This topic has an early origin. One of the earliest mentions of emotional intelligence is in an article by Thorndike in the Harper’s Magazine from 1920. The article is surrounded by reproductions of painting and fictional narrative. Among these interesting reads is this article by Thorndike discussing how people understand feelings and emotional responses. The article includes charts, images and several short test.
Thorndike, E. L. (1920, January). Intelligence and its uses. Harper’s Magazine, 140, 227-230. https://library.highpoint.edu/archives/timeline/Thorndike.pdf
When we started this literature review, we found that there is a concentration of current research on EI beginning in 1990 to about 2010 or so. At that point writers/researchers added other subjects to the topic such as alienation, giftedness, leadership, teacher effectiveness, social intelligence, communication skills, and so on. This often happens when a topic matures, and researchers move on to new or modified versions of the original topic.
Another oddity, which often happens in research literature, is the topic often becomes important in other cultures and researchers in those countries start researching and writing about the topic. Consequently, there is less current domestic research on the topic but there are some quite good and very current articles being published in India and China. They write about on EI or EQ as if it is a fresh topic.
Definitions:
“The ability to recognize the meanings of emotions and their relationships, and to reason and problem-solve on the basis of them” (Mayer, Caruso, & Salovey, 1999, p. 267)
Brackett, Casey, & Brackett, M. A. (2009). Emotional intelligence. In H. T. Reis & S. Sprecher (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Human Relationships (1st ed.). Encyclopedia of Human Relationships
The term emotional intelligence (EI) was introduced to the scholarly literature in 1990 in two journal articles written by Peter Salovey and John D. Mayer. These researchers proposed a model to explain individual differences in people's ability to use emotion-related information to enhance thinking and problem solving. In 1997, Mayer and Salovey revised their model and published a formal theory that defined EI as a set of four mental abilities pertaining to the perception, use, understanding, and regulation of emotion.
EI was popularized in 1995 by Daniel Goleman in his bestselling book on the topic. Since then, a variety of “mixed” conceptualizations of the construct have emerged.
College Students:
Wilson, C. A., Babcock, S. E., & Saklofske, D. H. (2019). Sinking or Swimming in an Academic Pool: A Study of Resiliency and Student Success in First-Year Undergraduates. The Canadian Journal of Higher Education, 49(1), 60-84.
The transition from high school to post-secondary education presents challenges for students. Many variables have been identified as significant predictors of student achievement. Resiliency, defined as the ability to overcome challenges and adversity, may be particularly relevant during the adjustment to post-secondary education. This study assesses whether resiliency incrementally predicts student success after controlling for additional predictors.
Teaching and classroom:
Miyagamwala, G. (2015). Emotional intelligence and teacher effectiveness- an analysis. Centre for Business & Economic Research.
Emotional intelligence and teacher effectiveness- an analysis
Emotional intelligence is the ability to understand own emotions and those of people around. The concept of emotional intelligence means persons must have a self-awareness that enables to recognize feelings and manage your emotions Emotional intelligence is the set of abilities that accounts for how people emotional reports vary in the emotional intelligence accuracy and how the more accurate understanding of emotions leads to better problem solving in an individual's. There are a number of different definitions of emotional intelligence in the psychological literature, but in general, it is defined as the ability to identify, regulate, and manage emotions in the self and in others. Research indicates that higher levels of emotional intelligence are associated with a range of positive outcomes, such as better workplace performance and physical and mental health. Good teachers need a strong emotional intelligence understanding what makes a particular student "tick" emotionally can be important in helping with individual learning.
Academic Success:
SYLASKA, K. and MAYER, J.D., 2024. Major Choices: Students’ Personal Intelligence, Considerations when Choosing a Major, and Academic Success. Journal of Intelligence, vol. 12, no. 11, pp. 115 ProQuest Central. DOI https://doi.org/10.3390/jintelligence12110115.
A student’s choice of major is influenced by their parents and peers, as well as by the quality of the college department that offers the major and by broader cultural and economic issues. The student’s own personality, including their ability to reason about themselves and their interests, also contributes to the choice and its outcomes. In a preliminary study, we developed a Choice of Major Scale that depicts key aspects of students’ consideration of their major. Then, across three studies (Ns = 304, 466, and 492), we examined the students’ personal intelligence, defined as their capacity to reason about their own and other people’s personalities, as well as a Choice of Major Scale, and the relation of those variables to important academic outcomes. The results depicted a pattern that the students who better understood personality and were more engaged in choosing a major, compared to others, considered more majors initially, chose a major more quickly, and exhibited better academic outcomes subsequently.
Work and professionalism:
Urquijo, I., Extremera, N., & Azanza, G. (2019). The Contribution of Emotional Intelligence to Career Success: Beyond Personality Traits. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 16(23). https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16234809
The Contribution of Emotional Intelligence to Career Success: Beyond Personality Traits
This study sought to investigate the role of emotional intelligence in both extrinsic and intrinsic career success in early and later career stages. Specifically, we examined the predictive and incremental validity of emotional intelligence in career success after controlling for personality factors in a sample of 271 graduates. When analyzing extrinsic career success, regression analyses revealed that demographic variables, such as gender, age, area of study and career stage, and the variable of proactive personality, were related to salary. When the dependent variable was job satisfaction, emotional intelligence acted as a strong predictor, even when personality traits and proactive personality were controlled. These findings provide preliminary evidence that emotional intelligence is a relevant addition to guide the achievement of career success. Finally, limitations of the results and implications of these findings are discussed.
Leadership:
Ramos-Villarreal, J., & Holland, G., EdD. (2011). University Students' Development Of Emotional Intelligence Skills For Leadership. American Journal of Business Education, 4(3), 47-54.
University Students' Development of Emotional Intelligence Skills for Leadership
The study was conducted to add to the knowledge base and further the understanding of Emotional Intelligence and leadership theory. Freshmen business students enrolled in BUAD 1201: Principles of Business Administration and graduating senior business students enrolled in MGMT 4325: Decision Making and Business Policy class provided the data for the descriptive study of student profiles. Some interesting and relevant findings were found in developing both the first-year freshmen profiles and graduating senior student profiles. When examining the range in which first-year freshmen students and graduating seniors fell, the results indicated that both groups of students fell within the same range for all areas of the Personal Excellence Map (PEM), which were develop, strengthen, and enhance categories of personal excellence and leadership.
Dissertations:
Walsh-Portillo, J. (2011). The role of emotional intelligence in college students' success (Order No. 3502127). Available from ProQuest Central. (952587739).
The role of emotional intelligence in college students' success
The purpose of this study was to determine if higher academic performance was positively correlated to higher emotional intelligence among traditional age male and female college students enrolled in an Introduction to Business course at a large multi-campus state college in Florida. The Bar-On 2004 (Emotional Quotient Inventory) EQ-i 133-item inventory was used to assess students’ emotional intelligence. Within the scope of this ex-post facto study, a quasi-experimental design was included to further determine if emotional intelligence could be increased through the inclusion of a curricular component on emotional intelligence. Four groups of students (N=111) participated in the three-phase study over two semesters. The first phase (pre-intervention) was limited to students with an established GPA and an attempted-to-completed credit hour ratio within the institution (N=82). Results showed a slight positive correlation between the two factors and the students’ emotional intelligence pretest assessment scores. The second phase of the study involved establishing a control and an experimental group in each of two semesters to compare the attainment of overall emotional intelligence scores as measured by the EQ-i. The third phase of the study examined four measures of academic success (GPA, the attempted-to-completed credit hour ratio, grade in the business course, and persistence in college) to determine if these factors were positively correlated with the students’ post-test EQ-i scores. The study also included a research question to determine if significant differences in overall EQ-i scores existed between male and female students during the three phases.
Test and Testing:
Bar-On, R., & Parker, J. D. A. (n.d.). Emotional Quotient Inventory: Youth Version. PsycTESTS.