Emotional Intelligence

What is it? What characteristics make up EI? Is it a valid concept? Is it an inborn trait? Can it be taught? How do children learn to express and manage their emotions? Should there be attempts to “teach” EI in schools? Are there any schools with a program for teaching EI? Have there been studies that show a relationship between a measurement of EI and success? Has it been successfully measured? Where are tests of EI currently used? How is the concept of EI used in some corporate or business institutions. Are there critics of EI? Do individuals with Asperger’s Syndrome lack EI? What about bullies? Finding research that attempts to answer these questions will be useful. Don’t attempt to address all of these questions; Choose a few or your own and search for some relevant information. Click on the link below to view a video that is one of the tests of emotional intelligence that has been studied in young children. It is known as the marshmallow test first conducted by Walter Mischel at Stanford University in the 1960’s. A group of four-year-olds were given a marshmallow and told that they would be given two marshmallows if they did not eat that one. They had to wait for 20 minutes. These children were followed into their adolescent years, and, based on surveys of their parents and teachers, it was determined that the children who waited in order to get the two marshmallows were better adjusted, more dependable, and scored 210 points higher on the SAT.