Is EQ the New IQ?
Hello, happy minds! And welcome to another blog post where we explore an aspect of the human condition that I find endlessly fascinating, Emotional Intelligence. AKA: EQ. Are you sitting comfortably? Then, let’s dive straight in…
What The F Is EQ?
First off, the term EQ or ‘emotional quotient’ is kind of a play on IQ, or ‘intelligence quotient’ and is often used interchangeably with EI or ‘emotional intelligence’. It’s an idea that’s been bandied around since the 80’s, but studies on identifying the neurological component that goes into the development of emotional social skills has been going on since way back in the 50’s and beyond. Really, outside the sphere of academic work, it’s something that we have innately understood about ourselves and those around us since the dawn of civilisation.
Yes, some of us are incredibly academically smart – sometimes to a fault when it comes to social skills – but others of us have abilities which can make us just as successful in the workplace (or even more so) because we are able to demonstrate emotional intelligence. Specifically, but not exclusively, we’re talking about perceiving, using, understanding and managing emotions. I bet that, right now, you’re easily able to think of a few people in your life who are absolutely ace at this, and probably a few who are, sadly, lacking. We all have that friend who thinks they are incredibly amusing, but their jokes are tone-deaf and often, downright hurtful. Michael Gary Scott at Dunder Mifflin anyone? OK, he’s not exactly a personal friend so much as a fictional character in the beloved American Office sitcom, but since I’m coming off the back of my third re-watch, he’s beginning to feel like my annoying best friend who I would shake off if I wasn’t just so damn… NICE.
Speaking of niceness, isn’t emotional intelligence just that, just being nice? Well, actually there’s another side to emotional intelligence that protects those who possess it from just becoming everyone’s doormat. Remember that EQ is demonstrating a level of mastery over the emotions we show others while subtly observing the emotions they are displaying to us. This doesn’t always have to be a passive process either. Individuals with advanced EQ are able to disguise their true intentions from others while subtly influencing those around them. So it stands to reason that a developed EQ is a prerequisite within the most manipulative minds too. Lucky for us, most of them come with a healthy dose of empathy, otherwise they might use their nefarious superpower to rule the world! (or at least reign unopposed in middle-management hell).
What’s the Tea on IQ?
So, now that we have an understanding of what EQ is, how does it relate to IQ? Also, aren’t the two related? When I imagine the master manipulator in fiction, I think of Dumbledore (Harry Potter), Hannibal Lector (The Silence Of The Lambs), Mrs Danvers (Daphne Du Maurier) – I could go on all day, but we’re not talking academic slouches here by any stretch. Well, the history of mental agility testing stretches back to 1884, but the term IQ was coined by William Stern in 1912 who suggested that intelligence could be broadly assessed by taking an individual’s mental age and dividing it by their physical age. There are a ton of relevant IQ tests which we use to assess and compare intelligence in modern times, and if you would like to learn more about those, I suggest a brief segue onto the Mensa website (once you’re finished listening to me, obvs).
All IQ tests focus on assessing a range of attributes, including language skills, mathematical ability, memory, processing speed, reasoning and visual/spatial analysis. But critics of IQ testing would argue that it is not possible to identify one unified definition of intelligence, and all IQ tests exhibit our unconscious bias about what constitutes intelligence, including a cultural bias.
The Spectrum Of Smarts
On the other hand, to assess EQ, we’re really relying on self-reporting – notoriously unreliable for fans of Dunning/Kruger – or a standardised test, such as the MSCEIT (Mayer – Salovey – Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test) developed in 2002. But our framework for how we perceive and assess intelligence is changing all the time. Some psychologists now suggest that a complete picture requires analysis of four different quotients: IQ (intelligence quotient), EQ (emotional quotient), SQ (social quotient) and AQ (adversity quotient). This last one is actually how adaptable we are to change, which considering our technological advancement is currently running at an exponential curve, makes a heck of a lot of sense.
Consider that the greatest geniuses of the ancient world would be completely perplexed by a smartphone which most toddlers can operate intuitively. This of course raises the interesting question of whether Pythagoras would be a world champion at Snake or Tetris, references which I realise with a mounting feeling of horror reveal me to be a literal living fossil. So much for my AQ, huh?
As our modern world becomes more complex, clearly we are going to require more and more nuance to objectively assess our abilities to thrive within it. Perhaps one day soon we will recognise dozens of intelligence quotients which will control for factors as diverse as neurodiversity, culture and mental health. Or maybe, the human condition is too complex, too nuanced, to be reduced down to even the most sophisticated of tests. Perhaps, in this dawning age of artificial intelligence where anyone can outsource their conventional intelligence needs to a machine, emotional intelligence will become the currency of the future as the divide between machine learning and what we call humanity becomes ever more difficult to discern. Hmmm…Food for thought, eh?
If you’re curious about sharpening the tools in your EQ toolkit, have a gander at our Emotional Intelligence training sessions which cover a range of topics – from Navigating Change to Developing Empathy and becoming more Self-Aware. As usual, thanks for reading!
