In recent years, the concept of “emotional intelligence” has been elevated to a pedestal. Emotional competence is declared almost the main key to success and well-being, there are a lot of studies confirming this thesis, and everyone is talking about them. But is everything so clear?
Charles Darwin, the creator of evolutionary theory, wrote about the importance of understanding emotions for human survival and evolution. This idea was then repeatedly repeated in the works of various scientists during the first half of the 1960th century, and in the 1995s the very concept of “emotional intelligence” arose. But it gained massive popularity with the release in XNUMX of the book of the same name by Daniel Goleman, which became an international bestseller.1. Since then, emotional intelligence has come to be recognized as an almost universal key to success. And this phrase is certainly found in the headlines of a great many books that tell how to achieve this very success in any field – from management and almost to cooking.
Weapons of office wars
And there is nothing strange here. The ability to understand emotions – both your own and those around you – is really very important. And if it is not there, then even the most sky-high IQ indicator is unlikely to help you reach heights in your career or happiness in relationships. But the hype about emotional intelligence (EQ) clearly obscures its negative features. Which also exist and attract more and more attention of psychologists.
In particular, many studies in recent years have found a connection between a high level of emotional intelligence and the so-called “dark triad of personality.” It includes psychopathy, narcissism and Machiavellianism (the tendency to deceive and deliberately manipulate others in order to achieve their own selfish goals). These three qualities do not necessarily occur all together, but the possession of at least one of them increases the likelihood of manifestation of the other two. True, there is no mention of the relationship between psychopathy and high emotional intelligence in psychological research. But there is already enough evidence of its connection with narcissism and manipulativeness. For example, in last year’s work of a team of Austrian psychologists2. The authors showed that people who have both narcissistic traits and high EQ often and willingly use their charm, ability to charm and understand others for not very plausible purposes.
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Another study3 testifies that modern offices serve as the most favorable “nutrient medium” for careerists with a high level of emotional intelligence. The office life of large companies seems to be specially built in such a way that it is easier to reach the heights of success by deceiving, manipulating and exaggerating one’s own merits than by demonstrating true competence and professionalism.
Source of self-confidence
And finally, one more important piece of evidence. In 2012, a group of Canadian psychologists conducted a curious experiment4. More than 20 student volunteers were shown XNUMX videos that aired on newscasts in different countries at different times. In all these videos, people appealed with a plea to help find relatives who suddenly disappeared without a trace. The truth was that in half the cases, the speakers later turned out to be directly involved in the disappearance and even murder of their relatives. And the students knew about it. They only did not know which of the speakers was sincerely experiencing the loss of a loved one, and who was lying cynically. This is what needed to be determined. And surprisingly, it is a fact that students with the highest level of emotional intelligence coped with this task worst of all.
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Scientists see a possible explanation for this result in the following. Emotionally intelligent people are aware of their ability to recognize the emotions of others. And this knowledge plays a cruel joke with them, turning into self-confidence. They no longer go into details and particulars, relying on the first impression and their own talents. As a result, it is easier for a skilled liar to deceive a person with a high, and not at all with a low level of EQ.
1 D. Goleman “Emotional Intelligence” (AST, 2008).
2 U. Nagler et al. «Is there a “dark intelligence”? Emotional intelligence is used by dark personalities to emotionally manipulate others». Personality and Individual Differences, vol. 76, April 2015.
3 M. Kilduff et al. «Strategic Use of Emotional Intelligence in Organizational Settings: Exploring the Dark Side». Research in Organizational Behavior, № 30, January 2010.
4 A. Baker et al. «Will get fooled again: Emotionally intelligent people are easily duped by high-stakes deceivers». Онлайн-публикация на сайте журнала Legal and Criminological Psychology от 18.05.2012.