wunder beta🫂 Emotional Intelligence
The skill of reading and steering emotions, and why it can rival raw IQ.
What you’ll learn
- Define emotional intelligence and compare the main models that describe it.Emotional intelligence is perceiving, understanding, using, and managing emotions; the Salovey-Mayer ability model and Goleman's broader mixed model are the two leading frameworks.
- Explore the inner skills of emotional intelligence: self-awareness, regulation, and motivation.Self-awareness is the foundation; understanding the amygdala hijack enables self-regulation, and internal motivation channels emotion toward long-term goals.
- Examine the social skills of emotional intelligence and how to develop EQ honestly.Empathy and social skills apply emotional intelligence to relationships; the field warrants both appreciation and rigor, and EQ is largely learnable through practice.
Questions this course answers
Who formally proposed the concept of emotional intelligence in 1990?
Psychologists Peter Salovey and John D. Mayer formally proposed emotional intelligence in 1990; Goleman later popularized it in 1995.
What are the four branches in the Salovey-Mayer ability model?
The ability model's four branches are perceiving, using, understanding, and managing emotions, building from basic to complex.
How does Goleman's mixed model differ from the ability model?
Goleman's mixed model adds motivation, social skills, and personality-like traits, making it broader but harder to measure than the ability model.
Why is self-awareness considered foundational to emotional intelligence?
Self-awareness underpins the other skills because recognizing your emotions is a prerequisite for regulating them and reading others.
What is an 'amygdala hijack'?
Goleman's amygdala hijack describes the threat-processing amygdala triggering a strong reaction before the reasoning prefrontal cortex can intervene.
What does healthy self-regulation involve?
Self-regulation means managing reactions and choosing a response, not suppressing feelings; tools like pausing and naming emotions help.
Grounded in trusted sources
- Salovey, P., & Mayer, J. D. (1990). Emotional intelligence. Imagination, Cognition and Personality, 9(3), 185-211.
- Goleman, D. (1995). Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ. Bantam Books.
- Mayer, J. D., Salovey, P., & Caruso, D. R. (2002). MSCEIT (Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test).
- Harvard Graduate School of Education, Explore SEL, 'Four Branch Model of Emotional Intelligence'.
- Noba Project, 'Emotional Intelligence'.
- EBSCO Research Starters, 'Emotional Intelligence (EI)'.
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