Salovey, P., & Mayer, J. D. (1990). Emotional intelligence. Imagination, cognition and personality, 9(3), 185-211.
Summary
This article starts off with the interesting observation that many times, in Western thought, emotions are viewed as disruptive and represent a loss of control. In this view, emotions are viewed negatively. Another view treats emotions as regulatory processes that seek to direct cognition to important stimuli. This is a much more positive view of emotions (and I’d guess healthier as well). Interpreting emotion as signal (instead of response) seems more prevalent in wellness literature.
Social intelligence deals with one’s ability to understand and interact with other people. Though defined as a subset of social intelligence, emotional intelligence seems to surpass social intelligence in breadth, as it deals with not just other people’s feelings and emotions, but one’s own emotions as well. They define emotional intelligence as “the ability to monitor one’s own and others’ feelings and emotions, to discriminate among them and to use this information to guide one’s thinking and actions.” Simple emotional fluency does not constitute emotional intelligence, as the added skill of using emotional knowledge to guide one’s behavior is also necessary. In later years, the model is revised into a four-branch model that includes 1) “managing emotions so as to attain specific goals”, 2) “understanding emotions, emotional language, and the signals conveyed by emotions”. 3) “using emotions to facilitate thinking”, and 4) “perceiving emotions accurately in oneself and others” (see Mayer, Salovey, & Caruso, 2008).
Emotions can be communicated both verbally and nonverbally. Empathy research shows that the ability to assess one’s own feelings is highly related to being able to assess the feelings of other people. Empathy, the ability to understand and experience another person’s feelings, results in individuals being perceived as “genuine and warm.”
Application
Emotional intelligence is a skill that can be improved. Higher emotional intelligence will enable individuals to have more pleasant social interactions. High levels of emotional intelligence can assist with flexible planning, creative thinking, and motivation.
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