According to Dr. Steven Stein, author and expert on emotional intelligence, emotional intelligence is more important in many ways than cognitive intelligence in people’s ability to succeed (Stein, 15). As said by Stein, no matter how good and sharp one is in learning a particular subject and how well and efficiently one solves problems (or makes correct decisions) unless one has optimum control over one’s emotions (measured and indexed in terms of EQ), one will not be able to achieve the best possible results. Dr. Stein states that senior managers in organizations around the world are realizing the significance their employees have to the operational performance of their organizations. The identification of key emotional skills that relate to success in the workplace has had a major impact on many smart organizations. He implies that empathy creates cohesive functioning among colleagues and improves teamwork. The need for change-adapt workers demands a workforce that is “flexible, stress tolerant, and that can think independently.” These are competencies of the emotionally intelligent person (Stein, 45).
Hallam, Dean, Professor, and Harvard Graduate, gives a personal example of the hiring practices and the importance of emotional intelligence in his company. Kyle, the top graduate at one of the nation’s leading programs in Computer Information Systems studies, was being considered to be hired at a prestigious firm. However, Kyle’s Emotional Quotient “was probably as far below average as his IQ was above average. (Hallam, 3)” He offended others without realizing it. Kyle suffered from Emotional Intelligence Deficiency Syndrome (EIDS). The company would not offer Kyle the offer the job at the big accounting firm he expected. Hallam states, “Kyle would be lucky to get any job offer at all.” His lack of emotional intelligence would clearly show through in any job interview.
According to Hallam, shortly after college, the scene changes dramatically. While IQ and college success play a major role in obtaining initial employment upon graduation, the next step is quite unexpected to many of the “best and brightest” people. IQ, one’s choice of college, one’s choice of major, or one’s GPA no longer seem to be the most important issues. New employees are often assigned to teams and have to learn how to work with others of varying levels of intelligence, experience, and age (Hallem, 4). Therefore, if Kyle doesn’t have high emotional intelligence, he may be hindered in finding a job and the pursuit of knowledge that comes along with that job. Or, he may find a job where everyone has a reasonable IQ level, yet he may suffer from his emotional intelligence deficiency and not be able to cooperate and learn with his co-workers.
Goleman’s studies show a relationship between emotional skills and academic success with children (Goleman, 96). For example, skills such as being able to resist impulsivity, or to delay gratification in pursuit of a long-term goal, are helpful in educational studies. Based on Goleman’s “marshmallow” study at Stanford, Goleman concludes that kids who are emotionally stable, score higher on their SAT’s. This example shows that high emotional intelligence helps students in the pursuit of knowledge, and low emotional intelligence hinders the pursuit of knowledge.
In his study, Goleman brought preschool kids in rooms and had a marshmallow put in front of them. They were told they could eat the marshmallow now, but if they delayed eating until the researcher came back from running an errand, they could have two marshmallows. Approximately one-third of the kids grabbed the single marshmallow right away, some waited a little longer, and about one-third were able to wait fifteen or twenty minutes for the researcher to return.
Fourteen years later, the kids that had waited, that were able to delay gratification in pursuit of their goals, were more emotionally stable, better liked by their teachers and peers, and still able to control themselves, and handle a situation w/ higher intelligence (emotional). The ones who grabbed the marshmallow, were emotionally unstable, fell apart under stress, were more irritable, not so well liked and not able to delay gratification and reach a more distant goal. Additionally, the kids who had waited scored an average of 210 points higher on their SATs.
Therefore, this supports that having high emotional intelligence helps the pursuit of knowledge because one is able to control certain emotions more intelligently. This allows organized time for study, research, and innovative thinking. Low emotional intelligence hinders the pursuit of knowledge because as in this case, students who aren’t able to control their feelings find it difficult to focus and consequently are delayed in their studies or homework and the pursuit of knowledge.
Goleman states that his results demonstrate that children with good emotional habits more conducive to studying, stick with tasks, and think that it would eventually pay off, are more ‘successful’ than ones that go off and are distracted by something else. By finding that children whose emotional lives are more under control and better managed, Goleman finds that they are also able to learn more, because they can control negative messages in the brain. For instance, if a child is chronically angry or upset in some way, he experiences that as intruding thoughts. He can’t concentrate on anything but the thing he is worried about. This hinders the child’s pursuit of knowledge.
People frequently face such a situation while involved in studies facing the examinations. They may have good memory, deep understanding of the subject and despite their having spend good amount of time in the studies, they fail to recall a formula, some text or an equation just because their mind is overflowing with unwanted emotions that their general intelligence is unable to handle. Emotional intelligence helps here, because it allows a person to block out the negative message, and focus on the positive, and therefore helps the pursuit of knowledge.
An alternate view of the previous argument would be that emotional intelligence has nothing to do with the pursuit of knowledge. Albert Einstein is an example of someone who had a high IQ, but no social skills. He is classified as a universal genius, yet he had very low emotional intelligence. For example, his professors did not think highly of him and would not recommend him for a university position. Additionally, the difficulty that others had with Einstein’s work was not because it was too mathematically complex or technically obscure; the problem resulted, rather from Einstein’s inability to convincingly communicate and carry over his ideas. Einstein was academically brilliant, yet socially inept. The point is, that despite his lack of high emotional intelligence, Einstein continued his research, his passions, and pursued knowledge. His low emotional intelligence did not help or hinder him from the pursuit of knowledge. Consequently, someone with a low emotional quotient can still be intelligent and pursue knowledge, like Albert Einstein.
(Also, whether the studies of Goleman, Stein, and Hallam are valid and reliable indicators of emotional intelligence is a subject worthy of inquiry itself. One could argue that this area of study is not yet developed to the point where it can to be used for administrative decision-making. But that goes beyond the scope of this paper.)
In conclusion, although an intelligent person with a high IQ and low EQ can still pursue knowledge as Albert Einstein did, it is most likely easier to pursue knowledge with a high EQ in today’s society. Communication and people skills are vital and help in the pursuit of knowledge as Hallam argues. Perhaps, Einstein would have been more successful in discovering the theory of relativity. Or maybe, if he had a higher emotional quotient and worked with more people, he may have been pushed to further extremes and created additional theories. Goleman’s marshmallow study showed that high emotional intelligence was an indicator for higher SAT scores. Hallam’s experience illustrated that low emotional intelligence meant not getting a position in the work force despite and thus hindering the pursuit of knowledge. Therefore, emotional intelligence, comprised of self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy, and social skills, may help or hinder the pursuit of knowledge.
Bibliography:
1. O’Neil, John. “On Emotional Intelligence: A Conversation with Daniel Goleman”. Volume 54, Number1 September 1996. .
2. Goleman, Daniel. Emotional Intelligence. New York: 1995.
3. "Einstein, Albert," Microsoft® Encarta® Encyclopedia 2000. © 1993-1999 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
4. LEADERSHIP WITH EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE By Steve Hallam
EQ Institute
The Emotional Intelligence Research Consortium
American Society of Training and Development -
Interview with Daniel Goleman, OCT 1998
Human Resource Management Trends and Issues:
Emotional Intelligence (EI) in the Workplace
James Kierstead
Policy, Research and Communications Branch
Public Service Commission of Canada
1999
Steven Stein
