What is emotional intelligence?

We all want to be successful. Regardless of the scope of that concept for each person, in general it means to obtain a happy result. Whether on a personal, family, financial, professional or spiritual level.

To achieve this, we have a genetic potential that offers us cognitive abilities and our temperament, which includes certain more or less predominant traits that can determine our strengths and weaknesses.

Of course, we must add to this the environmental advantages or disadvantages that influence our development, such as nutrition, education, environment, availability of learning resources or social opportunities.

Intelligence as such has always been a highly valued characteristic historically associated with the ability to progress in life. But it was seen only as the intellectual capacity that allows us to think abstractly, learn, speak, reason, solve problems, memorize and plan.

There are several tests to measure this faculty of the mind and for many years it was considered that obtaining a high IQ score was a guarantee of success. However, it has been shown that this is only one part of it.

There is another equally important set of skills that has a determining influence on our performance in any facet of life, on our well-being and on our ability to be happy. These are gathered in the so-called emotional intelligence (EI).

To reach our potential, we must exploit our cognitive capacities and strengths to the maximum. But emotions are present in everything we do. Their study is fundamental to understand ourselves, our environment and others. They are essential to motivate us, keep us focused and allow us to take advantage of difficulties if we learn to manage them well.

Emotional intelligence is defined as the ability to recognize emotions, either in ourselves or in others. It allows us to identify and appropriately name everything we feel. In addition, by managing emotions we can influence our thoughts and behaviors, and those of others. All this is a great advantage when it comes to adapt to the situations we face and find more ways to get what we want.

Origin of the term

Psychologists and psychiatrists began to explore other points of view to understand human capabilities, especially those related to understanding and motivation. They needed to understand why some people adapted better than others to life situations. How did people with high cognitive abilities have trouble adapting, relating and achieving their goals? For this it was necessary to broaden the concept of intelligence beyond the limits of cognitive functions. Thus, several theories began to emerge that brought us closer to this current concept.

Many people contributed their theories on this subject, Charles Darwin himself referred to the importance of being able to express emotions in the evolutionary process.

The way to understand the meaning of emotions and their role in adaptation began since then and among the most recognized points are:

• Edward L. Thorndike. His main contributions revolve around learning. He referred to the importance of understanding and managing people so that they could behave better, and defined this as social intelligence (1920).
• David Wechsler. In 1940 he described the influence of non-intellectual factors on the behavior and global intelligence of a person.
• Michael Beldoch. He is credited with being the first to mention this term (1964) introducing another way of looking at intelligence.

• Hanscarl Leuner. In 1966 he links the role of the family in the development of the emotional intelligence of infants but without developing the concept.
• Howard Gardner. He investigated cognitive abilities and is the creator of the theory of multiple intelligences (1983) as opposed to the existence of a single intelligence. Although he does not use the term as such, he refers to personal intelligence that includes intrapersonal and interpersonal intelligence.
• Raymond Cattell. Personality and intelligence scholar. Proposed the existence of fluid intelligence and crystallized intelligence (1985).
• Wayne Payne. He already includes the term in his doctoral thesis: A study of emotions.

• The development of emotional intelligence, 1985.

• Stanley Greenspan. Pioneer of psychotherapy of children with autism. He also proposed a model of emotional intelligence (1989). For him intelligence was one but much broader than the traditional conception. He conceived a dynamic approach where, among other things, emotion is the glue of intelligence.
• Peter Salovey and John D. Mayer. Psychologists who wrote numerous works dealing directly with the subject of emotional intelligence and laid the foundations for its further development (1990).

• Daniel Goleman, psychologist who became the main disseminator of emotional intelligence. In his definition he separates it from cognitive intelligence but emphasizes their interrelation and how they are complementary.

Interrelation between rationality and emotionality

The emotional centers precede the rational part of the brain, the neocortex. This gives it great influence over the global functioning of the brain including the thinking centers. So we have inherited this interrelated set of rationality and emotionality united by all kinds of connections that allow us to manage thoughts and feelings.

The limbic system is one of