Hi Tessa,
Thank you for your detailed response. I appreciate you taking the time to relay so much information. I’d like to repay the favor.
First, I’m wondering if you’re talking about Daniel Goldman? I have not read his book, so I have no opinion about it or his qualifications. However, I do know he isn’t responsible for the creation of Emotional Intelligence as a concept.
That was Wayne Leon Pain in 1985, but John Mayer and Peter Salovey were the first to conduct a study on it called, Emotional Intelligence in 1990 (which you can find here: https://scholars.unh.edu/psych_facpub/450/)
Daniel Goldman came across the study and used the term and their findings (with their permission) in his book, and he gave them credit. It’s understandable why he gets so much credit for the term, but unfortunately, he just made it popular.
Secondly, the study you referenced near the beginning was published in 2005, since then there’s been much more research on the topic. Though it does continue to be debated, here are some more recent studies.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5981239/
https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2019-74947-001
As far as the types of intelligence, I appreciate you explaining the seven kinds, I’m also familiar with them. While you’re correct that emotional intelligence specifically isn’t singled out, it seems to me that it would naturally fall under the Intrapersonal Intelligence along with attributes like self-awareness or introspection.
Yes, I’m quite aware of the statistics of psychopaths, though given their lack of empathy, compassion, and guilt, I wouldn’t call them experts at emotional intelligence.
They’re successful because of their lack of emotions and attachment. Which from an evolutionary standpoint, may seem as though it’s the path to success in the short term--but we’ve seen enough examples of what happens when psychopaths and sociopaths rule, and the quality of care to employees within a workplace when psychopaths are CEOs.
Needless to say, it doesn’t end well for anyone but them. And even then, their behavior is getting them into trouble these days.
Though I agree that emotions and emotional intelligence can be used for manipulations, like most things in life, how its handled is based on the user. People with high IQs can also be highly manipulative.
Also, standardized testing was designed for measuring IQ specifically and since our society was built around this narrow view of intelligence, it stands to reason people with high IQ’s excel.
But as we continue to progress, we’re finding this method of learning is outdated and doesn’t prepare children for the world as well as it used to. Just take a look at the rising mental health issues in youth over the last decade.
IQ and EQ serve two different purposes. While the people you’re speaking of may make more money, it doesn’t mean they’re happier or more fulfilled.
Lastely, you quote the first paragraph of the Scientific American article, the rest of it discusses the mental health issues of high (IQ) intelligent people. Further down in the same article it states, "The survey of Mensa’s highly intelligent members found that they were more likely to suffer from a range of serious disorders." While also in the end, stating the results need to be looked at closely because other factors could be at play.
While I appreiciateyour opinion on my relationship issues, I think you'd find by the ed of my article that I solved my problems and have since had no issues.
Either way, thank you for contributing to a stimulating conversation.
