Seven Myths About Emotional Intelligence

TLDR: In this paper, the authors examine seven myths about emotional intelligence and the prospects for an eventual science of El and identify weaknesses in evidence and evidence that challenge the value of the El construct.

Abstract: Inspired by an influx of academic research, the writ ingof several best-selling trade texts, and frequent me dia exposure, emotional intelligence (El) has emerged recently as one of the most high profile of the psycholog ical constructs (Matthews, Zeidner, & Roberts, 2002). The concept has also prospered due both to cultural trends and orientations that stress the previously ne glected role of the emotions (with some claiming it con stitutes a zeitgeist) and to increasing efforts at standard ized assessment of individual differences in El (Mayer, Salovey & Caruso, 2000a). Common claims suggest that tests for El are predictive of important educational and( occupational criteria, beyond that proportion of variance that general intellectual ability predicts. Thus, the field has increasingly important implications for so ciety, particularly in the impetus to improve emotional fuinctioning in real life. Proponents of El claim that indi v iduals can enjoy happier and more fulfilled lives if they ar-e aware of both their own emotions and those of other people and able to regulate those emotions effectively. Another reason for the widespread, often uncritical, em bracing of the El construct is the suggestion that El gives hope for a more utopian, classless society. This vision for the future stands in contrast to research suggesting a preordained "cognitive elite" (Herrnstein & Murray, 1'994) because El is within anyone's realm to learn and cultivate. Goleman's (1995) widely read book claims that raising El is a panacea for all manner of psychologi cal and social problems. Despite the seeming importance of these claims, scientific investigation of a clearly identified construct of El is sparse. Many of the current propositions pre sented in bo h the populist and specialist literature have littl empirical substance (Matthews, Zeidner et al., 2002). Stripped of scientific trappings, it remains plausible that El is nothing but the latest in a long line of psychological fads. On the other hand, because sys tematic scientific research is just beginning, EI could ind ed mature into a construct that is theoretically me ningful, empirically important, and practically useful. In this article, we examine seven myths about El, that is, st ong, widely believed claims that purport edly give the concept of El scientific credibility. In each case, we identify weaknesses in evidence and ar gument that challenge the value of the El construct. Today's myth could become tomorrow's accepted wisdom, or it could be conclusively falsified. For each claim, we also evaluate the likelihood that it will even tually be substantiated by research. This article focuses on what we see as the key shortcomings of current work on El and the prospects for an eventual science of El. How ver, we also acknowledge the intrinsic inter est of the subject material and the various research ef for s inspired by the concept. Our aim is not to dismiss work on El out of hand, but to examine where the first wave of research on the construct is meeting barriers to progress, and whether those barriers can be overcome.