EI: The history of emotional intelligence

What is the history behind Emotional Intelligence?

Who first identified the concept of Emotional Intelligence?

	They have conducted very significant research in the area and published numerous articles of importance.
	They have a 16 step developmental model of emotional intelligence from childhood to adulthood. This can be found in a chapter in a book by Salovey P. and Sluyter D.J. Eds, "Emotional development and emotional intelligence", Basic Books, New York, 1997.
	They have also produced an Emotional Intelligence Assessment - the MSCEIT, (the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test). I have been personally trained by Dr David Caruso and am accredited in the MSCEIT. I find it has value as an assessment and it is certainly easy to administer. However, I have some doubts about its validity in certain areas as I think there is a big difference between reading emotions in a photograph on a computer screen and reading emotions while talking to someone face-to-face.
	The main book they've written for non academics is called "The emotionally intelligent manager: How to develop and use the four key emotional skills of leadership". Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, 2004. In my opinion, it is one of the most practical and useful books for managers.
	I think Professor Mayer's website on emotional intelligence is well worth reading: http://www.unh.edu/emotional_intelligence/index.html
	If you go to our Youtube channel you will see some examples of Prof. Salovey speaking on emotional intelligence: http://www.youtube.com/user/RachelGreenCom

What does Howard Gardner have to do with Emotional Intelligence?

	He proposed his theory of multiple intelligences in the early 1980s.
	He has suggested around ten different intelligences, but none called emotional intelligence.
	They include Linguistic, Logical-Mathematical, Musical, Bodily-Kinesthetic, Spatial-Visual, Interpersonal (other people's feelings), Intrapersonal (self-awareness), Naturalistic, Spiritual/Existential, and Moral.
	His work is significant in the history of emotional intelligence as he challenged the previous thinking that IQ or cognitive intelligence was the only intelligence that mattered.

Why did the concept of Emotional Intelligence arise?

	Because it became obvious that some people with high IQs and very high levels of education did not automatically fare well in managing their lives, relating to other people or even in holding down a job.
	It was also apparent that other people who did not measure highly on traditional measures of intelligence did extremely well in managing their lives and being successful.
	The question was therefore asked, "What else is there other than IQ that can help to predict a person's success?" Emotional intelligence was found to be an important answer.

Who made Emotional Intelligence well known?

	Goleman successfully brought Emotional Intelligence into the public arena.
	He published a book, "Emotional intelligence: Why it can matter more than IQ" in 1996. It shot to the top of the best seller list and stayed there for months.
	He did, however, expand the original concept of Emotional Intelligence put forward by Mayer and Salovey, and this has caused some confusion. His work seems to include other aspects of human behaviour that were already known, such as personality theory, relationship theory, and the like. This means that research results using this more expanded definition may inflate the contribution that emotional intelligence makes to our success, when compared to research using the definitions of Mayer and Salovey.

What has happened since in the history of Emotional Intelligence?

	Since Mayer and Salovey's initial work,and Goleman's book many more people have studied Emotional Intelligence and put their own personal interpretation on it.
	There are more details under the section on "Research on emotional intelligence".
	There's a lot more to the history than this, but it would take a whole book to describe it all.

The keypoint is that Mayer and Salovey are the original researchers in Emotional Intelligence.