The relationship between Emotional Intelligence and Professional Success

Daniel Goleman, the author who made emotional intelligence popular, pointed out that “at best cases, IQ seems to contribute only 20% of the determining factors of success". Historically, it has been believed that the result of a job interview was determined by the score obtained on a test. standardized to measure intelligence quotient (IQ), since this variable would be related to greater professional success and performance labor. However, although these tests to measure intelligence continue to be used in some cases, IQ has suffered multiple criticisms, some pointing out that the test was biased and others questioning its statistical validity.

Within this sector that challenges IC, research, articles and texts began to be published in the last decades of the last century. who postulated the need to shed light on those “corners of intelligence” that could not be captured by the most rigorous test. accepted. In the early 1980s, Howard Gardner developed a new model to understand human intelligence, based on multiple intelligences. Later, Mayer and Salovey began to use the construct of

emotional intelligence to describe “a type of social intelligence that is based on understanding one's own emotions and those of others, discriminate between them, and use that information to guide thinking and actions. Actions".

When Goleman published his book Emotional Intelligence, the term sparked interest among the general population and became popular beyond the “psi” field, especially because emotional intelligence would seem to be able to displace IQ in terms of its ability to predict a person's professional success. In this article we will address how these two factors are closely related.

• Related article: "Emotional psychology: main theories of emotion"

The concept of emotional intelligence

There are several authors who have described this construct, but there is still general agreement that emotional intelligence It is the necessary skill to recognize one's own feelings and those of others, being able to manage them when connecting with others. the rest. Emotional intelligence provides the ability to positively modify internal emotions and relationships with others. others, since some authors affirm that emotional intelligence could affect emotions, thoughts and the will to Act.

People who are emotionally intelligent are aware of their own emotions, and to achieve this, they must be in the present moment, living in the here and now.. Additionally, they are able to regulate emotions so that they do not intensify to the point of obstructing their ability to understand other emotional states. In a way, people with high emotional intelligence can “take off the glasses” of a very intense emotion to observe their own thoughts and other emotions beyond the first one.

Five skills related to emotional intelligence

For his part, Goleman indicates that there are five personal and social skills that are related to emotional intelligence:

• Empathy: It is the ability to see the phenomena of the world from the perspective of others and understand them. Social skills: involves knowing how to manage one's own emotions in a relationship and interpret the emotions in others according to the relationship dynamics. It means knowing how to resolve conflicts, cooperate, lead and influence.
• Self-knowledge: it is knowing how to label what emotion or thought is being experienced in the present and guide that knowledge in decision making.
• Self-regulation: It means managing emotions so that they facilitate the tasks to be carried out and do not become a hindrance. On the other hand, it involves knowing how to ask for help or make wiser decisions when you are unable to regulate an emotion.
• Motivation: it is knowing how to use one's own preferences to guide oneself and move towards one's personal goals. For Goleman, people with high emotional intelligence are committed to their projects, take the initiative and tend to be optimistic.

The value of empathy in the world of work

Having laid out the main qualities of people with emotional intelligence, it is increasingly clear how useful emotional intelligence could be for the realization of personal projects and the establishment of healthier social and emotional ties. It also demonstrates the reason why companies and organizations increasingly want to recruit people with this type. of characteristics: empathy gives rise to many skills necessary for work and success professional. Empathy involves understanding others, but also helping them develop at work – a key aspect in relation to leadership; Empathy helps to take advantage of diversity in the work environment, to handle difficult situations and to work as a team. Empathic people have the social skills necessary to know how to communicate without hurting others. person, but defending their own position and interests with the aim of obtaining what they want or reaching an agreement.

The relationship between professional success and emotional intelligence on an experimental level

Goleman proposed that a person could have an average or even below average IQ and still be more successful. professional than a person with a high IQ but lacking the skills to recognize their own emotional states and those of others. others. Although these types of statements, so forceful, are extremely captivating, over the years they have been carried out experimental and correlational studies that provided a certain scientific rigor to the initial contributions of Goleman. These investigations asked whether emotional intelligence could really predict professional success and job performance with such certainty.

To point out some studies, in 2006, Cameli and Josman found in a sample that emotional intelligence was positively related to performance in solving a task; In 2010, Jorfi and collaborators found in a group of managers and employees of the area educational administration of Iran that emotional intelligence had a positive impact on their labor performance. These are just two cases among hundreds of studies that have been carried out around the world in recent decades, which indicate, in general terms, that Goleman's theoretical contributions are also valid when contrasted with empirical data. We can affirm, then, that emotional intelligence is closely linked to professional success, which is why it is It is a skill that all people who wish to undertake a work or personal project should try. cultivate.