In day to day engagements people
involve themselves with multiple tasks which require knowledge, communication
skills, negotiation skills, critical thinking and so on. We all agree that at
some level we need just a common sense and at sometimes we need intelligence.
Is intelligence one thing or
many? Is it modifiable or not? Is it inherited or is it environmental? (Sternber,
1996) . Generally, we consider IQ to be more
powerful and important than EQ. But research suggests that both are vital. In
dealing with intelligence, Itard found that intelligence, while a given,
developed by having the appropriate experiences at the right time of development (Gutek,
N.D) .
What is Intelligence Quotient
(IQ)?
IQ in general,
is an assessment of an ability to think and reason. IQ score is a standardized
way of comparing this ability with the majority of people the same age as we
are. A score of 100 means that compared to these people in your general age
group that you have basically an average intelligence. Most psychologists would
say those scoring in a range of 95 to 105 are of a normal intelligence or have
an average IQ.
We can teach
intelligence in at least some degree, but cannot effect radical changes at this
point (Sternber,
1996) . There is also a theory called ‘theory of
successful intelligence’. It is defined as one’s ability to achieve success in
life in terms of one’s personal standards, within one’s socio-cultural context.
What is Emotional Intelligence?
Emotional intelligence (EI)
or emotional quotient (EQ) is the capacity of individuals to
recognize their own, and other people's emotions, to discriminate between
different feelings and label them appropriately, to use emotional information
to guide thinking and behavior, and to manage and/or adjust emotions to adapt
environments or achieve one's goals.
Emotional intelligence plays
a major role in how we interact with other people.
For most people, emotional
intelligence (EQ) is more important than one's intelligence(IQ) in
attaining success in their lives and careers. As individuals our success and
the success of the profession today depend on our ability to read other
people's signals and react appropriately to them (Psychocentral.com library).
How are Emotional Intelligence,
IQ, and Personality are different?
- Emotional intelligence taps into a
fundamental element of human behavior that is distinct from intellect. There is
no known connection between IQ and emotional intelligence; you simply can’t
predict emotional intelligence based on how smart someone is. (But, still there
is ongoing debate about this connection, refer the below link to see one such
study- http://www.memory-key.com/research/news/correlation-between-emotional-intelligence-and-iq).
- Intelligence is the ability to learn,
and it’s the same at age 15 as it is at age 50. Emotional intelligence, on the
other hand, is a flexible set of skills that can be acquired and improved with
practice. Although some people are naturally more emotionally intelligent than
others, you can develop high emotional intelligence even if you aren’t born
with it.
- IQ and EQ often integrates itself to
form Personality. It’s the stable “style” that defines each of us. Personality
is the result of hard-wired preferences, such as the inclination toward
introversion or extroversion. However, like IQ, personality can’t be used to
predict emotional intelligence. Also like IQ, personality is stable over a
lifetime and doesn’t change. The general consensus is
that personality is shaped by early life experiences and tend to stay
stable over time (www.psychologytoday.com).
According to most personality type theories, the individual's type is
inborn and does not change. However, individuals
can develop traits and habits that differ or even directly contradict the
description of their type (www.16personalities.com).
IQ, emotional intelligence, and
personality each cover unique ground and help to explain what makes a person
tick.
Below diagram (1.1) illustrates
integration of IQ, EQ and Personality:
A deep dive into Emotional
Intelligence:
When emotional intelligence
first appeared to the masses, it served as the missing link in a peculiar
finding: people with average IQs outperform those with the highest IQs 70% of
the time. This anomaly threw a massive wrench into what many people had always
assumed was the sole source of success—IQ. Decades of research now point to
emotional intelligence as the critical factor that sets star performers apart
from the rest of the folks.
Emotional intelligence is
“something” in each of us that is a bit intangible. It affects how we manage behavior,
navigate social complexities, and make personal decisions that achieve positive
results.
Emotional intelligence is made
up of four core skills that pair up under two primary competencies:
a. personal competence:
- Self-Awareness
- Self-Management
b. social competence:
- Social Awareness
- Relationship Management
Below diagram (1.2) illustrates the matrix of
Emotional Intelligence based on personal and social competence:
a. Personal competence comprises your self-awareness
and self-management skills, which focus more on you individually than on your
interactions with other people. Personal competence is your ability to stay
aware of your emotions and manage your behavior and tendencies.
- Self-Awareness is your ability
to accurately perceive your emotions and stay aware of them as they happen.
- Self-Management is your ability
to use awareness of your emotions to stay flexible and positively direct your
behavior.
b. Social competence is made up of
your social awareness and relationship management skills; social competence is
your ability to understand other people’s moods, behavior, and motives in order
to respond effectively and improve the quality of your relationships.
- Social Awareness is your ability
to accurately pick up on emotions in other people and understand what is really
going on.
- Relationship Management is your ability
to use awareness of your emotions and the others’ emotions to manage
interactions successfully.
Linkage
between Emotional Intelligence and Performance:
How much of an
impact does emotional intelligence have on your professional success? The short
answer is: a lot! It’s a powerful way to focus your energy in one direction
with a tremendous result. An
organization called Talentsmart has tested
emotional intelligence alongside 33 other important workplace skills, and found
that emotional intelligence is the strongest predictor of performance,
explaining a full 58% of success in all types of jobs.
The emotional
intelligence is the foundation for a host of critical skills—it impacts most
everything we do and say each day.
Out of total
population in the research study, the research team found that 90% of top
performers are also high in emotional intelligence. On the flip side, just 20%
of bottom performers are high in emotional intelligence. You can be a top
performer without emotional intelligence, but the chances are slim.
Other interesting
finding of the study is that— people with a high degree of emotional
intelligence make more money—an average of $29,000 more per year than people
with a low degree of emotional intelligence. The link between emotional
intelligence and earnings is so direct that every point increase in emotional
intelligence adds $1,300 to an annual salary. These findings hold true for
people in all industries, at all levels, in every region of the world. The
researchers say that, they haven’t yet been able to find a job in which
performance and pay aren’t tied closely to emotional intelligence.
Below (1.3) is the
sketch of a tree which illustrates some of the critical skills:
Can
the score of Emotional Intelligence Be Increased?
As you train your
brain by repeatedly practicing new emotionally intelligent behaviors, your
brain builds the pathways needed to make them into habits. Before long, you
begin responding to your surroundings with emotional intelligence without even
having to think about it. And just as your brain reinforces the use of new
behaviors, the connections supporting old, destructive behaviors will die off
as you learn to limit your use of them.
References
Gutek, G. L. (N.D). In The Montessori Method: The
Origins of an Educational Innovation.
Sternber, R. J. (1996). Myths, Countermyths, and Truths
About Intelligence. American Educational Research Association.
Dr. Travis Bradberry’s writing and the work of his organization
TalentSmart where he is a cofounder.
The studies and tests are done by Talentsmart organization. Source of the work: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/why-you-need-emotional-intelligence-succeed-dr-travis-bradberry
This information from website: (www.psychologytoday.com)
This information from website: (www.16personalities.com)