Emotional Intelligence: Between Business, Culture and History

This paper traces the development of the concept of emotional intelligence (EI), beginning with nineteenth century conceptions of IQ. It follows a trajectory from there to Gardner, and then to Mayer and Salovey, and finally to Goleman. The aim of this analysis is to examine the philosophical assumptions that underpin each construct, and to locate these in a cultural and historical context.Mayer and Salovey’s model of EI is shown to privilege traditional forms of ontological essentialism while shifting to a newer conception of the emotionally intelligent human subject as an information processing entity. It is suggested that Goleman, on the other hand, sees the human subject as a flexible being, able to make and remake itself in a manner that is optimally adaptable to fast moving organizations in a borderless world.