Emotional Intelligence

Name: Alejandra Acosta

EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE IN EDUCATION

Introduction
The concept of emotional intelligence, its acceptance and the repercussions that it might have in students’s academic success and in their adjustment to school has gained popularity over the past few years. (Humphrey, Curran, Morris, Farrell & Woods, 2007) According to Amstrong, Fogarty and Stoehr (as cited inSaricaoglu & Arikan, 2009) it is also possible the addition of “emotional intelligence” as the ninth of Gardner’s eight multiple intelligences theory.
There are many definitions for emotional intelligence since the term was first introduced by Salovey and Mayer (as cited in Locke, 2005) but there is no scientific clear definition yet. (Humphrey et al., 2007) A reason for not having a concretedefinition could be that the term “emotional intelligence” has been employed by many authors to cover “too many things, traits, and concepts” (Landy, 2005; Mury & Sideman, 2006; Zeidner, Roberts, & Matthews, 2004, as cited in Mayer, Solovey, and Caruso 2008) an now it has become so broad that some authors like Locke believe that it’s not one type of intelligence but intelligence itself. (Locke, 2005)What is emotional intelligence?
The original concept for emotional intelligence was introduced by Mayer and Salovey (1990) and it embraced the idea that some people were more competent than others in the use of reason, emotion, and thought. Other authors propose different definitions arguing that there is a remarkable contrast between the terms “emotion” and “intelligence” and thatthey shouldn’t be used together (Mayer, Salovey & Caruso, 2008). Salovey and Mayer (as cited in Humphrey et al., 2007, p. 2) perceived emotions as “the organized responses… that include the physiological, cognitive, motivational, and experiential systems.” They also mentioned that “emotions typically arise in response to an event, either internal or external, that has a positively or negativelyvalenced meaning for the individual.”
Locke (2005) stated the difference between emotion and intelligence. He explained that intelligence is the capacity that allows people to perform better and to work concepts in a higher level, and that emotions are not related to intelligence because they are perceived as an “automatic process based on subconsciously held knowledge” and that no type ofintelligence is required for this “automatic process” (Locke, 2005, p. 437). When the word emotional intelligence is analyzed both words express meanings that might not have a clear definition, but the concept is clearly defined by the authors whether it should be called intelligence, skill, or something else it has been a conflict for many years. This conflict between the relationship betweenemotion and intelligence and if emotion takes or not part in the rational thought process has existed since ancient Greece. (Mayer, Salovey, & Caruso, as cited in Humphrey et al., 2007) All these theories and concepts make emotional intelligence a topic with a broad field for scientific research.

What is emotional intelligence needed for?
Adults in the pursue of general success and wellbeing, need emotional skills, which will allow them to make excellent decisions, communicate more effectively, and solve problems easier.( Romansz et al., as cited in Humphrey et al., 2007) Promoting these skills or “emotional intelligence competencies” as Goleman (as cited in Salopek, 1998) defined them, will enhance people’s productivity and performance even more than “technical skills andcognitive ability combined” (Goleman, as cited in Salopek, 1998 ). Mc Phail (as cited in Humphrey, 2007) described how emotions are always internally evaluating information and how these emotions interfere in people’s rational decisions without the possibility to separate one from the other.
Some authors show evidence that demonstrates how children and adults who use Emotional Intelligence and...