Five Dimensions of Emotional Intelligence

Modern view for Intelligence is not only limited on cognitive ability, but also on social intelligence, emotional intelligence, or practical intelligence or what scholars refer to as "street smarts" which indicates that an individual is not limited simply because he or she has a below average academic intelligence or IQ.

Researchers define the Emotional Intelligence as intrapersonal and interpersonal intelligences for the basis to make a conceptualization of EQ. Whereas intrapersonal intelligence is the ability to understand one's own emotions, interpersonal intelligence is one's ability to understand the emotions of others.
Goleman (1998) in his book Working with emotional intelligence. (New York: Bantum Books), found that EQ is twice as important than technical skills and IQ for jobs at all levels. He also reported that emotional intelligence plays an increasingly important role at the highest levels of a company. When he compared "Star performers with average ones in senior leadership positions, nearly 90% of the difference in their profiles was attributable to emotional intelligence factors rather than cognitive abilities".

Emotional intelligence refers to one's ability to be aware of one's own feelings, be aware of others' feelings, to differentiate among them, and to use the information to guide one's thinking and behavior. This definition consists of three categories of abilities: evaluation and expression of emotion, regulation of emotion, and using emotions in decision making. Other definition of EQ is "the capacity for organizing our own feelings and those of others, for motivating ourselves, and for managing emotions well in ourselves and in our relationships".
It appears that EQ relates to a number of non-cognitive skills, abilities, or competencies that influence an individual's capacity to deal with environmental demands and pressures.

EQ at work is a multidimensional construct consisting of five components, such as self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy, and social skills.

1. Self-Awareness is associated with the ability to be aware of which emotions, moods, and impulses one is experiencing and why. This also includes one's awareness of the effects of his or her feelings on others.
2. Self-Regulation refers to the ability to keep one's own emotions and impulses in check, to remain calm in potentially volatile situations, and to maintain composure irrespective of one's emotions.
3. Motivation represents the ability to remain focused on goals despite setbacks, to operate from hope of success rather than fear of failure, delaying gratification, and to accept change to attain goals.
4. Empathy refers to one's ability to understand the feelings transmitted through verbal and nonverbal messages, to provide emotional support to people when needed, and to understand the links between others' emotions and behavior.
5. Social Skills is associated with one's ability to deal with problems without demeaning those who work with him or her, to not allow own or others' negative feelings to inhibit collaboration, and to handle affective conflict with tact and diplomacy.

There are significant inter-correlations among the dimensions of EQ. These interrelationships should be explained so that leaders and managers can improve and use appropriate dimensions of EQ to increase their subordinates’ conflict management strategies and performance. It is possible that a change in one of the dimensions of EQ may affect other dimensions of EQ. Knowing how the various dimensions of EQ influence each other is important as each dimension may influence outcomes, not only directly but also through the mediation of its effects on other dimensions of EQ.


Source : The International Journal of Organizational Analysis, 2002, Vol. 10, No. 4, pp. 302–326
A MODEL OF EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE AND CONFLICT MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES: A STUDY IN SEVEN COUNTRIES, M. Afzalur Rahim, Center for Advanced Studies in Management, Clement Psenicka, Youngstown State University



In order to understand the emotional processes and deal with them effectively, we can review the model of emotional intelligence and conflict management strategies. From the model, one needs to have self-awareness and self-regulation. Empathy and social skills involve one's ability to perceive others' emotions, feelings, and needs and help others to regulate their emotions to achieve desirable goals. Motivation is needed to help an individual to remain focused for attaining goals. Several studies reported that self-awareness is an essential ability for enhancing managerial effectiveness.
Self-awareness is also a prerequisite for self-regulation, empathy, and social skills.
In workplace self-awareness positively influences self-regulation, empathy, and social skills; and self-regulation, in turn, influences empathy and social skills. Motivation is necessary for attaining goals so that social competence, such as empathy and social skills, help an individual to remain focused and attain goals.

But in some cases, negative relations among these dimensions are possible. For example, self-awareness may decrease motivation in situations where one realizes that goal attainment is difficult or impossible.