Human Resources Management Trends and Issues Emotional Intelligence Ei in the Workplace

Emotional Intelligence

Although the recently used term "Emotional Intelligence" is an offshoot of decades of psychological study, much confusion exists on its meaning and application. In addition, the amount of academic studies in this area has been relatively few. Most of the writings have been done in nonscientific ways. The purpose of this thesis would be to conduct a thorough historical overview of the topic and recommendations for further study to see how this measurement tool could best be used in a business setting.

In 1985, graduate student Wayne Leon Payne wrote a doctoral dissertation including the term "emotional intelligence." Five years later, a paper by professors at American University of New Hampshire, State University of New York and Yale University (Mayer, DiPaolo, and Salovey, 1990) clarified the definition of emotional intelligence (EI) as "the accurate appraisal and expression of emotions in oneself and others and the regulation of emotion in a way that enhances living" and tested a way of scientifically measuring the difference between people's ability in the area of emotions. In the study, 139 adults rated the emotional content of 18 reproductions of faces, color swatches and abstract designs they viewed. Three scores were extracted -- consensual accuracy, amount and range of emotion perceived -- and compared to other aspects of (EI) such as empathy and related to constructs such as alexithymia and neuroticism. They found some people are better at identifying their own and other people's feelings and solving problems involving emotional issues. Since then, these professors have been the primary researchers in establishing the parameters of EI on an academic level.

Meanwhile, Howard Gardner's 1993 book on multiple intelligences drew much attention in education and psychology circles with reference to the "personal intelligences" as one subgroup of intelligences. According to Gardner, personal intelligences include (1) inner-directed, intrapersonal knowledge, which allows one to detect and to symbolize complex and highly differentiated sets of feelings; and (2) outer-directed, interpersonal knowledge -- the ability to notice and make distinctions among the moods, temperaments, motivations, and intentions of others.

Two years later, Daniel Goleman, a New York author wrote articles for Popular Psychology and New York Times on this topic and was visiting schools to see what programs were available to study EI. He was also immersing himself in the works of Mayer et al. To write a popular book on the subject in 1995. Although he covered the work that had previously been done, he added his own thoughts on the how EI can be used in a corporate setting. Disagreement presently exists on the actual definition of EI as well as how means for proper measurement. Further, "it is based on a long history of research and theory in personality and social, as well as I/O, psychology" (Cherniss, 2000). Regardless, Cherniss states that it is useful and interesting to consider how important it is for effective performance at work." Overall, very little academic research has been conducted on EI, despite the fact that it has become a hot topic for business and education.

In addition, Dr. Reuven Bar-On has been involved in defining, measuring and applying various aspects of this concept since 1980. He coined the term "EQ" ("emotional quotient") in 1985 to describe his approach to assessing emotional and social competence. He created the Emotional Quotient Inventory (the EQ-i), the first test of EI to be published by a psychological test publisher (1997) and tested on over 85,000 individuals worldwide, BarOn EQ-i measures one's ability to deal with daily environmental demands and pressures, and helps predict one's success in both professional and personal pursuits.. U.S. Air Force has been reportedly saving 3 million dollars annually since its use of EQ-I to predict recruits' future success on the job.

LITERARY REVIEW

As noted, relatively little academic research has been conducted on EI. Most of the writings have been for consumer-oriented audiences: "Measure your Emotional Intelligence," "Secrets of the Socially Savvy," "Getting Smart About Emotional Intelligence" where different aspects, or assumed aspects, of EI are discussed, recommended and applied. Such applications are not scientifically based. On an academic level, some studies have been conducted on the application of emotional intelligence to enhancing healthcare, educational and business environments (Yost, 2000; Cadman, 2001; Ashkanasy, 2003). In addition, mental health professionals are looking at the pros and cons of incorporating aspects of EI into their approaches (Mental Health Weekly, 2004 and Feldman and Salovey, 2002)

THESIS PROPOSAL

It appears that one of the major problems with Emotional Intelligence is the definition and, especially, means for measurement. This is due to a number of causes including that although aspects of emotional quotient have been studied for many years under different names, relatively few academic studies have been conducted on the topic by researchers in different fields so a consensus is not agreed upon. Further, most of the articles and books on this topic have been done by nonacademic sources.