Читать книгу Summary: Emotional Intelligence. Why it can matter more than IQ. Daniel Goleman - Smart Reading, Ольга Ганкова - Страница 2

In the preface to the third edition of his book, Daniel Goleman proudly states that he was the one who popularized the term "emotional intelligence". Prior to the publication of his book, this term was known only to a limited circle of specialists. Today, some 23 years later, the term has become so common that it is often used not only in the media, but also in advertising.

The concept of "intelligence quotient" (IQ) was introduced in the early 20th Century, but it became truly trendy in the 1960s, when it spurned the subsequent widespread use of IQ tests. Finally, people could use a simple and clear tool for assessing intelligence. Following its introduction, the test reduced a person’s entire set of abilities, skills, and potential to one single figure. What was the result? Recruitment soon became the comparison and analysis of numbers. Employers did not shy away from telling potential candidates that they were only interested in the intellectual abilities of future employees, thus making IQ testing a decisive factor in hiring.

However, it soon became clear that the scope of a person’s personality could not be reduced to just one figure. High IQ, as it turned out, was not always the key to success. It soon became clear that a less one-sided way of assessing a person’s potential was needed. Scientists started talking about the role of emotions as a success factor, not only in people’s persona lives but also in their professional lives.

As a result, the term "emotional intelligence" (EI) appeared, which could now address the degree of emotional development of people, their ability to understand their own emotions and the emotions of other people and how they could influence them.

This book is about how psychology has evolved towards an understanding of emotional intelligence. The first part of the book is devoted entirely to a detailed explanation of where in the brain emotions originate and what provokes them, as well as how they affect other brain processes. The author explains to us what emotions are and how important it is to learn to recognize them in yourself and others. In the second part of the book, the author explains how to put emotions to good use and how to manage them. The third part of the book is devoted to emotional development. It explains how a person learns to be capable of emotions and why the right environment for emotional development is so important.

Daniel Goleman’s book was virtually the first source of popular science literature in this area. His book contains significant amounts of scientific evidence available at that time concerning the importance of develop emotional intelligence. Now the book is over 20 years old, but it is still relevant and worth reading in order to gain fundamental knowledge about how emotions affect us and our lives, and what we can do with them.