Will the Real Emotional Intelligence Please Stand Up? On Deconstructing the Emotional Intelligence "Debate"

Abstract

Neal Ashkanasy and I (Catherine Daus) had the distinct “pleasure” of debating Ed Locke and Frank Landy on the construct of emotional intelligence at this past SIOP Annual Conference in Orlando. I, unintelligently (emotionally or otherwise!), agreed to substitute for Peter Salovey who had professional commitments that precluded him from attending. Apart from the discomfort of being in Frank Landy’s direct line of fire (to which anyone who has had the privilege could certainly attest) and the sheer intimidation factor of standing and speaking to an audience of standing-room-only capacity (Neal calculated about 350+ people), I feel the experience was enlightening and valuable to me, as I learned what concerns academics in our field have with the construct of emotional intelligence. However, it was also quite frustrating as I feel that some academics in our field have a rather limited exposure and a very narrow-minded, unsubstantiated view of the construct. The primary arguments proffered by Landy and Locke can be captured in three broad points: 1. Emotional intelligence is little more than a loose conglomeration of extant personality traits. 2. Emotional intelligence does not meet psychometric standards. 3. Emotional intelligence has no clear measurement rubric—it changes all the time.