How Emotional Intelligence Facilitates Coping and Resilience

Literature Review

Introduction

Emotional intelligence is a concept that has been discussed by researchers and scientists for a number of decades. Its benefits and whether it is something that can be taught are often debated. This literature review will examine the most recent research on the subject of emotional intelligence, theory, application, and findings to show what the current understanding of this concept is.

Emotional Intelligence

Emotional intelligence is understood as the ability to understand human emotions and emotional needs by reading the tone, body language, and behaviors of others so as to know how to respond in a positive and supportive manner (Lee & Chelladurai, 2018). Leaders are more and more expected to possess emotional intelligence skills so as to motivate followers and give them assistance in navigating challenges that might prevent them from achieving self-actualization and resilience (Di Fabio & Saklofske, 2018). The study by Lee and Chelladurai (2018) looked at 322 high school coaches in the US and found that when coaches demonstrated deep feeling and genuine expression they had greater job satisfaction and experienced less burnout than those individuals whose feelings were only surface level and not particularly genuine. The study was helpful in showing that emotions should not only be intelligently understood but also that genuine experience and expression of feeling is cathartic and helpful for making leaders feel that they are doing good work. Emotional intelligence can thus be seen in terms of how it affects others but also in terms of how it affects the individual who is engaged in feeling at a deep level. Feelings are not something to be avoided, therefore, but rather something to be used for a positive outcome at both the personal and the relational level, according to Lee and Chelladurai (2018). Their study confirms the findings of Di Fabio and Sakflofske (2018) who looked at 186 Italian students and 189 Italian adult workers and showed that emotional intelligence played a much bigger role in resiliency than did any of the four personality temperaments. The study by Di Fabio and Saklofske (2018) is helpful because it looks at how emotional intelligence stands up with respect to personality type in terms of building character and the ability to withstand difficulties and challenges.

Emotional Intelligence Theory

Emotional intelligence theory posits that emotions can be perceived and understood by another who can then assist in the regulation of the emotions (Fiori & Veseliy-Maillefer, 2018). The theory of emotional intelligence has taken various developments in recent years, with some focusing on whether it is something one is born with as in trait theory or if it is something that one can learn through training (Mattingly & Kraiger, 2019; Petrides & Mavroveli, 2018). Fiori and Veseliy-Maillefer (2018) point out that emotional intelligence was first introduced into the scientific community a quarter of a century ago. Their contribution to the literature is that they conceptualize it as an ability, the ways it can be measured and predicted, and how it can be both consciously and unconsciously utilized. Their article is helpful because it explains the background of emotional intelligence and how the existing literature shows it is processed and incorporated into one’s actions. Yet, it is not the only theory, and others examine that it is more of a trait than an ability that can learned Mattingly & Kraiger, 2019; Petrides & Mavroveli, 2018).

Current Findings on Emotional Intelligence

Current findings on emotional intelligence indicate that it can be used to predict academic performance, improve nursing performance, and be used to improve coping (Kozlowski, Hutchinson, Hurley & Browne, 2018; MacCann et al., 2020; Sun, Liu & Yu, 2019). The studies by Kozlowsi et al. (2018), MacCann et al. (2020) and Sun et al. (2019) complement one another in terms of identifying the positive outcomes of teaching and applying emotional intelligence in various fields. Underlying their studies is the idea that emotional intelligence is something that can be taught and is definitely worth promoting in the training of employees and individuals who want to strengthen their ability to be resilient in the face of adversity. The study by Sun et al. (2019) is particularly helpful in showing how emotional intelligence assists in the regulation of the emotions in cases of addiction. By identifying the emotions and understanding them, one is in a better position to respond to negative emotions by controlling for triggers and cultivating a more robust response program. The study goes into the positive benefits of emotional intelligence in a way that other studies looking at the topic do not, as it looks at its application in the context of dealing with addiction and overcoming separation anxiety from the stimulant.

Benefits of Emotional Intelligence in an Organization

In terms of how emotional intelligence benefits an organization, Di Fabio and Kenny (2019) have shown that it improves relations between employees when it is possessed in good measure by workers. This study is particularly helpful because it looks at the relational aspect of emotional intelligence. Just as Sun et al. (2019) look at the ways in which emotional intelligence can be used to provide insight into one’s own character, one’s strengths and weaknesses, and how it can be used to enable and empower one to overcome emotional difficulties; Di Fabio and Kenny (2019) show that it also improves workplace relationships by enabling individual workers to demonstrate consideration, kindness, and empathy in all directions towards all employees without discrimination. In seeing the humanity of other workers, one is able to recognize that there are no real differences between oneself and one’s neighbor, and thus emotional intelligence gives a foundation for improving relations in a workplace. That is the main benefit uncovered by Di Fabio and Kenny (2019), and it compares favorably to the main benefit found by Sun et al. (2019) in their study which shows how developing emotional intelligence as a coping tool can help teens overcome their cell phone addiction. Thus, the benefits of emotional intelligence are multi-fold.

Emotional Intelligence and Team Performance

Team performance has been found to be positively impacted when emotional intelligence is part of the overall dynamic (Rezvani, Khosravi & Ashkanasy, 2019). Emotional intelligence provides team members with a tool for understanding one another, coming together, appreciating each other and understanding the emotional values and meanings that come from one another. As such it is viewed as an integral part of trust formation and performance when team projects are concerned (Rezvani et al., 2019). Without emotional intelligence, teams are less likely to perform at a high level, and the workplace itself is likely to have a lower morale, lower connectivity among workers, and a less relational atmosphere (Di Fabio & Kenny, 2019). Emotional intelligence has thus been shown to be a quality worth cultivating, as it facilitates team building, team performance and team development.

Summation

There has been some question over emotional intelligence is something that can be taught or trained among workers. Some are of the opinion that is a personality characteristic that one is either born with or that one does not have. The question of whether it can be developed is still debated among researcher (Mattingly & Kraiger, 2019; Petrides & Mavroveli, 2018). Because empathy is in the will, it is argued that no amount of training can sway an individual to be emotionally intelligent if he or she does not want to be (Mattingly & Kraiger, 2019). However, this does not mean that one’s understanding cannot be trained to read and comprehend emotions. Reading the behaviors and signs of individuals without knowledge of what signals mean is a skill, which is why Petrides and Mavroveli (2018) point out that this skill has a great deal of application in all kinds of settings. Their findings have been corroborated across the board in a variety of studies conducted in different industries and settings, from health care to education to business to psychology (Kozlowski et al., 2018; MacCann et al., 2020; Sun et al., 2019).