Review of Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman
This is a book review of Daniel Goleman’s Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ.
I purchased the 10th anniversary edition of this “groundbreaking book that redefines what it means to be smart”. 10 years following the release of his book, Goleman’s development and popularization of emotional intelligence (EQ or EI) has built this new field of study that assists with parenting, teaching, managing people, personal success, and general wellbeing. Emotional Intelligence is an insightful book in a new field that’ll satisfy any curiosity to understand emotions.
The broad subject of emotional intelligence describes how you manage yourself and other people’s emotions. Emotional skills related to the self include, but not limited to: self-awareness, impulse control, handling stress and anxiety, self-motivation, and coping skills; while emotional skills related to relationships include, but not limited to: reading social and emotional cues, awareness of others’ perspectives, sociability, motivating people, managing conflict, and listening. Nearly all these skills play an influential role in success and happiness.
Long gone are the days a person’s intelligence quotient (IQ) predicates his or her success. Research shows IQ to contribute only 20% to one’s success with the remaining majority accounted for by emotional and social intelligence. Book after book now emphasizes the importance of managing your emotions and knowing how to work with other people’s emotions. If you lack emotional intelligence, you bear the consequences in bad relationships and communication.
Goleman, having received his PhD from Harvard and reported on the brain and human behavior at the New York Times for twelve years, has jammed his eye-opening book with research and hundreds of studies related to emotional skills. At the beginning of the book, for example, Goleman provides insight into the emotional and rational parts of the brain. He explains the neurology behind emotions, along with their evolutionary use, which lay the foundation for the book. Goleman sends a warning about the technicalities of this section – that it can be skipped because it’s not necessary to comprehend the book. (This section on neurology is fascinating nonetheless.)
The next section defines the nature of emotional intelligence. This section has discussions on: when smart is dumb, the development of empathy, depression, anger, happiness, optimism, focus, and much more.
The third section titled “Emotional Intelligence Applied” deals with emotions in marriage, families, trauma, business teams, and the human body. The eleventh chapter, “Mind and Medicine”, will blow you away with the latest findings on how emotions affect different parts of the human body, such as the central nervous system, immune system, and heart.
The last few chapters of Emotional Intelligence advise how parents can teach their children and teachers educate their students on emotional skills. Any principal, teacher, parent, or person involved in a child’s life will find the book’s research and insights on children’s emotional intelligence shockingly real. From guaranteed ways to predict a child’s future temperament to the development of abusive, unsociable, or delinquent children, you will learn a lot about the emotional intelligence of children. I found the research on empathy and emotional development in babies amazing. The stories of babies and toddlers empathizing with young children by sharing blankets or comforting had my nose deep into the book.
Overall, if you’re after a book that explains how you can develop emotional skills, I weakly advise you to read this book. Though there are many skills buried in Goleman’s classic, the book is more about understanding the role emotions play in our personal lives and relationships than it is about developing emotional skills. With around 300 citations of research mostly from academic journals, Emotional Intelligence bridges the impact emotions have in our lives from academic studies to the general public.
Lastly, I hope for emotional intelligence to continue broadening in people’s lives. It’s a field of study with monumental potential to shape social and worldly issues. After reading the book, you will see the importance of emotional skills in life that schools need to teach children.
Because emotional intelligence largely determines happiness, success, and the quality of relationship communication, you are sure to get a lot of powerful information on emotions in this well-written book. The book flows smoothly and should have your life doing the same. You can grab your copy of Daniel Goleman’s Emotional Intelligence from Amazon by clicking here today.
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Update: What Christmas present did you get for yourself? You can tell me ;-) None for me this year.
Hi, I’m doing an assignment for uni and have read that Kun & Demetrovics, 2010, argue that a lower level of emotional intelligence corresponds with an increased problematic drug use and that this is stated in Goleman’s book. Does this mean that having a lower level of emotional intelligence means you are more uncontrolled. Please can you clarify this for me. Thankyou.