threat level posed by two stressors, they then self-reported their emotional reaction to said stressors and were also subjected to physiological stress-response tests in order to assess their response.

In summary, the findings suggested that “ EI facets were related to lower threat appraisals, more modest declines in positive affect, less negative affect and challenge physiological responses to stress… This study provides predictive validity that EI facilitates stress resilience, ” (Schneider, Lyons & Khazon, 2013, pp 909).

Further research suggested a link between higher emotional intelligence, resilience and the propensity for depressive behaviors. In an examination of medical professionals – an occupation with a relatively high ‘burnout’ rate – Olson & Matan (2015) found a positive correlation between EI and resilience as well as a negative correlation between resilience, mindfulness, and self-compassion with the ‘burnout’ rate.

In a nutshell, those with higher levels of emotional intelligence also displayed greater resilience and were less likely to ‘burnout’ or succumb to depression.

These results build on previous research which found EI scores were positively correlated with psychological wellbeing while being negatively correlated with depression and burnout. Given the dynamic nature of EI, the study highlighted the potential ability to reduce one’s susceptibility to depression by way of interventions to increase EI (Lin, Liebert, Tran, Lau, & Salles 2016).

Interestingly, EI is strongly correlated with individual advancement and performance, with evidence suggesting a significant link between one’s resilience and one’s motivation to achieve (Magnano, Craparo & Paolillo, 2016).

Furthermore, it is suggested that resilience plays a mediational role between EI and self-motivated achievement. In other words, emotional intelligence is a prerequisite for resilience, and resilience can lead to greater motivation. Resilience has an underlying perseverance component that motivates endurance in the face of obstacles (Luthans, Avey & Avolio, 2010).

When psychologists began to discuss intelligence, the focus was very much on cognitive aspects relating to memory and problem-solving.

While there had been references to intelligence as having “non-intellective”, as well as “intellective” elements such as affective, personal, and social factors (Wechsler, 1943), historically, the concepts of emotion and intelligence, have been regarded as being mutually exclusive. How can one be intelligent about the emotional aspects of life when emotions can hinder individuals from achieving their goals? (Lloyd, 1979).

In reality, high IQ is no guarantee of success. How successful we are in life is determined by both emotional intelligence and by IQ, though intellect works best when it’s accompanied by high emotional intelligence.

Goleman (1995, 2011) suggests that it is not simply a case of IQ versus EI, instead, both have considerable value. Where IQ tells us the level of cognitive complexity a person can achieve and may to some degree predetermine levels of academic achievement, EI tells us which individuals will make the best leaders within top management positions, for example.

IQ has limited connections to both work and life success. Snarey & Vaillant (1985) suggested it is actually less of a predictor of how well we will do in life than our ability to handle frustration, control emotions, and get along with other people – characteristics not only accounted for but also learnable under current EI theory .

Today, standards of intelligence are still commonly applied to cognitive performance. The misconception that IQ alone is the predictor of success is still very real.

In reality, IQ contributes to around 20% of the factors that determine life success – we all know someone (or perhaps are that person) who has a high IQ yet struggles to do ‘well’. So what accounts for the other 80%? Outwith factors such as social class and plain old luck, Goleman (1995) argued that life success is influenced more by an individual’s ability to engage the 5 aspects of EI detailed above.

While there is much discussion regarding the capability of individuals to improve IQ scores, EI can be developed and refined over time with the condition – just like any skill – that it is given the necessary focus and effort to do so. Many would argue that the ability to connect with and understand others is a more powerful skill to possess than cognitive intellect alone.

In the words of American civil rights activist, Maya Angelou:

“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

The increasing awareness of emotional intelligence in management-focused literature and leadership training suggests the link between emotional intelligence and job performance not only exists but has value in myriad areas.

The workplace represents a distinct social community, separate from our personal lives, in which there is a growing appreciation that higher EI allows a person to understand themselves and others better, communicate more effectively, and cope with challenging situations.

Utilizing and developing emotional intelligence in the workplace can significantly improve the personal and social capabilities of individuals within that workplace.

EI is about managing emotions in order to improve job performance and, in turn, helping people stay calm and to think logically in order to establish good relationships and achieve goals. There is an undeniable relationship between EI and the way senior executives manage their employees – managers with higher emotional intelligence have the tools at their disposal to not only manage stress but to also recognize and address stress in others.

If we think of emotional intelligence in terms of managing stress and building relationships, the link between emotional intelligence skills and job performance is clear, with stress management positively impacting job commitment and satisfaction.

It is also important to mention that EI does not only apply at management level, likewise, employees lower down the business hierarchy with sophisticated emotional intelligence skills have the desire and ability to establish and maintain high-quality relationships in the workplace (Lopes, Salovey, & Straus, 2003).

Additionally, individuals with high EI are better equipped to effectively manage conflicts and, in turn, sustain relationships within the workplace when compared to those with low to moderate levels of EI.

Increasingly, organizations are recognizing the value of employees who exhibit the skills to cope with change and respond accordingly. EI is an important factor in job performance both on an individual level and a group level. In fact, as an individual moves up an organizational hierarchy, the positive effect of emotional intelligence on coping with situations and doing tasks in effective ways increases (Moghadam, Tehrani & Amin, 2011).

Emotional intelligence matters for motivation, and motivation matters for success. Whether it’s in relation to work, personal goals or health, the emotionally intelligent individual understands the deeper meaning of their aspirations and the self-motivation skills required to achieve them.

Goleman (1995) identified four elements that make up motivation: our personal drive to improve, our commitment to the goals we set for ourselves, our readiness to act on opportunities that present themselves to us and our resilience.

Magnano et al (2016) assert that motivation is the basic psychological process we use to stimulate ourselves into action to achieve a desired outcome. Whether it’s picking up the remote to change the TV channel or dedicating hundreds of hours to delivering a project, without motivation we’d be unable to act.

Motivation arouses, energizes, directs and sustains behavior and performance. Intrinsic motivation, that is, motivation that comes from within, pushes us to achieve our full potential. An Emotionally Intelligent individual not only possesses the skills for self-motivation but also the skills required to motivate others, a useful talent to have especially in management positions.

While self-motivation is central to achieving one’s goals, emotionally intelligent leaders within a business can also impact employee motivation. The capacity to recognize the emotions and, in turn, the concerns of others is an invaluable skill to have at your disposal in terms of realizing the most effective ways to motivate teams and individuals.

In a recent study, the EI levels of first-year medical undergraduates were found to be positively related to self-motivation to study medicine and satisfaction with choosing to study medicine (Edussuriya, Marambe, Tennakoon, Rathnayake, Premaratne, Ubhayasiri, & Wickramasinghe, 2018).

A study of senior managers with high EI employed in public sector organizations found that EI augments positive work attitudes, altruistic behavior, and work outcomes. It seems, unsurprisingly, that happy employees are motivated employees.

The ability to better cope with stress and anxiety, for example, is also a useful EI tool in terms of motivation – if one can recognize the emotions that may have a negative impact on motivation, they can be addressed and managed effectively (Carmeli, 2003).

We all endure stressful days, it’s completely normal and completely manageable if you have the right skills at your disposal. An individual with high Emotional Intelligence has sufficient self-awareness to recognize negative feelings and respond accordingly to prevent escalation. Uncontrolled and misunderstood emotions can exacerbate our vulnerability to other mental health issues, like stress, anxiety, and depression.

The skills associated with emotional intelligence can effectively help individuals deal with negative emotional states like stress and promote more positive emotions in its place. Failure to address and manage stress can lead to a further deterioration of one’s mental state and impact our physical health in turn.

Research into the social, psychological and medical components of stress emphasizes the importance of dealing with negative emotions to effectively cope with stress and in turn, reduce the potential for negative psychological and physical health outcomes.

Ganster & Schaubroeck (1991) consider our working and professional environment as the primary source of the stress, going on to suggest the ability to effectively recognize and deal with emotions and emotional information in the workplace is a vital tool in preventing negative stress and coping with occupational stress.

Emotional intelligence allows us to effectively cope with stress. Furthermore, emotionally intelligent people also have the ability to initially evaluate situations as less stressful.

While this has the obvious effect of lessening the adverse impact thereof, it also results in greater life satisfaction and happiness. Conversely, a deficit in EI and self‐regulation can lead to lower subjective wellbeing and a relatively exaggerated response to stressors.

The intelligent use of emotions is a fundamental mechanism in psychological adaptation and wellbeing. Individuals with higher EI have been found to report lower levels of stress and higher levels of happiness, indicating that the ability to regulate perceived stress directly impacts satisfaction (Ruiz‐Aranda, Extremera & Pineda‐Galán, 2014).

The role of emotional intelligence in perceiving occupational stress and preventing employees of human services from negative health outcomes is essential (Oginska-Bulk, 2005).

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Emotional Intelligence is closely related to personal and professional development, it impacts on more than how we manage our behavior and navigate social complexities, it also affects how we make decisions.

Having an authentic understanding of the emotions we feel and why we are feeling them can have a huge impact on our decision-making abilities, if we can’t look at our emotions objectively how can we avoid making misguided decisions based on them?

Superior emotional intelligence is an important element in the prevention of decision making based on emotional biases, whereas lower EI can create anxiety and lead to poor decisions. It’s not about removing emotions completely from the decision-making process, rather it’s about recognizing the emotions that are unrelated to the problem and not allowing them to be influential to the final result.

Negative emotions can impede problem-solving and decision making both in the workplace and personal circumstances. The ability to recognize emotions that are superfluous to forming a rational decision and having the capacity to effectively disregard said emotions, negating their impact on the final outcome, holds obvious benefits for decision-making processes.

Through a series of questions and observations with a focus on improving EI awareness and using EI skills to enhance the decision-making process, Hess & Bacigalupo (2011) found that organizations and individuals benefitted from the practical application of EI in decision-making scenarios.

The observations suggest EI training is an effective strategy to introduce when developing decision-making skills and aids in understanding the potential consequences of bad decision making.

Understanding the causes and consequences of emotions allows an individual to both manage the feeling and make an objective decision. Imagine you have a disagreement with your partner and go to work angry and a little stressed out, later that day you dismiss a proposal from a colleague without really paying attention to what they’re suggesting – you’re just not in the mood.

This form of emotional interference can be detrimental to the decision-making process, those with more developed EI can identify and manage this kind of emotional interference and avoid emotionally-driven decisions.

Much like happiness, ask someone to define success and you will probably get more than one answer. Does your career make you successful? Your intelligence? How much money you have? Finding contentment and happiness? Depending on who you ask, it can be anything!

What is clear is that no matter your definition of success, emotional intelligence can play a vital role in achieving it.

As addressed, it isn’t always the most intelligent people who achieve the greatest success. IQ alone is not enough to excel in life. You can be the most intelligent person in the room, but if you don’t have EI do you have the skills to quieten negative thoughts or the mental fortitude to manage stress? Goleman (1995) described EI as being powerful and, at times, more powerful than IQ in predicting success in life.

It’s your Emotional Intelligence that really helps you achieve your goals and attain greater levels of success, developing EI can greatly influence our success by contributing to increased morale, motivation and greater co-operation (Strickland, 2000).

In the workplace, managers who consistently outperform their peers not only have technical knowledge and experience, but more importantly, they utilize the strategies associated with EI to manage conflict, reduce stress and as a result, improve their success.

There is growing evidence that the range of abilities that constitute what is now commonly known as ’emotional intelligence’ play a key role in determining success – both in one’s personal life and in the workplace – with real-life applications extending to parenting, relationships, businesses, medical professionals, service workers and so many more.

Emotional intelligence enables one to manage emotions in anxiety-provoking situations, such as taking exams at school or university and also has positive associations with success in personal relationships and social functioning.

Success within social relationships can be achieved by using EI competencies to detect others’ emotional states, adopt others’ perspectives, enhance communication, and regulate behavior.

If we think of goals as an aim or desired result, we can see how emotional intelligence skills can help one to achieve personal goals and when exercised correctly by leaders and managers, can also help to drive change and progress in the workplace.

The facets of EI are interwoven, to achieve self-actualization, we must first achieve motivation, in order to achieve motivation we must also be happy in what we are doing. Without happiness, it is a challenge to reach the levels of motivation required to achieve our goals. In essence, if we are not motivated how can we expect to achieve our goals?

There is a wealth of management literature emphasizing the importance of utilizing EI in relation to success and performance, with a focus on how individuals with high EI perform better in all aspects of a management role.

The average level of Emotional Intelligence of team members is reflected by the team process effectiveness and in team goal focus, conversely teams with lower EI skills performed at a lower level of goal achievement. (Jordana, Ashkanasyb, Härtelb, & Hooperb, 2007)

In order to produce our best and achieve our goals, we need positive self-regard, heightened emotional self-awareness, effective problem solving and decision-making skills. We must understand clearly what our goals are, and be motivated to accomplish all we can.

Our ability to be aware of and understand our own emotions can aid our awareness and understanding of the feelings of others.

This sensitivity, or lack thereof, impacts our communication capabilities in both personal and work life.

If we consider communication in the workplace, and more specifically, conflict resolution in the workplace, individuals with higher emotional intelligence are more likely to approach conflict resolution in a collaborative manner, working together with others in order to effectively reach a mutually acceptable outcome.

Relationships in the workplace are affected by how we manage our own emotions and our understanding of the emotions of those around us.

The ability to identify, manage, and understand emotions help us communicate without resorting to confrontation. A person with high EI is better equipped to manage conflict and build meaningful relationships given their elevated capacity to understand, and therefore address, the needs of those with whom they engage. (Lopez, 2005).

Emotional intelligence has unquestionably received greater attention in recent years as a driver of effective communication within teams, including the growing area of virtual teams (also known as remote or geographically dispersed teams). If we examine EQ as a predictor of virtual team success, the results support that not only is EQ a driver of team viability, but also positively impacts the quality of communication (De Mio, 2002).

The process of successful communication and, in terms of conflict, successful negotiation are closely linked to high levels of EQ. Where those with low levels of EQ may react defensively in stressful situations and escalate conflict, individuals with higher emotional intelligence have the skills available at their disposal to communicate effectively without resorting to confrontation or escalating tension.

Happiness seems like a simple enough concept, but have you ever tried to define it? Try now – what is happiness? It is more difficult than it seems because it means something different to each of us. While it is true that happiness means distinctly different things to different people, what is clear is that emotional intelligence really does matter for happiness irrespective of your interpretation.

EI facilitators such as happiness contribute to our self-actualization and self-actualization, in turn, contributes to our happiness in a positive feedback loop. Happiness, according to Wechsler (1943), is the key factor that has a positive impact on intelligent behavior.

Studies examining the link between EI and a range of interpersonal relations found that participants with higher EQ scores had higher scores for empathic perspective taking, self-monitoring and social skills, cooperation with partners, relationship satisfaction, and more affectionate relationships. (Schutte, Malouff, Bobik, Coston, Greeson, Jedlicka, Rhodes, & Wendorf, 2001).

By developing the skills for EI one can reduce stress, which consequently has a positive impact on wellbeing and happiness. In addition to its motivational value, happiness monitors one’s immediate wellbeing and interjects positive mood in the way individuals cope with daily demands, challenges, and pressures.

It is this positivity that encourages the emotional energy required to increase one’s motivational level to get things done, in short, it helps individuals to achieve what they want to achieve and tells them how well they are doing (Bar-On, 2001).

Research conducted by Furnham (2003) indicated that a large amount of the variance found in happiness and wellbeing to be determined by people’s emotion-related self-perceptions and dispositions such as the ability to regulate emotions, relationship skills, and social competence.

While these EI skills are not the sole contributor to levels of happiness, it is important to recognize their impact, with over 50% of the total variances in happiness being attributed to emotional intelligence competencies.

From Aristotle to Freud, the emphasis on the optimization of happiness has been thoroughly discussed. To augment happiness one is often required to use more sophisticated behavioral patterns such as self-regulation to subdue instant pleasure motivations.

Contemporary psychological research continues to recognize the need for this form of optimization. Mischel (1974) explicitly taught children how to delay immediate pleasures for greater long-term gain. The ability to delay gratification is important in many aspects of cognitive development given the capacity for such delays encourages an increase in cognitive competence and social maturity.

17 Exercises To Develop Emotional Intelligence

These 17 Emotional Intelligence Exercises [PDF] will help others strengthen their relationships, lower stress, and enhance their wellbeing through improved EQ.

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6 YouTube Videos and TED Talks on Emotional Intelligence

We recommend watching the following videos for more insight into Emotional Intelligence.

The Power of Emotional Intelligence – Travis Bradberry

You aren’t at the mercy of your emotions – your brain creates them – Lisa Feldman Barrett

6 Steps to Improve Your Emotional Intelligence – Ramona Hacker

Learning Human Values Via Emotional Intelligence – Ruby Bakshi Khurdi

Your Forensic Mirror: Applying Emotional Intelligence To Achieve Success – Paula Clarke

The People Currency: Practicing Emotional Intelligence – Jason Bridges

See also: 15 Most Valuable Emotional Intelligence TED Talks on YouTube .

“Emotional intelligence is a way of recognizing, understanding, and choosing how we think, feel, and act. It shapes our interactions with others and our understanding of ourselves. It defines how and what we learn; it allows us to set priorities; it determines the majority of our daily actions. Research suggests it is responsible for as much as 80 percent of the “success” in our lives.”

Joshua Freedman

“If your emotional abilities aren’t in hand, if you don’t have self-awareness, if you are not able to manage your distressing emotions, if you can’t have empathy and have effective relationships, then no matter how smart you are, you are not going to get very far.”

Daniel Goleman

Maya Angelou

“Anybody can become angry, that is easy; but to be angry with the right person, and to the right degree, and at the right time, and for the right purpose, and in the right way, that is not within everybody’s power, that is not easy.”

“Emotional intelligent people use self-awareness to their advantage to assess a situation, get perspective, listen without judgment, process, and hold back from reacting head on. At times, it means the decision to sit on your decision. By thinking over your situation rationally, without drama, you’ll eventually arrive at other, more sane conclusions.”

Marcel Schwantes

“Never stop because you are afraid – you are never so likely to be wrong.”

Fridtjof Nansen

“We are dangerous when we are not conscious of our responsibility for how we behave, think, and feel.”

Marshall B. Rosenberg

“What really matters for success, character, happiness and life long achievements is a definite set of emotional skills – your EQ — not just purely cognitive abilities that are measured by conventional IQ tests.”

“Whatever is begun in anger, ends in shame.”

Benjamin Franklin

“If you are interested in emotions, learning about them will satisfy your curiosity. If you depend upon emotional knowledge in your job, learning more about emotions would likely help.”

“Do not judge me by my successes, judge me by how many times I fell down and got back up again.”

Nelson Mandela

“When dealing with people, remember you are not dealing with creatures of logic, but with creatures of emotion.”

Dale Carnegie

“It is very important to understand that emotional intelligence is not the opposite of intelligence, it is not the triumph of heart over head – it is the unique intersection of both.”

David Caruso

“Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate.”

“It takes something more than intelligence to act intelligently.”

Fyodor Dostoyevsky

“No doubt emotional intelligence is more rare than book smarts, but my experience says it is actually more important in the making of a leader. You just can’t ignore it.”

“Emotional intelligence is what humans are good at and that’s not a sideshow. That’s the cutting edge of human intelligence.”

Ray Kurzweil

“Emotional intelligence is the ability to sense, understand, and effectively apply the power and acumen of emotions as a source of human energy, information, connection, and influence.”

Robert K. Cooper

“The strength of character and emotional intelligence to face your failures and learn from them are at the core of success.”

Robert Kiyosaki

“Surround yourself with amazingly intelligent men and women. The people I work with not only are smarter than I am, possessing both intellectual and emotional intelligence, but also share my determination to succeed. I will not make an important decision without them.”

George Steinbrenner

“What I’ve come to realize is that emotional intelligence was the only way I knew how to lead, and is, in my option, the only way to inspire real change.”

Kevin Allen

Find more emotional intelligence quotes here .

Emotional Intelligence is important, the value and benefits of developing your EQ are extensive and in many areas massively under-utilised. Emotional intelligence is the gateway to living a more fulfilled and happy life, and here’s why:

• Emotional intelligence allows you to understand and manage your emotions in order to self-motivate and to create positive social interactions; it’s the first step in realizing your true potential.
• The value and benefits of EI are vast in terms of personal, academic, and professional success.
• Individuals with higher levels of emotional intelligence are less likely to succumb to the negative impacts of stressors, while effectively help individuals deal with negative emotions and promote more positive emotions in its place.
• Intellect works best when it’s accompanied by high emotional intelligence.
• Utilizing and developing emotional intelligence in the workplace can greatly improve both job performance and the social capabilities of individuals within that workplace.
• Emotional Intelligence is a useful skill to prevent making decisions based on emotional biases.
• The process of successful communication and negotiation are closely linked to high levels of EQ.
• Key EI facilitators such as happiness contribute to our self-actualization.

Thanks for reading! I hope you have enjoyed this journey into the world of emotional intelligence and the important role it plays in achieving personal, physical and occupational success.

For further reading:

• 13 Emotional Intelligence Activities & Exercises
• 26 Best Emotional Intelligence Books (Reviews + Summaries)
• The Emotion Wheel: What is It and How to Use it? [+PDF]

We hope you found this article useful. Don’t forget to download our three Emotional Intelligence Exercises for free .

• Bar-On, R. (1997). Bar-on Emotional Quotient Inventory (EQ-i): Technical manual . Multi-health systems. Toronto, Canada: Multi-Health Systems, Inc.
• Bar-On, R. E., & Parker, J. D. (2000). The Bar-On Emotional Quotient Inventory: Youth Version Technical Manual . Toronto, Canada: Multi-Health Systems, Inc.
• Bar-On, R. (2006). The Bar-On Model of Emotional-Social Intelligence. Psicothema . 18 Suppl. 13-25.
• Bar-On, R. (2010). Emotional Intelligence: An Integral Part of Positive Psychology. The South African Journal of Psychology. 40 . 54-62.
• Black, P. H., & Garbutt, L. D. (2002). Stress, inflammation and cardiovascular disease. The Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 52 , 1–23.
• Carmeli, A. (2003). The Relationship Between Emotional Intelligence and Work Attitudes, Behavior and Outcomes: An examination among senior managers. The Journal of Managerial Psychology, 18 (8), 788-813.
• Cherniss, C. & Goleman, D. (2003). The Emotionally Intelligent Workplace . New York: Wiley
• Ciarrochi, J., Forgas, J., & Mayer, J.D. (2001). Emotional intelligence in everyday life: A scientific inquiry . Hove, UK: Psychology Press.
• Cotrus, A., Stanciu, A., & Bulborea, A. (2012). EQ vs. IQ Which is Most Important in the Success or Failure of a Student? Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences, 46 . 5211-5213.
• De Mio, R. R. (2002). On Defining Virtual Emotion Intelligence. ECIS 2002 Proceedings . 149. http://aisel.aisnet.org/ecis2002/149
• Edussuriya, D., Marambe, K. N., Tennakoon, S. U. B., Rathnayake, R. M. I. S. D., Premaratne, B. G., Ubhayasiri, S. K. & Wickramasinghe, C. U., (2018). Emotional intelligence in first year medical students and its correlates. The Sri Lanka Journal of Medicine, 27 (2), pp.4–13.
• Furnham, A., & V. Petrides, K. (2003). Emotional Intelligence and Happiness. Social Behavior and Personality: An International Journal. 31 . 815-823.
• Ganster, D., & Schaubroeck, J. (1991). Work Stress and Employee Health. The Journal of Management, 17 (2), 235-271.
• Goleman, D. (1995). Emotional intelligence . New York, NY: Bantam Books, Inc
• Hess, J. D., & Bacigalupo, A. (2011) Enhancing decisions and decision‐making processes through the application of emotional intelligence skills. Journal of Management History , Vol. 49 Issue: 5, pp.710-721
• Jordana, P. J., Ashkanasyb, N. M., Härtelb, C. E., & Hooperb, G. S. (2007). Workgroup emotional intelligence: Scale development and relationship to team process effectiveness and goal focus. Human Resource Management Review, 12 , 195-214.
• Lin, D. T., Liebert, C., Tran, J., Lau, J., & Salles, A. (2016) Emotional Intelligence as a Predictor of Resident Well-Being. The Journal of the American College of Surgeons .
• Lopes, P. N., Salovey, P., & Straus, R. (2003). Emotional Intelligence, Personality and the Perceived Quality of Social Relationships. The Journal of Personality and Individual Differences, 35(3), 641–658.
• Lopes, P. N., Salovey, P., Cote, S. & Beers, M. (2005), Emotion regulation ability and the quality of social interaction. Emotion, 5 (1), 112-121.
• Luthans, F., Avey, J. B., Avolio, B. J., & Peterson, S. J. (2010). The development and resulting performance impact of positive psychological capital. Human Resource Development Quarterly , 21(1), 41–67.
• Magnano, P., & Craparo, G., & Paolillo, A. (2016). Resilience and Emotional Intelligence: which role in achievement motivation. International Journal of Psychological Research . 9. 9-20.
• Mischel, W., & Underwood, B. (1974) Instrumental Ideation in Delay of Gratification. The Journal of Child Development, 45 (4) pp. 1083-1088.
• Ogińska-Bulik, N. (2005). Emotional intelligence in the workplace: Exploring its effects on occupational stress and health outcomes in human service workers. International journal of occupational medicine and environmental health. 18 . 167-75..
• Olson, K., Kemper, K. J., & Mahan, J. D. (2015) What Factors Promote Resilience and Protect Against Burnout in Firstyear Pediatric and Medicine-Pediatrics Residents? The Journal of Evidence-Based Complementary & Alternative Medicine .
• Palmer, B., Donaldson, C., & Stough, C. (2002). Emotional Intelligence and Life Satisfaction. Personality and Individual Differences. 33 . 1091-1100.
• Ruiz, D., Extremera, N., & Galán, C. (2014). Emotional intelligence, life satisfaction and subjective happiness in female student health professionals: The mediating effect of perceived stress. Journal of psychiatric and mental health nursing .
• Salovey, P. & Mayer, J. D. (1990). Emotional Intelligence. Imagination, Cognition and Personality, 9 (3), 185–211.
• Schawbel, D. (2011). Daniel Goleman on Leadership and The Power of Emotional Intelligence. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/danschawbel/2011/09/15/daniel-goleman-on-leadership-and-the-power-of-emotional-intelligence/#5ffd1af96d2f
• Schneider, T. R., Lyons, J. B., & Khazon, S. (2013). Emotional Intelligence and Resilience. The Journal of Personality and Individual Differences, 55 (8), 909-914.
• Schutte, N. S., Malouff, J. M., Bobik, C., Coston, T. D., Greeson, C. S., Jedlicka, C., Rhodes, E., & Wendorf, G. (2001). Emotional intelligence and interpersonal relations. The Journal of social psychology, 141 4, 523-36.
• Snarey, J. R., & Vaillant, G. E. (1985). How Lower and Working Class Youth Become Middleclass Adults: The Association Between Ego Defense Mechanisms and Upward Social Mobility. Child Development, 56 (4), 899-910.
• Strickland, D.S . (2000). Emotional intelligence: the most potent factor in the success equation. The Journal of nursing administration, 30 3, 112-7.
• Tehrani, M. (2011) Study of the Relationship Between Emotional Intelligence (EI) and Management Decision Making Styles. World Applied Sciences Journal 12 (7): 1017-1025.
• Wechsler, D. (1943). Non-Intellective Factors in General Intelligence. The Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 38 . 101-103.

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This is great because it is a skill that can be developed over time and the results is towards success and more meaningful personal awareness of oneself life in general and the life of an entrepreneur especially

Now i know that helping others develop their own EI is part of my own EI growth as well. i plan to put this into action more intentionally to increase overall productivity.

I think it’s important to remember that emotional intelligence is a skill that can be developed and improved over time. By practicing mindfulness, improving communication skills, and working on self-awareness, individuals can become more emotionally intelligent and ultimately, more successful in all aspects of their lives. Thank You!

The article is powerful, it offers 360 degree of EQ with practical examples.

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Home — Essay Samples — Psychology — Emotional Intelligence — Emotional Intelligence Is More Important than Cognitive Intelligence

Emotional Intelligence is More Important than Cognitive Intelligence

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Emotional Intelligence and Its Impact on Success Essay

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Personal Understanding of Emotional Intelligence

Five aspects of emotional intelligence, personal evaluation within five aspects of emotional intelligence, the impact of emotional intelligence on success, reference list.

Watching the video Emotional Intelligence, with Daniel Goleman , it is possible to make a personal opinion about emotional intelligence, however, Daniel Goleman does not firmly state what it is. As for me, I would define emotional intelligence as the ability to react to the situation in a proper way, to find the appropriate way out of a situation, and to make a decision successful for you and surrounding people. Emotional intelligence may be explained as an impulse to do something by the situation. Additionally, emotional intelligence cannot be measured as well as it cannot be fixed at any point.

Daniel Goleman points out five aspects of emotional intelligence, self-awareness, emotion management, motivation, empathy, and social skills. Self-awareness is explained as the ability “to feel somewhat from the moment, to moment, to moment” (Emotional Intelligence, with Daniel Goleman n.p.). In other words, self-awareness, as the component of emotional intelligence, can be considered as the feeling, an intuition that helps make appropriate decisions.

Dwelling upon emotion management, Daniel Goleman says that it is an ability to control impulse, to get angry “with the right person, for the right degree, with the right purpose, and in the right way” (Emotional Intelligence, with Daniel Goleman n.p.). To be emotionally intelligent, people should be able to manage their emotions, to control them, to be able to restrain some feelings, and disclose others.

Motivation is the ability to use emotions for motivating oneself. Motivation is related to optimism as only such people can be properly motivated. Empathy is the ability to feel the same emotions as another person and to be able to respond to those.

Social skills mean the art of relationships. This part of emotional intelligence is really powerful, as it makes things different. Having great abilities in communication, you can complete many tasks, you can make people respond to you. As I see this, communication and the ability to go along with people is a guarantee of good relationships, while good relationships is a guarantee of success.

I have good skills in self-awareness, as I always follow my intuition. Frankly speaking, I never appear in situations similar to those in the video, when a person predicted that something bad was going to happen, but did not follow emotions. I trust my feelings and that’s why I find myself in an advantageous position. I always succeed, and if I have bad anticipation I do not participate in the affair.

I am not good at emotion management, I cannot restrict myself when I feel that I have to. This is the problem that I should overcome. Sometimes, I react inappropriately to things, words, or events, knowing that nothing positive is going to happen. This is what I mean, when people are discussing something and my opinion is crucial, I always express it, even though I know that if I remain silent, I will get much more in the future. This is one of my greatest disadvantages, the inability to control my emotions. But I try to correct this disadvantage using counting to 10 before reacting to something that may compromise me.

I am an optimistic person, and I do not know how people can live another way. No matter what happens, I always know that it is for good even if it seems that there is nothing worse in the world. It is important to get the best out of the situation and to be motivated for a better outcome. This is right about me. Frankly speaking, I am very empathetic, so consider it my disadvantage rather than an advantage. I do not want to reject the fact that people should be caring, but when such care is the prejudice of personal interests, it is not that great. I suppose I should pay more attention to my benefit, however, it seems too difficult for me. I cannot be egoistic, but there are situations when it seems to me that I have to.

I am good at communicating with people. No matter where I am and how many strange people surround me, I always can offer appropriate problems for discussion. I can get along with people and this feature characterizes me as a person who can achieve success.

Emotional intelligence impacts human success even greater than IQ. According to Daniel Goleman, only 10% to 20% make up human success, while the impact of emotional intelligence is about 80%-90%. Human success lies not only in their knowledge but also in their ability to listen to personal feelings, to handle emotions, to react appropriately to situations, to get motivated, to be able to sympathize, and to communicate with people.

Emotional intelligence is a close connection between the human brain and feelings, their brain, and their actions. The ability to organize five components of emotional intelligence properly is a guarantee of your success. Having understood the problems I have, I can try to cope with them and become a successful person.

Emotional Intelligence, with Daniel Goleman. (1999). Digital educational video . Web.

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IvyPanda. (2021, January 31). Emotional Intelligence and Its Impact on Success. https://ivypanda.com/essays/emotional-intelligence-and-its-impact-on-success/

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Bibliography

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Social Intelligence vs. Emotional Intelligence and how making the distinction can help you lead

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Intelligence

According to Psychology Today , intelligence is “…a construct that includes problem solving abilities, spatial manipulation and language acquisition.” The American Psychological Association describes the definition of intelligence as all about how well our intellect functions, and what we often measure using IQ tests, aimed at measuring our intelligence quotients. Intelligence measured by IQ tests isn’t the be all and end all. Regardless of the number of languages that you learn to speak, the amount of information you memorize, and even how well you can complete math problems, intelligence inevitably is a more complex measure. Unfortunately , “IQ and technical skills will only get you so far.”

Two types of intelligences that are unmeasurable in IQ tests are pivotal for success in leadership levels in business, and even in innovation, as evidenced in the category for a recent Fast Company article about why venture capitalists look at one of these types of intelligence: innovation agents. These two kinds of intelligence are Emotional Intelligence (EQ) and Social Intelligence (SQ) .

Social Intelligence

Psychology Today states that social intelligence “…develops from experience with people and learning from success and failures in social settings. It is more commonly referred to as “tact,” “common sense,” or “street smarts.”

The magazine describes critical traits for people with high SQ:

• They can carry on conversations with a wide array of people and verbally communicate with appropriate and tactful words, also known as “social expressiveness skills.”
• They’re a dept at learning how to play different social roles , and well-versed at the informal rules of the game that are the creed of social interaction.
• They’re known to be excellent listeners .
• They know how to efficiently analyze what makes people tick by paying attention to what they’re saying and how they’re behaving.
• Not only do they know how to learn to play different social roles; they put those skills into practice to feel at ease with many different types of personalities.
• They take care of the impression of themselves they exude on other people . This is the hardest skillset because it requires “…a delicate balance between managing and controlling the image you portray to others and being reasonably “authentic” and letting others see the true self .” 

Emotional Intelligence

In contrast to SQ, Psychology Today describes emotional intelligence as “ … the ability to identify and manage your own emotions and the emotions of others.” Emotional intelligence contains three competencies:

• Emotional awareness
• Applying emotions to processes such as problem-solving and thinking
• Emotion management implied as both being able to help control other peoples’ feelings as well as your own.

While the following video explaining the EQ concept has more concepts than what was in the Psychology Today article, it successfully breaks down this idea that will help you capitalize human ingenuity:

Emotional intelligence, in fact, is now entering the evaluation criteria for venture capitalists. Fast Company recently interviewed eight VCs about five questions they ask startup founders as they look to award funding. They are:

• How often do they consult with others?
• How do they inspire and encourage people?
• How do they handle tough questions?
• Can they stay flexible without losing focus?
• What type of team have they assembled?

The goal from asking these questions related to emotional intelligence is to see how potential founders handle emotions in constantly-changing, fast-paced environments that feel like pressure cookers. Thus, VCs will be more willing to invest in those capable of developing and maintaining long-term relationships.

Keeping these skills in mind will help you in your quest of adapting your team, and even your overall organization, to the pressure-cooker VUCA world .

Together, they are ESI

When EQ and IQ come together, they form ESI, or Emotional and Social Intelligence. ESI competencies are those “…linked to self-awareness, self-management and relationship management, which enable people to understand and manage their own and others’ emotions in social interactions.” What does this combination mean for me? Think about how we said that technical skills and IQ are not enough to differentiate who will be the best leader, while some may wish that was the case. ESI competencies , rather than IQ and technical ones, are responsible for the gap between the performance of those leaders that are great from those just deemed average . Fortunately, while IQ often gets set in stone early on in life, ESI competencies can be learned and improved over time.

So, how are they different?

Both skillsets are critical for embracing innovation. But, when do we use emotional intelligence and when do we use social intelligence? Will Chou breaks it down like this:

Social intelligence , Chou says, is more about the future . Social intelligence came about so that people could survive, and it’s about figuring out the best way for you to get along, and come out of a situation with a favorable outcome . Even if you have the qualifications on paper, a lack of social intelligence could lead to strained or ruined relationships, as well as lost opportunities. As much as you would maybe like to be blunt with someone when giving feedback, you may try to edit your words to try to convey constructive criticism without putting your foot in your mouth.

In contrast, emotional intelligence is more about the present , and thus more closely related to emotions and feelings. By reading someone’s face, you can tell whether that person is happy, incredibly nervous before going into a job interview, or shy because that person happens to be in his or her own corner in the middle of a party.

How does this apply to Innovation for Growth?

EQ and SQ, combined with your IQ, will be key to harnessing the concepts and frameworks in the Innovation for Growth program to tap your most strategic asset: human ingenuity. You’ll be able to get the most out of your team if you know how to build relationships with them and bring them into your overall strategic goals.

Ready to up your SQ and EQ?

If you’re eager to know more about the Innovation for Growth HiOP, click here for your copy of our informational brochure. And if you’re set on joining us in our next intake, get started on your application .

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What Is Emotional Intelligence and Why Does It Matter?

Learn to embrace your emotions and communicate effectively despite them..

Posted May 31, 2024 | Reviewed by Tyler Woods

• When stuck in a strong emotion, we are more likely to do and say things we regret.
• Learning how to manage strong emotions is a key tenet of emotional intelligence.
• Emotional intelligence involves awareness of emotions, emotion regulation, and effective communication.
• Emotional intelligence is teachable and is correlated with stronger and more satisfying social support.

When was the last time you felt consumed by an overwhelming emotion and lost your ability to think, listen, engage with others, or problem-solve? Maybe you were engulfed in anger , your body charged up with adrenaline, your muscles tensed and ready for action? In clinical psychology terms, we call this state of overwhelm emotion dysregulation (Linehan, Bohus, & Lynch, 2007).

Emotion dysregulation is a natural reaction that occurs when you are flooded by strong emotions that dictate your actions. In the midst of emotion dysregulation, your emotions can cloud your ability to think clearly, address the triggering situation effectively, and determine how best to manage your emotions. When we are stuck in emotion dysregulation or blindsided by it, we’re more likely to do and say things we regret, resulting in more emotional suffering later. This subsequent suffering often comes in the form of embarrassment , disappointment, sadness, or shame . Moreover, we are especially prone to emotion dysregulation during challenging conversations with the people we care about deeply or when the topic is something important to us.

The Challenge: Emotion Dysregulation

So, what happens in the body when we’re emotionally dysregulated? Your body is equipped with a natural reaction to intense emotions and stressors called fight, flight, or freeze. When faced with high levels of emotional distress, your nervous system turns on this fight-flight-or-freeze mode, attempting to protect you from the stressor. Stressful interactions, such as an argument with your partner, feeling unappreciated by your boss, or a snide comment from a friend, can quickly activate our nervous system to help us react to and address the stressor. A rapid-fire nervous system can be quite helpful when you are faced with a true threat to your safety, such as encountering a bear while on a hike. However, sometimes our nervous system activates too frequently, misinterprets a stressor as threatening when it isn’t, or overreacts to small threats or challenges. In these circumstances, nervous system activation can become a barrier to effective communication.

In fight mode, your body will prepare to defend you, verbally or physically. This could look like lashing out at others, firing off a harsh email to a colleague who’s annoyed you, dismissing someone’s concerns, or getting defensive.

In flight mode, your body sends signals to quickly remove yourself from the stressful situation. Examples of this include abruptly leaving the room, ending the conversation, or canceling something you’d planned to attend at the last minute.

In freeze mode, you might feel frozen and immobilized and unsure of what to say. Freeze mode occurs when your body’s signals send messages of system overload. Freezing can look like shutting down, taking in minimal, if any, information during an interaction, or difficulty finding the words to respond.

Fight-flight-or-freeze reactions are automatic and natural; as much as we may wish we could control when they are triggered, we cannot. Similarly to responding to our emotions, we can’t turn this mechanism off, but we can learn how to respond to nervous system activation effectively with repeated practice.

As much as we may wish we didn’t have to feel certain emotions, they have many benefits. Emotions can provide vital messages about our values, needs, and interests. In fact, sometimes our emotion messages are crucial. Anger is a great example. Anger can bring our attention to an injustice, a boundary violation, or threats to our safety, amongst other things. If we don’t spend time experiencing anger when we feel it and exploring its message (without being reactive and emotionally dysregulated), we can easily miss that message.

When an emotion message isn’t seen or heard, we experience more and more challenging emotions. If we don’t notice or listen to the message, our emotions will get louder and louder until we do. Returning to anger again, there may be a variety of messages. Is the message to assert ourselves? To change jobs because our boss is a micromanager and we’re losing confidence in our abilities? Does our anger tell us to advocate for others? The messages we can decode from our emotions can help us clarify our values and point us in the direction of honoring them.

The Solution: Emotional Intelligence

As you surely know, emotion dysregulation is an intense, overwhelming experience. When it occurs during interactions with others, it can derail an important conversation, result in ruptures in relationships, set the stage for misunderstandings, and lead to saying and doing things we regret, causing more suffering in the future.

This might be surprising to read, but having strong emotions is actually not the problem. Our agency lies in how we choose to respond to our emotions. Thankfully, there is a pause button we can all access, with repeated practice. Once you’re aware of your fight-flight-or-freeze reactions, you can learn how to respond to them effectively. The key is emotional intelligence .

So, what exactly is emotional intelligence (EI)? And how do you improve in it? Emotional intelligence is a combination of the following skills:

• Awareness of our emotions and acceptance of them
• The ability to manage them when they are strong or overwhelming
• The ability to communicate effectively verbally and non-verbally despite the presence of strong or overwhelming emotions.

Put simply, EI involves managing emotional discomfort while communicating skillfully and adjusting your communication approach to suit the context. If this sounds complicated, rest assured, EI is teachable. Not only can you improve your skills in a short period of time, you can also measure EI to track your progress over time (Mattingly and Kraiger 2019).

Emotional Intelligence and Well-Being

Emotional intelligence has a host of benefits. Research shows that it serves as a buffer against developing mental and physical health issues (Mao, Huang, and Chen, 2021). In a large meta-analysis (with a sample of 7,898), researchers found that higher EI was associated with better mental health and better physical health (Schutte et al., 2007). People with higher emotional intelligence tend to have more positive mood, higher self-esteem , and can more effectively recover from negative experiences (Schutte et al., 2002); higher EI is related to greater resilience in the face of distress. Lastly, people with higher emotional intelligence have more social support and are more satisfied with the social support they have (Ciarocchi, Chan, Bajgar, 2001).

What can we take away from this information? Emotional intelligence supports resilience-building and is a protective shield against developing mental and physical health issues. Additionally, emotional intelligence can assist in having a stronger social support network. For a social species that is heavily reliant on collaboration , communication, and connection, emotional intelligence is a foundational skill set we can all learn and benefit from.

Ciarocchi, J., A. Y. C. Chan, and J. Bajgar. 2001. “Measuring Emotional Intelligence in Adolescents.” Personality and Individual Differences 31(7): 1105–1119.

Linehan, M., Bohus, M., & Lynch, T. (2007). Dialectical Behavior Therapy for Pervasive Emotion Dysregulation. In Gross, J. & Thompson, R.A. (Eds.), Handbook of Emotion Regulation (p. 581-605). Guilford Press: New York, NY.

Mao, L., L. Huang, and Q. Chen. 2021. “Promoting Resilience and Lower Stress in Nurses and Improving Inpatient Experience Through Emotional Intelligence Training in China: A Randomized Controlled Trial.” Nurse Education Today 107: 105–130.

Mattingly, V., and K. Kraiger. 2019. “Can Emotional Intelligence Be Trained? A Meta-Analytical Investigation.” Human Resource Management Review 29(2): 140–155.

Schutte, N., Malouff, J., Simunek, M., McKenley, J., & Hollander, S. 2002. Characteristic Emotional Intelligence and Emotional Well-being. Cognition & Emotion 16(6): 769-785.

Schutte, N. S., J. M. Malouff, E. B. Thorsteinsson, N. Bhullar, and S. E. Rooke. 2007. “A Meta-Analytic Investigation of the Relationship Between Emotional Intelligence and Health.” Personality and Individual Differences 42(6): 921–933

Stephanie Catella, PsyD, is a co-author of The Emotional Intelligence Skills Workbook.

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At any moment, someone’s aggravating behavior or our own bad luck can set us off on an emotional spiral that could derail our entire day. Here’s how we can face triggers with less reactivity and get on with our lives.

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The Influence of Intellectual Intelligence, Emotional Intelligence, and Spiritual Intelligence on Student Understanding Level

27 Pages Posted: 21 Jul 2020

Vanesha Priskillaa

State university of jakarta - faculty of economics.

Date Written: June 29, 2020

This study aims to determine whether the effects of the Intellectual Intelligence, Emotional Intelligence, and Spiritual Intelligence on the Level of Understanding of Students. The research was carried out for three months, starting in March to May 2020. The research method was used survey method with approach of causality. The population in this study were students totaling 201 respondents. Data collection techniques using literature techniques and questionnaires. Data were Analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics 24 for. PLS (Partial Least Square) with structural equation analysis (SEM). Results Showed that each variable has the same effect. The above description shows that there is a significant jointly and significant correlation between Intellectual Intelligence, Emotional Intelligence, Spiritual Intelligence, and Behavior Study

Keywords: Intellectual Intelligence, Emotional Intelligence, Spiritual Intelligence, Level of Understanding

Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation

Vanesha Priskillaa (Contact Author)

Jalan Rawamangun Muka no 1 Jakarta Timur, ID jakarta 13220 Indonesia

HOME PAGE: http://www.fe.unj.ac.id

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12 traits emotionally intelligent people share (And why you can learn them) Sure, IQ is important, but is as impactful as emotional intelligence? Renowned psychologist and author Daniel Goleman explains. ▸ 12 min — with Daniel Goleman

The concept of emotional intelligence (EQ) can be traced back to ancient philosophies, but it was Goleman’s bestseller ‘Emotional Intelligence’ that popularized the term in 1995. According to Goleman, while IQ and smarts can get you good grades and jumpstart your career, it’s EQ (what the psychologist often refers to as EI) that sets apart the top performers and leaders in their careers.

Unlike IQ, which remains relatively static throughout life, emotional intelligence can be developed and refined at any age. Goleman emphasizes that enhancing our EQ can make our communities more compassionate, improve how we parent, and help us take better care of the environment.

This knowledge – especially the fact that EQ can be enhanced over time – gives us a powerful tool for personal growth. Understanding and improving our emotional intelligence can directly lead us to better relationships, and can shape our lives with more fulfillment and, eventually, success.

DANIEL GOLEMAN: You know, in the future, I think emotional intelligence will be one of several abilities that we need. Another, of course, is cognitive ability, IQ, and maybe AI will take over more and more of that. However, emotional intelligence is a human ability and will always remain so. IQ predicts how well you’ll do in your school years and how much salary you can make over the course of a career because it says what job you can get into, like being a business executive or a doctor or a lawyer. But once you’re in those professions, everybody else is about as smart as you are. That’s where emotional intelligence kicks in. People who emerge as outstanding performers or the best leaders have high emotional intelligence, and their IQ is not that relevant at that point.

I’m Daniel Goleman. I’ve written many books, mostly on emotional intelligence. That’s really my favorite topic.

The book Emotional Intelligence, many years ago, was an international bestseller. I’ve written now five books on the topic. My most recent is Optimal: How to Sustain Personal and Organizational Excellence Every Day. Emotional intelligence is a set of personal skills that we learn in life. It’s a combination of self-awareness, managing your emotions well, empathy, tuning into other people, and putting that all together to have harmonious or effective relationships.

Emotional intelligence has been talked about for centuries. Philosophers were talking about know thyself. That’s self-awareness. But when I wrote the Emotional Intelligence book in ‘ninety-five, it was the first time that, for a popular audience, emotional intelligence had become well known. I was a science journalist at The New York Times back then, and I’d been covering a decade of research on the brain and emotion. And in doing so, I came across a very obscure article called Emotional Intelligence, and I loved the title. It was by Peter Salovey, who was just stepping down as the president of Yale University, and his then graduate student, John Mayer. And I thought, Wow, what a great phrase. It seems like an oxymoron. You don’t put emotions together with intelligence. But actually, it’s being intelligent about emotions.

When I wrote Emotional Intelligence, I was actually thinking of bringing it to schools. It seemed to me that kids should learn from the get-go how to manage themselves, how to tune into themselves, how to tune into other people, how to get along, how to behave well, and so on. I was a big advocate of what’s now called social-emotional learning. And from early on, my view of emotional intelligence hasn’t really changed much, but I integrated it with findings from research on outstanding performers. And I saw that different abilities of high performers, like being able to manage your emotions, fit well in the model. And now I talk about four domains of emotional intelligence and then twelve particular competencies of people who are high in emotional intelligence.

Self-awareness means you know what you’re feeling, you know how it shapes your perceptions and your thoughts and your impulse to act. We find in our research that people low in self-awareness are unable to develop strengths very well in other parts of emotional intelligence. People who are high in self-awareness, however, are able to develop excellence across the board.

Self-management means when you’re upset, when you’re angry, when you’re anxious, can you manage your emotions? Can you keep them from disrupting your focus on what you have to do right now? We’re having more instances of road rage, of shootings, of people blowing up at other people. There’s a growing need for people in general to get better at this ability.

The third part is social awareness, which, in one sense, means practicing empathy. You not only know how the person thinks and how they feel, you care about them. This is what you want in your parents. This is what you want in your spouse. This is what you want in your lover. This is what you want in your friends. And this is what you want in your teachers, doctors, leaders of any kind, people who have influence.

The fourth part of emotional intelligence is relationship management. Can you handle conflicts well? Can you keep yourself calm and listen to the other person? Are you being an effective communicator? Full rapport means that you feel close, you feel you can work with this person, you can trust them.

Unlike IQ, which barely budges over the course of our life, emotional intelligence can change. It’s learned and learnable. And it’s learned and learnable at any point in life. Emotional intelligence is not one thing. It’s like going to a doctor for a physical. You get your lipids and your good cholesterol, bad cholesterol. You get fifteen data points. Emotional intelligence is a set of abilities, and each of us has strengths and limitations across that spectrum. So if you want to improve your emotional intelligence, see where you need to improve first.

One of the common colds of emotional intelligence is poor listening. You know, we think about what we want to say and we don’t really listen to the other person. We cut them off. We interrupt. Let’s say you wanted to change that. This is a basic of empathy, listening well. So if you want to learn to be better at empathy, you might say, "My habit is cutting people off and interrupting. I’m going to make the effort to do it differently. I’m going to listen to the person out, say what I think they mean, and then say what I think." That is a different behavioral sequence.

And it comes down to the basics of what we call neuroplasticity, how the brain changes with repeated experience, and that’s what underlies habit change. It’s a little like crossing your arms in a new way. Cross your arms in the old way, please. Now cross them with the other arm on top. That feels uncomfortable. That’s what it’s like to change a habit. So with listening, you have to, at first, make an intentional effort. It might feel uncomfortable. But as you persist, it gets more and more comfortable until finally, it’s an automatic habit that will stay with you for years.

You know, I’ve gone around the world talking to different audiences, and one of the things I love to ask is, tell me about a leader you’ve loved and a leader you hate, and tell me one quality that makes a leader so good or so bad. Basically, the leader you hate is low in emotional intelligence. They don’t manage their emotions very well. They blow up at people, don’t empathize, they don’t tune in, they don’t understand how clueless they are. The leader you love is high in it. Having a boss with high emotional intelligence means you feel not only inspired, not only motivated, you feel supported, you feel guided, you feel you have clarity about what’s expected from you. You give your best in your best state, in the optimal state, not in a desperate, stressed-out state.

Research at the Yale School of Management has found that emotions are contagious, and they’re most contagious from the leader outward. The leader is most often the center of strong emotions, either negative or positive. And this very research by Sigal Barsade has shown that if the leader is in a negative mood, very anxious, for example, people on that team will catch that mood and performance goes down. If the leader is in a very positive mood, I feel really good, I feel enthusiastic, then people catch that positive mood, and their performance as a team or as a group goes up.

So the leader's state is actually much more important on the ability of people to do good work than many people realize, particularly many leaders, actually. But if you have a leader that you hate, for example, and sadly, too many people do, then you really don’t give your best. In fact, you’re more likely to leave as soon as you can, particularly if you’re talented. So a leader with low emotional intelligence is actually draining the organization in the long term. They may get results for the quarter by driving people, by stressing them out, but they’re burning them out and they’re going to lose good people. So in the short term, they may look good. In the long term, it’s a disaster.

I once took a bus up Madison Avenue in New York City on a very hot, humid day. People had a kind of bubble around them, like, don’t touch me, don’t talk to me, and I had the bubble too. I got on the bus, and the bus driver shocked me. He looked at me and very warmly said, "Welcome to the bus. How’s your day going?" And then I realized sitting on the bus that he was carrying on a conversation with everyone on the bus.

"You’re looking for suits, are you? Well, there’s a great sale up here on the right at this department store."

"Did you see the exhibit in the museum on the left?"

On and on and on. Then people would get off that bus, and they’d been transformed from kind of grumpy to pretty upbeat. It was kind of magical. And years later, I saw an article in the New York Times about that bus driver. His name, it turned out, was Govan Brown. He had fans. People would wait for his bus. He got three thousand letters saying what a great bus driver he was, not one complaint. And he, it turned out, was the pastor of a church, and he saw the people on his bus as part of his flock. He was tending to his flock. He had a purpose that was far greater than that of the New York Transit Authority, which is something like getting as many people to where they want to go on time as we can. He had a splendid sense of what he was doing. It gave a greater meaning to what he did, and he did it superbly.

I’ve always felt that the more emotional intelligence in society, the better. I think we would have parents who are more effective in raising kids, who are kinder. We’d have more compassion for each other in our interactions with friends and loved ones as well as with strangers. I think we would care more about the environment, which is why I’ve been happy to be a kind of evangelist for emotional intelligence, if you will. I’m not the originator of the phrase. I think I made it more famous.

I just think it would make a better world.

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Empathy And Emotional Intelligence

• Category: Psychology , Life
• Topic: Emotional Intelligence , Empathy

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