Feeling Smart: the Science of Emotional Intelligence
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Feeling Smart: The Science of Emotional Intelligence A new idea in psychologi/ has matured and shows promise of explaining how attending to emotions can help us in everyday life Daisy Grewal and Peter Salovey ver the past decade almost every- mental abilities, and that doing so is an ting the stage for a new way of thinking Oone tuned in to American popular informative exercise that can help in- about emotions and thought, psycholo- culture has heard the term emotional in- dividuals understand the role of emo- gists articulated broader definitions of k'ltigena'. As a new concept, emotional tions in their everyday lives. intelligence and also new perspectives intelligence has been a hit: It has been Ten years after the appearance of on the relation between feeling and the subject of several books, including that bestselling book and a TIME thinking. As early as the 1930s, psy- a best seller, and myriad talk-show dis- magazine cover that asked "What's chometrician Robert Thorndike men- cussions and seminars for schools and your EQ?" it seems sensible to ask tioned the possibility that people might organizations. Today you can hire a what is known, scientifically, about have a "sodal intelligence"—an ability coach to help you raise your "EQ," your emotional intelligence. In the history to perceive their own and others' in- emotional quotient—or your child's. of modern psychology, the concept ternal states, motivations and behav- Despite (or perhaps because of) its represents a stage in the evolution of iors, and act accordingly. In 1934 David high public profile, emotional intelli- our thinking about the relation be- Wechsler, the psychologist whose name gence has attracted considerable scien- tween passion and reason and repre- today attaches to two well-known in- tific criticism. Some of the controversy sents an important outgrowth of new telligence tests, wrote about the "non- arises from the fact that popular and theories of intelligence. Work in this intellective" aspects of a person that scientific definitions of emotional in- subfield has produced a four-factor contribute to overall intelligence. Thom- telligence differ sharply. In addition, model of emotional intelligence that dike's and Wechsler's statements were, measuring emotional intelligence has serves as a guide for empirical re- however, speculations. Even though not been easy. Despite these difficul- search. In this article we will explain social intelligence seemed a definite ties, research on emotional intelligence ways of assessing emotional intel- possibility, Thorndike admitted that has managed to sustain itself and in ligence using ability-based tests and there existed little scientific evidence of fact shows considerable promise as some of tbe findings that have re- its presence. A similar conclusion was a serious iine of scientific inquiry. It sulted from this method. reached by psychometric expert Lee turns out that emotional intelligence Cronbach, who in 1960 declared that, can indeed be measured, as a set of after half a century of speculatitm, so- Before "Emotional Intelligence" cial intelligence remained "undefined Philosophers have debated the relation and unmeasured." between thought and emotions for at Daisif Grewal is a doctoral student in the social least two millennia. The Stoics of an- But the 1980s brought a surge of new psi/cholo^ [irogram at Yale University. She re- cient Greece and Rome believed emo- interest in expanding the definition of ceiivd her B.A. in psychology from the University tion far too heated and tinpredictable intelligence. In 1983 Howard Gardner of California, Los Angeles iu 2002 and her M.S. in to be of much use to rational thought. of Harvard University became famous psychology from Yale in 2004. Her research focuses on gender stereotyfvs and prejudice, particularly in Emotion was also strongly associated overnight when, in the book Frames of organizational contexts. Peter Salovey, who earned with women, in their view, and there- Mimi, he outlined seven distinct forms his Ph.D. from Yale in 1986, is Dean of Yale College fore representative of the weak, inferi- of intelligence. Gardner proposed an and Chris Arj^fris Professor qf Psychology at Yale, or aspects of humanity. The stereotype "intrapersonal intelligence" very simi- where he directs the Health, Emotion, and Behavior of women as the more "emotional" lar to the current conceptualization of Lalwntori/ and holds additional professorships in sex is one that persists today. Even emotional intelligence. "The core capac- management, epideniiologif and public health, and though various romantic movements ity at work here," he wrote, "is access to social and polici/ studies. His research emphases are embraced emotion over the centuries, one's own feeling life—one's range of the psychological significance and function of nnxni the Stoic view of emotions as more or affects or emotions: the capacity instant- and emotion, and the application of principles from social and jvrsonality psycholiygi/ to promotiiiff less irrational persisted in one form or ly to effect discriminations among these healthy behavior. Address for Salovey: Yale Univer- another well into the 20th century. feelings and, eventually, to label them, sity,Dqxirtment of Psychology, 2 Hillhouse Ave- But many notions were upended to enmesh them in symbolic codes, to nue, Nm> Hmm, CT 06520-8205. Internet for both: during the rapid development of mod- draw upon them as a means of under- daisy.gre-u'[email protected]>[email protected] ern psychology in the 20th century. Set- standing and guiding one's behavior." 330 American Scientist, Volume 93 TIA4l/.UU THE INSIDE STORY I WHAT'S YOUR Its iK)t your IQ. Its nol even a nunilx^r. But fniotioiuil intelligent > 11 iiiy lie tlie lu'.st pn-cJictor of SUCX.VSS in life, Rxlt-finingwliat it means to he .smart. emohonfll intellioence game Figure 1. Society lus embraced Ihe concept of emotional intelligence since it was introduced in the 1990s. Parents can learn about enhancing their children's "EQ"—the emotional counterpart to IQ—and businesses sometimes hire EQ coaches. The authore report that research has validated tests of emotional intelligence and defined it as a set of skills useful in guiding thinking and social interactions. The TIME cover that popularized EQ was published in 1995; other images are examples of products currently available on the Internet. (Product images courtesy of, clockwise from top right: Creative Therapy Associates, Inc.; Triangol Strategy SL; Six Seconds Emotional Intelligence Network; and Susan Dunn.) Is "emotional intelligence," then, but we prefer to explicitly focus on the Emotional intelligence is a more fo- simply a new name for social intel- processing of emotions and knowledge cused concept. Dealing with emotions ligence and other already-defined "in- about emotion-related information and certainly has important implications for telligences"? We hope to clear up this suggest that this constitutes its own form social relationships, but emotions also thorny question by explaining just what of intelligence. Social intelligence is very contribute to other aspects of life. Each we attempt to measure when assessing broadly defined, and partly for this rea- of us has a need to set priorities, orient emotional intelligence. Certainly it can son the pertinent skills involved have positively toward future endeavors and be seen as a tjqie of social intelligence. remained elusive to scientists. repair negative moods before they spiral www.americanscientist.org 2005 July-August 331 into anxiety and depression. The concept In the early 1990s Damasio had peo- of emotional intelligence isolates a spe- ple participate in a gambling task in cific set of skills embedded within the which the goal is to maximize profit abilities that are broadly encompassed on a loan of play money. Participants by the notion of social intelligence. were instructed to select 100 cards, one at a time, from four different decks. Emotion and Thinking The experimenter arranged the cards New understandings of the relation such that two of the decks provided between thought and emotion have larger payoffs ($100 compared to only strengthened the scientific foundation S50) but also doled out larger penalties of the shady of emotional intelligence. at unpredictable intervals. Players who Using a simple decision-ma king task, chose from the higher-reward, higher- neurologist Antonio R. Damasio and risk decks lost a net of $250 every 10 cards; those choosing the $50 decks Figure 2. Emotion was considered irratio- his colleagues at the University of Iowa nal by the Stoics, a view that has persisted have provided con\ incing evidence gained a net of $250 every 10 cards. into modern times and is epitomized by the that emotion and reason are essentially One group of participants in this character of Spock, played by Leonard Ni- inseparable. When making decisions, study had been identified as having moy on the Star Trek television series. Spock people often focus on the logical pros lesions to the ventromedial prefrontal hailed from the planet Vulcan, where pure and cons of the choices they face. How- cortex of the brain. Patients with this logic is exalted, making him the consummate ever, Damasio has shown that without type of brain damage have normal in- Starfleet science officer; yet his Vulcan father feelings, the decisions we make may tellectual function but are unable to had married a human schoolteacher, giving not be in our best interest. Spock a vulnerable emotional side. use emotion in making decisions. The other group was normal, meaning that their brains were fully intact. Because there was no way for any of the play- ers to calculate precisely which decks were riskier, they had to rely on their "gut" feelings to avoid losing money. Damasio's group demonstrated that the brain-lesion patients failed to pay attention to these feelings (which he deems "somatic markers") and subse- quently lost significantly more money than the normal participants.