Emotional intelligence: what it is and what the science says

You have probably heard that 'EQ matters more than IQ'. Emotional intelligence is a real and useful idea, but it has also been oversold. Here is what it means, how researchers measure it and where the debate lies.

Where the idea came from

• Psychologists Peter Salovey and John Mayer defined emotional intelligence in 1990 as an ability to perceive emotions in yourself and others, understand them and manage them.
• Journalist and author Daniel Goleman popularised the idea in 1995, and it spread quickly through books, schools and workplaces.
• In 1997 Mayer and Salovey refined their idea into a 'four branch' model: perceiving emotion, using emotion to help thinking, understanding emotion and managing emotion.

The popular five-part version

• Popular media often describe Goleman's version as five areas: self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy and social skills.
• Self-awareness: noticing what you feel and why. Example: realising you are snapping at your sibling because you are worried about a test.
• Self-regulation: choosing how to act on a feeling. Example: waiting until you are calm before replying to an annoying group-chat message.
• Empathy: sensing and understanding what others feel. Example: noticing a quiet classmate looks left out and inviting them to join.
• Social skills: using that understanding in relationships, such as resolving a disagreement or working well in a team.

Ability versus personality: the scientific debate

• Researchers measure EI in different ways. Ability tests such as the MSCEIT score you on emotion tasks, a bit like an IQ test. Self-report questionnaires ask you to rate yourself.
• Critics argue that many self-report EI questionnaires overlap heavily with existing personality traits, so they may not be measuring anything new.
• Some psychologists say there is no real scientific basis for a single popular 'EQ' score, and that useful insights may be better explained by the Big Five personality traits and IQ.
• Researchers Landy and Locke have also disputed 'admittedly exaggerated claims' made by Goleman and other popularisers.
• Supporters respond that EI is a genuine individual difference worth studying and that the evidence base has grown, while admitting that later reviews have not all been highly supportive.

What this means for you

• Treat 'EQ' online quizzes as a reflection tool, not a scientific score. A quiz result does not define you.
• The specific skills, such as naming feelings, calming yourself, understanding others and communicating clearly, are worth learning whatever the label.
• The EBSCO overview reports evidence that these competencies can be developed: one randomised trial with executives found EI training improved ratings of self-awareness and relationship management, and school social and emotional learning has been linked to better grades and less aggression.
• The UCLA Center for the Developing Adolescent says regulation skills grow through real-life practice with support, which is what the rest of this module helps you do.

Using EI well, not as a weapon

• Reading emotions is a skill that can be used to care for people or to manipulate them. Use it to understand, not to pressure.
• Being emotionally intelligent does not mean always being calm or positive. It includes recognising when anger or sadness is appropriate.
• It also does not mean always putting others first. Understanding your own needs and saying no respectfully is part of it.