Emotional intelligence

Emotional intelligence (EI) is defined as the ability to recognize, manage, and evaluate emotions. Emotional intelligence, according to some researchers, can be learned and strengthened, while others believe it is a natural trait. Self-reporting and ability tests are commonly used to assess EI.

It's important to be able to express and control emotions, but it's also important to be able to understand, interpret, and respond to the emotions of others. Consider a world in which you couldn't tell when a friend was sad or when a coworker was angry. Emotional intelligence is a term used by psychologists to describe this ability, and some experts believe it is more important than IQ in terms of overall life success.

Origins
The term "emotional intelligence" didn't enter our lexicon until the 1990s. Despite the fact that it is a relatively new term, interest in the concept has exploded since then.

Early Developments
Edward Thorndike, a psychologist, coined the term "social intelligence" in the 1930s to describe the ability to get along with others. Psychologist David Wechsler proposed in the 1940s that various effective components of intelligence could play a significant role in people's life success.

Later Developments
In the 1950s, the humanistic psychology school of thought arose, and thinkers like Abraham Maslow began to pay more attention to the various ways in which people could develop emotional strength.

The concept of multiple intelligences emerged as another important concept in the development of emotional intelligence. Howard Gardner proposed this concept in the mid-1970s, arguing that intelligence was more than just a single, general ability.

Evolution
Wayne Payne's doctoral dissertation, published in 1985, was the first to use the term "emotional intelligence." Keith Beasley coined the term "emotional quotient" in an article published in Mensa Magazine in 1987.

In the journal Imagination, Cognition, and Personality, psychologists Peter Salovey and John Mayer published their seminal article "Emotional Intelligence" in 1990. "The ability to monitor one's own and others' feelings and emotions, to discriminate among them, and to use this information to guide one's thinking and actions," they defined emotional intelligence.