What We Know about Emotional Intelligence: How It Affects Learning, Work, Relationships, and Our Mental Health [Hardcover]

Moshe Zeidner (Author), Gerald Matthews (Author), Richard D. Roberts (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 20, 2009

Sorting out the scientific facts from the unsupported hype about emotional intelligence.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Despite all its detractors, it seems emotional intelligence is here to stay. Zeidner, Roberts, and Matthews have done a fantastic job of pulling together all facets of EI - the good and the bad - and presenting them in a single readable volume."--Neal Ashkanasy, University of Queensland Business School, Australia, and co-author of Managing Emotions in the Workplace

About the Author

Emotional intelligence (or EI)--the ability to perceive, regulate, and communicate emotions, to understand emotions in ourselves and others--has been the subject of best-selling books, magazine cover stories, and countless media mentions. It has been touted as a solution for problems ranging from relationship issues to the inadequacies of local schools. But the media hype has far outpaced the scientific research on emotional intelligence. In What We Know about Emotional Intelligence, three experts who are actively involved in research into EI offer a state-of-the-art account of EI in theory and practice. They tell us what we know about EI based not on anecdote or wishful thinking but on science. What We Know about Emotional Intelligence looks at current knowledge about EI with the goal of translating it into practical recommendations in work, school, social, and psychological contexts.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 464 pages
• Publisher: A Bradford Book (March 20, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 026201260X
• ISBN-13: 978-0262012607
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #722,307 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Science of EI, September 6, 2010

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daffodil4 "avid knitter" (Kansas) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: What We Know about Emotional Intelligence: How It Affects Learning, Work, Relationships, and Our Mental Health (Hardcover)

I am a workplace educator who has an interest in Emotional Intelligence. I have read much of Goleman's work, but I had a persistant feeling that I was not getting the whole story behind EI. A professor recommended this book to me and described it as the "science" behind EI. She was not kidding. The book quickly lays out the working definitions of EI and compares Goleman's work to that of Salovey-Mayer. Goleman fans will find their hero being beat up from time to time. This book also lays out the foundational constructs of EI (Meta-Cognition and accurate emotion labeling). The authors quickly point out that much of the current reseach on EI is based on self-report studies which have a dubious track record in this arena. But because self-reports are the only studies to rely on at this time the authors then spend the rest of the book summarizing what little we can discern from them, particularly as they relate to the workplace, stress and therpy.

As a practitioner I am glad I read this book. Due to its textbookish nature I feel I have a firm understanding of the science behind EI and its basic construct, but after the first 100 pages I really did not learn anything new that I can take to the EI bank. The final chapter leaves the reader feeling that the book would be more accurately titled, "We don't know much about EI." Regardless I recommend the book as a Ying to Goleman's Yang.

For what it is worth I think any future endeavours should include the perspectives of a broad range of pyschological research. Noticibly absent from the book was any mention from the field of neuroscience (which started the whole EI thing in the 90s if I am not mistaken.).