Part I: Getting Started with the EQ-i 2.0
The Building Blocks of Emotional Intelligence
EI and the Brain
A wealth of information has been generated over recent years concerning the emotional implications for performance success and the role emotions play in survival and everyday decision making. Recent technological advances in the study of emotion (e.g., fMRI, EEG, etc.) have shed light on the cortical and sub-cortical structures of the brain linked to the emotion-network that drives how we think, feel, and act. Of particular interest are the sub-cortical structures of the thalamus, cingulate cortex, amygdala and the cortical regions, such as the temporal lobe and the pre-frontal cortex. In the event one of these areas should become impaired, so too does the individual’s ability to process or use information effectively, often affecting thoughts, feelings, and actions. This structure-function relationship maintains implications for stress tolerance, well-being, decision-making, and success. However, to date little empirical research has directly linked EI to the very neural mechanisms that have been demonstrated to have a direct impact on what we perceive, how we react, the decisions we make, and ultimately the quality of life we lead.
According to the somatic marker hypothesis (Damasio et al., 1991), when we make a decision we first weigh the pros and cons or the benefits/consequences of the response options, a process that requires both emotional and cognitive processing. However, when faced with a simple choice, we often resort to cognitive rules to assist in the decision process; as the decision becomes more complex or we place greater value on the outcome, our cognitive rules may not be sufficient to render a decision and we get stuck! Enter emotions and the somatic marker hypothesis.
Somatic markers are simply connections between a stimulus (i.e., choice) and a resulting physiological sensation we experience when presented with such a stimulus. When presented with a given stimulus we experience certain sensations which in turn bias or influence our decisions. In most cases, the somatic marker directs attention to the most meaningful information to enhance decision making (Damasio et al., 1991); however, in the event a deficit in emotional processing is evident, decision making and judgment become impaired.
Bar-On et al., (2003) set out to determine whether individuals with impaired somatic markers (i.e., lesions to the ventromedial prefrontal cortex; VMPFC) would reflect that impairment through abnormal emotional intelligence. In this case, damage to the VMPFC is often associated with impaired judgment and decision making and, in turn, should be reflected by lower scores in EI. Comparing patients with lesions to various brain regions, Bar-On et al., (2003) demonstrated that those with lesions to the VMPFC reported lower EI despite showing no difference in IQ. Given the implications of VMPFC in the somatic marker hypothesis for decision making and subsequent behavior, Killgore and Yurgelon-Todd (2007) set out to assess the link between VMPFC activation (measured using fMRI) and levels of emotional intelligence. Similar to the results of Bar-On (2003), Killgore and Yurgelon-Todd reported that adolescents with relatively low emotional intelligence respond to emotionally provocative pictures with greater and more extensive brain activation than do those with well-developed emotional intelligence. In other words, emotional intelligence can moderate the impact of stressful stimuli, allowing the brain to operate more efficiently under stressful conditions (Haier et al., 1992).
Damage to temporal lobe functioning has been reliably linked to increased agitation, difficulty managing emotions, heightened irritability and, more recently, impaired social cognition (Walpole, Isaac, & Reynders, 2008). If damage or functional impairment of the temporal lobe presents emotional challenges, then perhaps the temporal region of the brain is linked to EI. Walpole et al., (2008) in a controlled experiment measured the emotional intelligence of patients with temporal lobe epilepsy and a healthy cohort matched for age and IQ. These findings suggest that impairment to the medial temporal lobe is related to lower emotional intelligence and impaired facial recognition, and to greater psychological distress as compared to healthy individuals.
To this point, emotional intelligence has been linked to VMPFC and the temporal lobe by means of comparing relatively healthy individuals to those with a structural deficit. In a series of studies conducted by Killgore and colleagues (Kahn-Greene, Lippizzi, Conrad, Kamimori, & Killgore, 2006; Killgore, Kahn-Greene, Lipizzi, Newman, Kamimori, & Balkin, 2008; Killgore, Killgore, Day, Li, Kamimori, & Balkin, 2007) healthy participants were used in a repeated measures design to isolate the simulated effects of VMPFC impairment on emotion functioning. Killgore et al., (2008) were able to demonstrate the cortical connection of emotional intelligence to the prefrontal cortex via sleep deprivation. It has been shown that sleep deprivation can result in temporary impairment of the prefrontal cortex, resulting in difficulties regulating higher-order executive functions such as impulse control, inhibition of aggression, willingness to act in a socially acceptable way (Kahn-Greene et al., 2006), and moral judgment (Killgore et al., 2007). When comparing sleep deprived EQ-i results to baseline results, sleep deprived participants reported decreased Total EQ, Intrapersonal, Interpersonal, and Stress Management Composite scores (Killgore et al., 2008), and those scoring lower at baseline were more susceptible to decrements in moral judgment performance (Killgore et al., 2007).
Although the neurological work investigating the substrates of emotional and social intelligence is relatively young, the results show promise for enhancing our understanding of the role emotional intelligence plays in our capacity to meet our daily demands. Emotional intelligence appears to have a broad neurological representation which, in turn, serves to moderate the effects of emotional stimuli affecting both our decisions and behaviors.