Chapter 8: “Emotional Intelligence”: What Does it Measure and Does it Matter for Leadership?

Emotional intelligence (EI) has stormed pell-mell into the individual-differences psychology scene. Apart from conflicting evidence regarding the utility of the construct, EI proponents cannot come to an agreement as to how to define or how to measure EI; there is also considerable controversy regarding what EI is supposed to measure or predict. EI researchers have made some inroads by strengthening their theories and measures; yet, they still face disappointing empirical evidence and mounting criticism of their construct.

Part of the confusion regarding the construct stems from the broadness with which EI has been defined. Some have defined EI by exclusion; anything that is not IQ must be EI (see Sternberg, 1999, for a nice critique). The proponents of “trait” models, with Goleman (1995, 1998) at the helm, measure EI using self-rating questionnaires. Goleman and his colleagues have gone on to make some sensational but farandinical claims about EI; however, none of claims have been backed up with hard, peer reviewed data using strong controls. For instance, Goleman, Boyatzis, and McKee (2002) recently stated among other things that: