KOMAL RIAZ Author is student of LLB (II). She is an active member of study circle.

EMOTIONAL QUOTIENT (EQ)

The concept of Intelligence Quotient (IQ) which relates to the determination of level of intellect or sharpness of mind of a person is very common. We normally use in our daily conversation that the IQ of a specific person is high or low. However the concept of Emotional Intelligence or Emotional Quotient is relatively new in the field of Psychological Research. Emotional Quotient (EQ) relates to the ability or skill to understand, evaluate and manage the emotions of ones self and others. This concept got familiarity with the publication of book titled 'Emotional Intelligence' by Daniel Goleman's in 1995. However, the first use of the term "Emotional Intelligence" is usually attributed to Wayne Payne's doctoral thesis, A study of emotion: Developing emotional intelligence from 1985. If we go into the background history, we find that early Emotional Intelligence theory was originally developed during the 1970's and 80's by the work and writings of psychologists Howard Gardner, Peter Salovey and John Mayer. Emotional Intelligence is increasingly relevant to organizational development and developing people, because the EQ principles provide a new way to understand and assess people's behaviors, management styles, attitudes, interpersonal skills, and potentials. Emotional Intelligence is an important consideration in human resources planning, job profiling, recruitment interviewing and selection, management development, customer relations, customer service, and much more. Thomas Edison once said that, Genius is 99% perspiration (E.Q.) and 1% inspiration (I.Q.). I.Q. is said to be set in stone, no matter when you take an I.Q. test you will receive, basically the same score. E.Q. however, is not set in stone. You can take E.Q. tests at different points in your life and find out that it has increased or decreased significantly. The basic reason is that the strength or weakness of emotions is affected by the age factor and environment. The word emotion is derived from the Latin verb "emoverse" meaning "to stir up" or "to move." Emotions may arise from internal or external stimulants which enkindle some needed actions to survive in the given circumstances. Some psychologists have listed primary emotions and they believe that primary emotions blend together to form the full spectrum of human emotional experience just like primary colors make up the whole range of colors. According to Robert Plutchik eight primary emotions are anger, fear, sadness, joy, disgust, curiosity / interest, surprise, and acceptance. Plutchik reasons that these eight are primary on evolutionary grounds, by relating each to behavior with survival value. For example, fear motivates flight from danger and anger motivates fighting for survival. They are considered to be part of our biological heritage and built into human nature.

The emotions have scientific elaboration. In the realm of memory, emotional events are laid down differently by a parallel memory system involving a brain area called the amygdala. Emotions appear to employ largely unconscious machinery. For example,brain areas involved in emotion will respond to angry faces that are briefly presented and then rapidly masked, even when subjects are unaware of having seen the face. Researchers believe that E.Q. is influenced by early attachment relationships. The way that you handle these relationships is what decides your E.Q. Through training you are able to increase your E.Q. Some companies provide E.Q. workshops to help their employees better understand themselves. Emotional Intelligence links strongly with concepts of love and spirituality: bringing compassion and humanity to work, and also to Multiple Intelligence Theory which illustrates and measures the range of capabilities people possess, and the fact that everybody has a value. This is the essential premise of EQ to be successful requires the effective awareness, control and management of one's own emotions, and those of other people. EQ embraces two aspects of intelligence: (a) Understanding yourself, your goals, intentions, responses, behavior and all and (b) Understanding others, and their feelings. Goleman identified the five 'domains' of EQ as: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Knowing your emotions. Managing your own emotions. Motivating yourself. Recognizing and understanding other people's emotions. Managing relationships, i.e., managing the emotions of others.

Emotional Intelligence embraces and draws from numerous other branches of behavioral, emotional and communications theories, such as Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP), Transactional Analysis, and empathy. By developing our Emotional Intelligence in these areas and the five EQ domains we can become more productive and successful at what we do, and help others to be more productive and successful too. The process and outcomes of Emotional Intelligence development also contain many elements known to reduce stress for individuals and organizations, by decreasing conflict, improving relationships and understanding, and increasing stability, continuity and harmony. The EQ concept argues that IQ, or conventional intelligence, is too narrow; that there are wider areas of emotional intelligence that dictate and enable how successful we are. Success requires more than IQ (Intelligence Quotient), which has tended to be the traditional measure of intelligence, ignoring essential behavioral and character elements. We have all met people who are academically brilliant and yet are socially and interpersonally inept. And we know that despite possessing a high IQ rating, success does not automatically follow. In short the significance of studies on EQ has increased with the expanding scope of knowledge. It has the same qualification in the field of law as well. The people related to field of Law everyday come across a number of stories which gave rise to conflicts and

disputes evoking the need of solution through law suits. These stories are brimmed with emotional and sentimental behavior of people. Legislators, advocates and judges may not ignore the emotional aspect of any incident. It can, therefore, be concluded that the knowledge of EQ should not be confined to the books of psychology; rather it should be made applicable to all fields of life. 1. Salovey, P. & Mayer, J.D. (1990) "Emotional intelligence" Imagination, Cognition, and
Personality, 2. Gardner, H. (1983). Frames of mind. New York: Basic Books. 3. Goleman, D. (1995). Emotional intelligence. New York: Bantam Books 4. Payne, W.L. (1983/1986). A study of emotion: developing emotional intelligence; self integration; relating to fear, pain and desire. Dissertation Abstracts International, 5. Goleman, D. (1998). Working with emotional intelligence. New York: Bantam Books 6. www.google.com 7. www.atlavista.com