Essay Examples - Psychology Essays
Emotion and Intelligence
In this essay, we discuss the role of emotion and intelligence in every day, giving detailed definitions and descriptions of these two unique human psychological processes. We begin with the discussion of emotion, the physiological components of emotion, the signs of emotion and the various categories of emotional responses and reactions.
The various theories of emotions are discussed showing how emotions can be explained using psychoanalytic, philosophical, biological and behavioral approaches. We next turn to a discussion on intelligence and highlight the various definitions of intelligence that tend to emphasize on the g-factor or general intelligence. However theories of different kinds of intelligence, skills and multiple intelligences are also discussed. In this context, we discuss theories by Cattell, Guilford and Gardner. The various definitions of intelligence compared suggest the multi-faceted and controversial nature of this human mental process. Intelligence has been widely defined as the ability to understand, reason, solve, organize, learn and adapt. The concepts of emotion and intelligence come together in the theory of emotional intelligence, conceived by Mayer and Salovey in the early 1990s. The emotion-intelligence link is further explored by examining the characteristics of emotional intelligence that includes identifying, perceiving, understanding, analyzing and managing emotions. We provide studies on emotional intelligence and its relation with leadership abilities, managerial skills, domestic abuse, social anxiety and general physical health.
Emotion
Emotion is considered as an aspect of a person's mental state and is related to a person's internal or physical and external or social feeling. Common emotions such as love, hate, fear, courage, joy, pleasure, disgust can all be described in psychological and physiological terms (Oatley and Jenkins, 1996). In emotions, thought or thinking is inextricably linked to body functions and physiological changes as the perception of self is closely associated with how we react to the world around us and shape our values, judgments and attitudes towards others, thus defining and shaping our emotions as well (Lane et al, 2000). Emotion has sometimes been seen as the extreme opposite or anti-thesis of any kind of reason and emotions are also said to suppress reason (Power, 1997). Thus the common phrases 'let the head rule over the heart' or 'don't let emotions take over your reason'. Emotional states are caused by and result in internal physiological states and changes in the cognitive functions that individuals may not be able to control. Thus there is a dynamic interplay between will, reason, emotion, attitudes and beliefs within the human mind (Lane et al, 2000).
The human psyche is capable of reactions and perspectives to observed facts in internal and external world and may be emotionally unresponsive to logical argument, giving in to emotions mainly in regard to issues such religion, ideology and personal strife or wishes.
Emotions can be defined and explained by psychological, physiological, and philosophical viewpoints. An emotion is commonly described as a mental state or process that can balance conflicting facts and experiences to give a subjective psychological and unique experience for an individual (Power, et al. 1997). Emotional experiences can be thoughts, feelings, or may be manifested as affective responses such as joy, sorrow, cognitive responses such as attitudes and concepts, physiological responses such as flushed face, and behavioral changes such as running away from potential dangers.
There are several psychological theories that explain emotions and emotional reactions and the most influential ones are James-Lange theory, Cannon-Bard approach, Schachter-Singer approach and the Opponent-process approach (Strongman, 1996). James and Lange proposed that feelings of emotions follow physiological reactions within the body, whereas the Cannon-Bard approach suggests that the lower brain receives emotion producing signals and send to the cortex for interpretation and subsequent physiological responses. The Schachter-Singer theory gives emphasis on the cognitive skills and creates an interpretation of the situation and behavioral response (Strongman, 1996). The opponent-process approach believes that emotions occur in a set of pairs, a positive and a negative and during an emotion-producing situation one of these pairs of emotions is suppressed and the other one is revealed.
Plutchik (1980) has classified eight primary emotions - of anger, fear, disgust, sorrow, surprise, curiosity, acceptance and joy. The physiological components of emotion involved are the hypothalamus, the limbic system, and the autonomic nervous system. Fear is thought to be largely dependent on the amygdala of the brain (McNaughton, 1989). The biological model of emotions suggests that senses play a crucial role in the emotive state. Also the fact the humans have the largest and the most active limbic system suggests that emotions are most strongly developed in humans (Lane et al, 2000). Evolutionary views of emotions indicate that love and affection are necessary for the survival of species and for care of young and others of the same species. Emotions can also be explained by different philosophical schools and by psychoanalysis, behavioral psychology, and neurobiology.
Intelligence
Intelligence refers to the general mental ability to calculate, reason, and perceive relationships, information, ideologies, analogies and also to learn quickly and analyze and retrieve information using language to generalize and adjust to new situations (Hawkins, 2005). Alfred Binet defined intelligence as the totality of mental processes that help individuals to adapt to different environments. There are many schools defining intelligence as purely an intellectual or cognitive function, although intelligence can have several different aspects such as social, emotional and general intelligence associated with problem solving (Gardner et al, 1996). The underlying general factor that seems to form the foundation of all kinds of intelligence has been termed as the 'g-factor' but intelligence may not only be defined by such a general factor and there are other factors involved. Cattell argued that intelligence can be categorized into two basic abilities - fluid ability and crystallized ability. Fluid ability is the innate and basic reasoning ability present in all and crystallized ability is information and skills that shape intelligence and that which is acquired through cultural, environmental and social experiences. Gardner (1986) suggested that intelligence can be divided into further categories such as musical, logical-mathematical, linguistic, spatial, bodily-kinesthetic, interpersonal, and intrapersonal. Guilford (1982) suggested 150 different mental abilities responsible for overall general intelligence.
Intelligence has now been considered as a product of both heredity and environment. Heredity has been considered as very important in determining the expression of intelligence as an intellectually stimulating environment is critical in its development and manifestation. Thus an individual's level of intelligence is determined both by heredity and by environment.
The American Psychological Association defined intelligence in the following words:
Individuals differ from one another in their ability to understand complex ideas, to adapt effectively to the environment, to learn from experience, to engage in various forms of reasoning, to overcome obstacles by taking thought. Although these individual differences can be substantial, they are never entirely consistent: a given person's intellectual performance will vary on different occasions, in different domains, as judged by different criteria. Concepts of "intelligence" are attempts to clarify and organize this complex set of phenomena (APA release, see website).
Intelligence thus has been highlighted as an ability to understand complex ideas, organize them and fit them to adapt to situational variations. More broadly, intelligence has been defined as a general mental capability involving the ability to reason, plan and solve problems, think abstractly, to learn quickly from experience, and the ability to comprehend and understand complex ideas. Intelligence is thus the figuring out of what to do and involves an overall general comprehension of surroundings (Sternberg, 2000).
One major and probably the most influential ways of understanding general intelligence is using the intelligence tests, also known as the method of psychometric testing. Common intelligence tests measuring the g-factor or general intelligence are Stanford-Binet, Weschler Adult Intelligence scale, and Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices. Although some theorists argue that the predictive validity of the g-theory has been demonstrated, and that 'g' can be derived from principal components analysis or factor analysis (Peterson, 1925), many other theorists such as Gardner already mentioned, emphasize on the more specific factors in intelligence and advocate theories of multiple intelligences or multiple factors responsible for intelligence (Gardner, 1986).
Sternberg's definition of intelligence involves "(a) mental activity directed toward purposive adaptation to, selection and shaping of, real-world environments relevant to one's life" (Sternberg, 1985/2000, p. 45), which means that intelligence is measured by an individual's ability to deal with environmental changes throughout a lifespan. Sternberg's theory is a Triarchic theory of intelligence as it comprised of three parts - componential, experiential, and practical. Collective, Artificial and even Extra-terrestrial intelligence are areas that are being explored to understand the defining features of intelligence.
Intelligence and Emotion - How they are linked
In recent years intelligence and emotion have been linked in a way important to psychological research. A relevant model, known as the Mayer-Salovey model, introduced the term 'emotional intelligence' and defined it as a capacity to understand information and act reasonably using emotions (Mayer and Salovey, 1993). Emotional intelligence has been described as an innate ability of an individual to reason effectively and handle situations using proper emotions and also the potential to learn effective emotional management skills. Emotional Intelligence can thus be broadly defined as the ability or innate potential to feel, communicate, manage or recognize and even understand emotions and react effectively to the environment using appropriate emotions in appropriate situations. Thus emotional intelligence is an innate potential and the ability to connect with other individuals through the process of understanding and remembering emotional expressions and feelings. According to the Mayer-Salovey four branch model, emotional intelligence has the following characteristics: It is the capacity to accurately perceive emotions; it is the capacity to use emotions to facilitate thinking, it is the capacity to manage emotions and it is the capacity to understand meanings of emotions (Mayer and Salovey, 1990).
In 1995, Daniel Goleman popularized the concept of emotional Intelligence using several points to support the concept. He suggested that emotional intelligence involves the ability to identify, understand and describe emotional states to perceive relations of thoughts, feelings and actions, to experience emotional states such as a need and be able to fulfill it, to be sensitive to the emotions of other people, to sustain satisfactory interpersonal relationships and also to manage emotional states, controlling undesirable emotions and showing desirable ones.
Emotional Intelligence, also represented by an Emotional quotient or EQ emphasizes on two aspects of understanding oneself, goals and aspirations, emotions and intentions and understanding others and their needs, desires, aspirations. Goleman (1995) identified the five domains of emotional intelligence as knowing one's emotions, managing and understanding emotions, motivating oneself using the emotions, recognizing and perceiving others' emotions, and managing relationships and emotions of others effectively.
Thus emotional intelligence involves 'personal competence' including self awareness, self regulation and self motivation and social competence such as social awareness and social skills. Emotional intelligence relates to accurate identification of emotions, using emotions for thinking and reasoning, understanding the causes of emotional reactions of oneself and others and ability to manage emotions for perception of feelings (Goleman, 1995). The four different facets of emotional intelligence involves Emotional Perception or the ability to identify emotions in people or in stories or conversations, emotional facilitation in thought such as relating emotions to basic sensations such as taste, Emotional understanding or perceiving what emotions actually convey and Emotional management or understanding the social relations, the roles and regulations of emotions in oneself and others. According to Mayer and Cobb (2000), Emotional intelligence is:
The ability to process emotional information, particularly as it involves the perception, assimilation, understanding, and management of emotion.
According to Mayer and Salovey, their Four-branched model of emotional intelligence is
"arranged from more basic psychological processes to higher, more psychologically integrated processes. For example, the lowest level branch concerns the (relatively) simple abilities of perceiving and expressing emotion. In contrast, the highest level branch concerns the conscious, reflective regulation of emotion."
The Four branches of Emotional Intelligence are:
- 1. Perception Appraisal and Expression of Emotion
- 2. Emotional Facilitation of Thinking
- 3. Understanding and Analyzing Emotions; Using Emotional Knowledge
- 4. Reflective Regulation of Emotions to Promote Emotional and Intellectual Growth by Managing Emotions (Mayer and Salovey, 1993)
Studies on Intelligence and Emotion
Evidential studies on links between emotion and intelligence suggest that there are still many areas of research that have not been taken up systematically. Summerfeldt et al (2005) point out that social anxiety and emotional intelligence are intricately related and can have considerable impact on interpersonal adjustment. Self report data from a large sample was examined in the study and Emotional intelligence was found to be related to social interaction anxiety but not related to performance anxiety. EI factor has been found a dominant predictor of interpersonal adjustment and a high emotional intelligence can substantially reduce interaction anxiety. The authors highlight the contributions of the concept of EI and studies of interpersonal domains of EI in the understanding of the process of interaction anxiety.
Tsaousis et al (2005) investigate the relationship of the characteristics of emotional intelligence such as perception, use and control or management of emotions with aspects of psychological and physical health. In the study, 365 individuals filled in surveys on general health and EI and the hypothesis was that poor emotional intelligence would also correlate with poor general health. 212 working adults completed measures on EI and provided information on physical and psychological health as also other health related behaviors such as smoking, drinking and exercising. The hypothesis was that EI would be negatively correlated with practices of smoking and drinking and would positively correlate with exercising. The findings were in conformity with the hypothesis and confirmed a relationship between health functioning and EI. The authors emphasized on the importance of emotional competences affecting health and personal lifestyle.
The unique role of emotional intelligence in developing management skills suggests the strong links between emotions and intelligence, especially in education and business areas. Latif (2004) describes the importance of using concepts of emotional intelligence in a management skills course. Latif cites Goleman that 'Emotional intelligence encompasses both personal and social competency' (Goleman, 1995). Personal competence is the ability to understand, identify and manage one's own emotions and to motivate oneself. This involves characteristics like self confidence, self control, initiative, trustworthiness, commitment, optimism, and self appraisal. Knowing one's strengths and weaknesses is an important aspect of emotional intelligence. The authors indicate that when concepts of emotional intelligence were applied to the management course, students' emotional intelligence seemed to increase after attending the management skills course.
Winters et al (2004) attempted to explain domestic abuse using the theory of emotional intelligence. Emotional Intelligence they suggest is a concept that captures the success or failure of a person in functioning adequately in their immediate environment. In their study 44 men and 76 students completed a survey on emotional quotient or EQ, the Propensity for Abusiveness Scale and Balanced Inventory of Desirable Responding. The results of all these studies indicated that batterers or abusive spouses scored significantly lower on all components of the Emotional Quotient when compared with the general population. The results also suggest that deficits in many components of emotional intelligence can actually increase propensity for abusiveness and the tendency to use violence at home. The authors discusses the implications of the findings and suggest was to relate domestic abuse with emotional intelligence to help control such crimes.
Emotions and intelligence have been systematically related to leadership abilities and according to Leban and Zulauf (2004) the changing scenario of business environment has resulted in a redesign of systems to decrease cost, to speed up product development and focus attention on customers. Project management strategies are used by organizations to implement strategic initiatives through projects and systems approach is used to analyze how systems components interact and managerial decision are made in the interest of the overall project. Project management is thus related and matched to business management in general. Leban and Zulauf studied 24 project managers and associated projects in six organizations from varied industries and their results indicated that a project manager's transformational leadership style and abilities have a positive impact on the project performance and also the emotional intelligence of a project manager contributes to a project manager's transformational leadership style and the subsequent project performance.
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Conclusion:
The concept of emotional intelligence and the wide ranging studies linking emotion and intelligence suggest that these psychological processes are intricately linked and play a significant role in all aspects of life.
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