Goleman's Emotional Intelligence

Emotional Intelligence (EI)

Emotional Intelligence (EI), sometimes called EQ, is the ability to perceive, understand, regulate and use emotions — your own and other people's — to inform thinking and behaviour. The most commonly used framework is Daniel Goleman's, which divides EI into four domains: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness and relationship management.

EI is distinct from IQ and only weakly correlated with it. The strongest empirical evidence supports EI as a learnable skill (especially in adulthood) rather than a fixed trait. Workplace meta-analyses show modest but consistent effects on leadership effectiveness, team cohesion and individual performance in roles that demand interpersonal contact. EI is NOT a substitute for technical competence and does not predict success in solitary or analytical work.