2002). Hence, EI mixed models view EI as a combination of perceived emotional skills and personality. According to Goleman, EI matters because of its ability to predict academic, occupational and relationship success better than traditional IQ (Goleman, 1996). However, longitudinal data are needed to confirm any causal relationships between performance and EI (Roberts et al., 2001).
According to Goleman’s theory of intelligence there are five main areas within the concept including:
■ managing emotions, where one engages in reframing anxiety and attempting to dismiss feelings of distress;
■ using emotion for self-motivation, where one becomes proficient in delaying gratification for future success;
■ recognizing emotions in others, where one has the ability to exhibit empathy, which is important for social relationships;
■ managing emotions in others, where one is able to help others with their distress or encourage motivation;
■ emotional self-awareness, where one is able to understand and identify one’s own emotions.
In order to measure this type of EI, researchers use the Emotional and Social
Competence Inventory, or ESCI (2007). However, a major issue with EI self-reports is that they can be potentially inaccurate, unavailable to conscious interpretation, vulnerable to the influence of social desirability, deception and impression management (Roberts et al., 2001). Furthermore, Goleman’s work has been branded as simply pop psychology (Mayer et al., 2008), which has overshadowed his contribution to the area of EI.
The Bar-ON model of emotional-social intelligence (ESI)
A
s one further example of a mixed model, the Bar-ON model of emotional- social intelligence views emotional intelligence as the skill of being able to understand yourself and those around you as well as an ability to interact and connect with others. The Bar-ON is another self-report measurement tool that aims to test individuals’ emotional and social skills. Criticisms of this test include reports of high levels of deception (Grubb and McDaniel, 2007; Day and Carroll, 2008).One big question is whether or not EI is separate from personality traits. Research on personality traits argues that EI self-report measures are too strongly related to several personality traits such as neuroticism, extraversion and agreeableness (Davies et al., 1998). For example, those who are neurotic rather than emotionally stable will have issues trying to identify emotions in themselves and others.
Furthermore, their vocabulary and ability to identify emotions will be stunted.
Extraverts, on the other hand, have excellent communication skills and are able to convey their emotions to others well. Likewise, people who score high on
agreeableness will be proficient in displaying acts of empathy. Thus a problem with EI is that it may not be unique and may be too highly associated with personality to be seen as a separate construct.
Overall, the development of EI, from an ability model perspective, is highly beneficial for an individual’s wellbeing.
Summary
Reflecting on the learning objectives, you should now understand the concept of positive emotions and emotional intelligence. More specifically:
■ Emotions are short lived, in our consciousness and focus on a specific event, whereas moods are unfocused and enduring.
■ We all have an affective style, which refers to our tendency to experience more positive or negative moods.
■ Research has shown that we should be aiming for 3:1 positive to negative emotions if we are to flourish.
■ The experience of positive emotions can help broaden our thoughts and build resources in order to gain resilience.
■ The influence of genetics and personality on emotions.
■ There are two types of models within emotional intelligence research: ability and mixed.
Suggested Resources
http://www.paulekman.com/
To see the application of emotion and facial expression research, check out Paul Ekman’s website.
www.positivityratio.org
As mentioned, this is where you can take the positivity ratio test and monitor your ratio for the next month.
http://psyphz.psych.wisc.edu/web/index.html
This is the link to the Laboratory for Affective Neuroscience, run by groundbreaking researcher Dr Richard Davidson.
http://danielgoleman.info/
This is Daniel Goleman’s official website with links to his books and assessment tools.
www.ebpsych.com
This is a link to one of the leading businesses in emotional intelligence. If you fancy getting your EQ tested via the MSCEIT, contact the providers via this link.
Personal Development Interventions 39
F u r t h e r q u e s t i o n s f o r y o u
1 What type of affective style do you think you have? How do you know this?
2 How important do you think the one negative emotion is in the positive ratio? Why?
3 Do you think you have high emotional intelligence? What if an objective test showed otherwise? What would your reaction be?
4 Are you able to generate emotion when needed and then reason with this emotion?
5 What would you say to someone who rejects the importance of positive emotions?
Personal Development Interventions
T
he exercises presented below focus on identifying and enhancing your positive-to-negative emotion ratio. Both have been found to enhance wellbeing and success across life domains.1 Positive emotions
We now know that positive emotions are important for our ability to thrive and flourish. We would like you to monitor your positive-to-negative ratio (aiming for 3:1) over the next two weeks using Barbara Fredrickson’s free and easy-to-use website, which calculates your positivity ratio for you. It is important that you document your ratios every day as the more data you have the better you will be able to make a judgement on how you are actually feeling across time, rather than just on the day.
Go to www.positivityratio.com to access the test.
2 Emotional intelligence
How would you like to increase your emotional intelligence? The following exercises are aimed to help you expand your EQ through developing each of the four components of the ability model. Try them out over the upcoming week.
Perceiving: The next time you are talking with a friend, make sure you take the time to see if his or her facial expressions match the conversation. If you are happy all the time, don’t assume that others are. Take the time to look and listen.