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...

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 ones 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).

The benefits of emotional intelligence to the organization are that it facilitates and fosters communication, can strengthen relationships, and can improve morale. If emotional intelligence is running high in an organization, employees are more likely to have a positive job satisfaction rating and to have a greater ability to be resilient in the face of organizational challenges (Di Fabio & Saklofske, 2018). Teams will perform at a more optimal level and workers will relate…