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A Short History of EI

The concepts of emotional work and emotional labour were first introduced by Arlie Hochschild in 1983. Six years later research began looking at emotional expression and its importance to organisational psychology.

In 1990, Peter Salovey and John Mayer coined the term "emotional intelligence". The two psychologists concluded seven years later that emotional intelligence comprised four mental processes, as shown in the table below.

EI Mental Processes

In 1995, emotional intelligence was popularised by the psychologist, Daniel Goleman, with his reader-friendly books on the topic, which have become international best sellers. In 1998, Goleman published Working with Emotional Intelligence in response to heightened interest from the business community. It was from here that the term "EQ" became a popular phrase.

Goleman's research on emotional intelligence in the workplace showed that emotional competence results in high organisational performance. Goleman's framework for emotional competence is divided into two categories. Firstly, personal competence, which determines how we manage ourselves. This includes self-awareness, self-regulation and motivation. The second category, social competence, looks at how we manage our relationships and includes empathy and social skills with a purpose.

Meanwhile, another well known psychologist, Martin Seligman was intrigued to find out what was the core characteristic that enabled people to bounce back from adversity or keep going under pressure. His work has resulted in over 20 years of studies that have proven that our level of "optimism" is the key differentiator between people who consistently outperform others of similar competence. When the going gets tough, the tough get going - and research has proven they tend to be optimists.

To find out how to test your level of optimism click here.

Of most importance, Seligman identified the traits that when combined, provide people with optimism. These traits come naturally to some people. Other people have different traits that are sometimes not as helpful. Even if you have developed a "non-helpful" set of traits, with understanding, guidance and practice they can be changed.

To read some of the research papers and articles that prove the importance of developing your EQ click here.

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