Is Emotional Intelligence a Bankrupt Concept?

In a recent comment to a Jim Heskett post on Harvard Business School’s Working Knowledge blog (“Neuro Economics: Science or Science Fiction?“), Dick Meza of Chapman University College said:

Emotional Intelligence in the past few years has had to suffer through similar scrutiny like “The Fadification of Emotional Intelligence” or “Business Susceptibility to Consulting Fads: The Case of EI.” Both positive and negative reviews eventually lead to four conclusions about EI:

1. EI is often poorly defined and poorly measured.
2. The relationship between emotional intelligence and other concepts, including general intelligence, social skills, and personality, is not adequately understood.
3. The most widely publicized claims about the relationship between EI and success in school, in the workplace, and in life are not supported and, in some important cases, are almost certainly untrue.
4. There are some reasons for optimism about the future of EI, but there is still a long way to go before this concept will come close to living up to the hype.

The points are that the post’s topic, Neuro-Economics, will probably be similar.

About the Author

Forrest Christian

Twitter Google+

E. Forrest Christian is a consultant, coach, author, trainer and speaker at The Manasclerk Company who helps individuals and companies find insight and solutions to what seem like insolvable problems. Cited for his "unique ability and insight" by his clients, Forrest has worked with people from almost every background, from artists to programmers to executives to global consultants, both as individuals and as leaders of organizations at least as diverse. [contact]