Wiki Page, Emotional Intelligence: History of Emotional Intelligence

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2016-10-19T20:01:41-06:00

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The concept of emotional intelligence has been around since Aristotle. He wrote: “Anyone can become angry – that is easy. But to be angry with the right person, to the right degree, at the right time, for the right purpose, and in the right way – that is not easy.”

Even back then, the great philosophers understood the importance of managing your emotions. I am going to review a few noted developments in emotional intelligence.

1848: Phineas Gage – Emotional Center

In Antonio R. Damasio’s book Descartes’ Error he describes the case of Phineas Gage, a construction foreman who in 1848 survived a freak accident in which a 3 ½ foot iron rod passed through his head. Although Gage’s intellectual capacity was not affected, his emotional center (the prefrontal cortex) was damaged. He was no longer able to make good decisions since he lacked his emotional center.

1875: Charles Darwin – The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animal

Charles Darwin made the observation that in man and animals, the expression of emotions was similar. He was the first to posit that emotions were universal. Although the idea was dismissed by anthropologist Margaret Mead who believed that the expression of emotions changed from culture to culture, we now understand (through the work of people like Paul Ekman, author of Emotions Revealed) that emotions among humans are universal although the cultural display of emotions is not.

1936: Robert Thorndike – Social Intelligence

During World War II, Robert Thorndike worked as a psychometrician and was an Air Force Major. At the time, testing for pilots and bombardier crews was ineffective. Thorndike’s work included analyzing multiple abilities and developing more subtle techniques to test aircrew performance.

1940: David Wechsler, Ph.D. – Nonintellectual Intelligence

David Wechsler is best known for having developed tests that measure intelligence, such as the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS). He was responsible for developing the 100-point scale in intelligence testing. However, he also acknowledged and paid attention to the non-intellective abilities such as affective, personal, and social factors. He proposed that those non-intellective abilities were largely responsible for predicting success in life.

1972: Paul Ekman – Study of Emotion in the Human Face

In 1965, Paul Ekman was a graduate student and he received a grant to do cross-cultural studies of nonverbal behavior. He started the project believing that expression and gestures were something we learned from those around us. He asked a revered group of research psychologists and cultural anthropologists for advice, including people such as Margaret Mead, Gregory Bateson, Edward Hall, Ray Birdwhistell, and Charles Osgood.

Ekman is reported to have remembered that Charles Darwin had made the opposite claim, but reportedly did not read Darwin’s book, because he was so convinced that Darwin was wrong. Ekman travelled to Papua, New Guinea and discovered that what Charles Darwin said was true. He went on to map all of the emotions on the face in work that is often referred to in police investigations, by human resources interviewers, and others. His work was also relied upon heavily in the short-lived TV show “Lie to Me.”

1972: Candace Pert – Molecules of Emotion

Candace Pert wrote the book Molecules of Emotion and was the first to discover that emotions create a chemical change in the body that affects our health.

1973: Peter Sifneos – Alexithymia

Alexithymia literally means no words for emotion. In 1973, psychotherapist Peter Sifneos found that psychosomatic patients tended to have documentable constriction in emotional functioning, a “poverty of fantasy,” and an inability to find appropriate words to describe emotions.

1983: Howard Gardner– Multiple Intelligences

Howard Gardner formulated a list of seven intelligences. The first two have been evaluated and applied in terms of education and schooling, the next three often applied to the arts, and the last two often used in terms of our ability to work with others, and then to understand ourselves.

o Linguistic intelligence (involving language abilities)

o Logical-mathematical intelligence (involving analysis and math skills)

o Musical intelligence

o Bodily-kinesthetic intelligence (involving mental and physical co-ordination)

o Spatial intelligence (involving pattern recognition skills)

o Interpersonal intelligence (involving the ability to work with others)

o Intra-personal intelligence (involving the ability to understand oneself)

Where is your highest intelligence based on the seven intelligences of Gardner?

1983: Robert Sternberg – Non-Academic Intelligence

Psychologist Robert Sternberg believes that the focus on specific types of measurable mental abilities is too narrow. He believes that studying intelligence in this way leads to an understanding of only one part of intelligence and that this part is only seen in people who are school smart or book smart.

1983: Reuven Bar-On – Coined Term EQ and Created EQ-i®

Reuven Bar-On is a pioneer and internationally acknowledged expert in emotional intelligence. He has been involved in defining, measuring, and applying this concept since 1980, and was responsible for the term EQ as well as creating the EQ-i®, which is the first measure of emotional intelligence to be published. He co-edited the Handbook of Emotional Intelligence in 2000. His work has been described in encyclopedias, books, and articles.

1989: Peter Salovey and Jack Mayer – Emotional Intelligence as an Intelligence

In 1990, two American psychologists (Dr. Jack Mayer and Dr. Peter Salovey) were having a conversation about Gary Hart, a current political candidate who (although brilliant) seemed to consistently mess up because he couldn’t manage his emotions. He would misread situations and react in ways that did not help his political career. They purported that if there was a cognitive intelligence or IQ then there must be an emotional intelligence (sometimes known as EQ). They wrote a white paper article on emotional intelligence based on their findings.

1995: Daniel Goleman – Book on Emotional Intelligence

With a Ph.D. from Harvard, Dr. Daniel Goleman was working as a science writer for the New York Times. He chanced upon the whitepaper article written by Dr. Mayer and Dr. Salovey and he was intrigued by the concept.

Goleman sums up his position like this: “… emotional and social skills give people advantages in realms where such abilities make the most difference, like love and leadership. EI trumps IQ in ‘soft’ domains, where intellect matters relatively little for success.”

(Source: http://www.danielgoleman.info/when-emotional-intelligence-does-not-matter-more-than-iq/)

This means that in a competitive marketplace, and where intelligence levels are equal, EQ can be the determining factor for success.

1997: MHS – Publishes Bar-On EQ-i®

In 1997, Multi-Health Services (MHS) published the first fully validated test on emotional intelligence that was developed by Dr. Reuven Bar-On. Since that time many tests have been developed. The Bar-On EQ-i still remains the most widely used and highly validated test of social and emotional functioning.

2001: MSCEIT is published

The Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT) is the first published EI ability-based test. It uses the Multifactor Emotional Intelligence Scale (MEIS) to evaluate the four branches of emotional intelligence.

The Six Seconds Model