Emotional Intelligence:
Is it a concept that can be used in Stress Management?

Mark Slaski

Stress News

volume 14
number 3

July 200

As long ago as 1987, one of the most prominent researchers in the field of stress, Richard Lazarus, wrote:

"Although we have usually referred to stress, coping theory and research, we think that we should now speak less of stress and more of emotion. Stress, which primarily concerns negative person-environment relationships, cognitive appraisals and emotional response states such as fear, anger, guilt and shame, falls under the larger rubric of emotion."

(Lazarus & Folkman, 1987)

It would seem logical to define stress in terms of an emotional experience; after all, when asked to describe stress most people speak of 'feeling' stressed, and associate stress with the emotions of anger, fear, anxiety, sadness and frustration.

Firstly, the development of sophisticated brain scanning devices now means areas of the brain can be studied whilst the subject remains conscious. The result of this has been the discovery that the limbic system in the mid-brain plays a significant role in the processing of emotions. More specifically, the amygdala in the limbic system has a central role and links body processes with the higher centres of the brain (LeDoux, 1998). The amygdala is particularly important in the rapid and automatic activation of the 'flight or fight' response. This response lies at the heart of stress, its initiation resulting in many physiological reactions including increased heart rate, increased respiration, and activation of the immune system. The response itself is an instant preparatory for engaging in aggression or escape, and has evolved to protect the species from physical harm and danger; it is also directly linked to the emotions fear and anger. Importantly, it is the response of 'flight or fight' that lies beneath the physiological antecedents of stress. This in part explains why physical exercise and relaxation techniques are so effective at stress reduction. Exercise mimics the actions of fighting or fleeing and relaxation techniques help switch down the protection systems such as increased blood pressure, heart rate and the immune system, that are triggered by the initial response. Finally, it is important to note that in locating emotional processing in the mid-brain, it suggests that emotions in evolutionary terms are very old, and that emotional processing is pre-linguistic and therefore more symbolic in nature. This may explain the power of emotions over logic.

Secondly, as with other aspects of human behaviour such as physical ability and cognitive intelligence, individuals do differ in their ability to process emotional information. Some people are better than others. Evidence for this stems from studies carried out with disorders such as alexithymia, psychopathy and autism, all of which have characteristics of emotional deficit.

Thirdly, despite there being hundreds of words in the English language that describe emotional experiences, the science suggests there to be only a handful of core emotions. This has been described by many researchers and relates to the fact that there are five or six universally recognised emotional facial expressions: fear, anger, sadness, joy, disgust and surprise (e.g. Izard, 1991). Whilst facial expressions indicate to others an emotion, they also function as feedback to ourselves as part of the internal emotional processing. This is not to say that emotions such as guilt, shame, envy are not real emotions, but these tend to contain more thoughts, and be more social in nature, and are therefore considered as secondary.

Fourthly, the question remains if there are only handful of emotions, then what is their function? The answer to this lies in evolutionary theory. As previously described fear and anger are strongly related to the flight or fight response, and prepare the body for action and repair in the face of threat or danger. Disgust is a physical emotion to do with the expulsion of tainted food or water. You only have to ask someone to smell some sour milk to elicit the disgust response; it involves the screwing up of the face and tight closing of mouth and nostrils. Sadness is related to loss, and one of am human's biggest instincts is aversion to loss. In Prehistoric Man any physical loss, say through injury, could have proved fatal to the individual, and in this sense the emotion of sadness is associated with withdrawal, shutting down of systems and seeking support during a period of repair and recuperation.

In short, humans behave in a way to avoid negative emotions and stress and thus preserve some measure of safety and security. Emotions may be considered as 'guidance' or 'warning' systems. Joy is usually only present in the absence of the others, and may therefore be more akin to security than attainment, though the latter may lead to the former.

21st Century Man is really a 'space-age man with a stone-age constitution', the point being, what are the threats in modern life? Whilst physical threat still abounds, we are no longer faced by the dangers experienced by our forefathers. Our emotions today are aroused by threats to a different part of us. Rather than our physical bodies, threat and challenge to our psychological and social selves are far more likely to lead us to experience, fear, anger, disgust and sadness. These aspects of ourselves are held in abstract conceptualisations such as values, attitudes, beliefs, hopes, dreams, fears, principles, expectations, visions, goals, self-images and social images. We all possess these distinctive characteristics, however we cannot anatomically locate them, we know little about how we acquire them, some of them are contradictory, and many remain outside of our awareness. Sure enough, however, if any of these aspects of ourselves are threatened we usually react with a negative emotional response of some sort.

Such ideas lie at the heart of emotional intelligence. Despite different theoretical approaches, all serious researchers in this field maintain that being aware of yourself in terms of 'who you are' and 'where you are going' is the cornerstone of emotional intelligence. People with high EQ tend to have a strong understanding of their values and beliefs, have clear goals and visions, have self-confidence and acceptance of both their strengths and vulnerabilities, they use their emotional experiences to better manage relationships and to guide their own behaviour. As a consequence they are better able to regulate and express their own emotions, and are less likely to be overwhelmed by stress. Moreover, they are capable of reading the deeper emotional meanings of others with whom they interact.

The benefit of emotional intelligence to managers in organisations is self-evident. More and more organisations today recognise the 'human capital' and aspire to more people orientated organisational models. Teamwork, empowerment, diversity, communication are all typified in the 'learning organisation' (e.g. Senge), in which people and emotions play a fundamental part (see Figure No.1).

Reviewing the characteristics illustrated in Figure No 1; it is hard to see how many of these can be achieved without some consideration as to the role of emotions. Teamwork, trust, sharing, creativity, autonomy, communicating, are all characteristics heavy in emotional content. For example, deeply embedded in the notion of trust is in understanding 'what is of value' to the other person, understanding the 'emotional relationship to that value', and demonstrating a 'concern for that value'. As discussed, operating at this 'value' level is a quality of emotional intelligence, as such people high in EQ are good at managing trusting relationships. Organisational values set the emotional culture and climate. Empowerment and autonomy are contingent on emotional independence, self-awareness and self-acceptance. The success of open communications, team-working, forums and circles are dependent upon the quality of emotional relationships between individuals. Customer focus activities are centred on relationship management and customer satisfaction, both equally reliant on understanding the emotional requirements of customers.

Of significant importance in modern organisations is the impact of management style on both stress and performance. A number of studies have demonstrated the efficacy of transformational leadership style in enhancing performance and well-being in organisational change (e.g. Bass, 1998; Yukl, 1994). One recent study (e.g. Barling, Slater & Kelloway, 2000) demonstrated significant correlations between emotional intelligence and aspects of transformational leadership.

The final question therefore, is can emotional intelligence be taught, can it be learnt, and does it make a difference to stress and performance? In order to test this a group of 60 managers from a large supermarket chain were trained for one day per week for four weeks. Measures were taken prior to the training that included two measures of EQ, general-health, stress, distress, quality of working life and morale. In addition, each participant's line-manager was asked to evaluate the trainee using the organisations own management performance measure. The programme was created to help managers understand their own emotional responses and how they relate to their own thoughts and behaviour. Also, using emotions how to identify the characteristics of their own self-aspects and to manage others on this 'values' level. Six-months following completion of training measures were taken once again. Results showed that managers on the training course significantly increased their EQ, general health, morale, quality of working life and performance; and significantly reduced stress and distress over and above those who did not take part (Slaski & Cartwright, 2002, in preparation).

In summary, it is useful to view the experience of stress in the wider context of emotions. Emotions in evolutionary terms are very old and serve to protect the individual from harm and maintain safety. Modern emotional triggers are seen in terms of self-characteristics such as values, beliefs, needs, wants, hopes, dreams, and self-images. People high in emotional intelligence are strong at identifying theirs and others emotions, expressing emotions, managing emotions and integrating emotions with their thoughts and behaviour. There is evidence to suggest that emotional intelligence is highly important in modern organisational structures and can be developed. Furthermore, development can act to both reduce stress and improve management performance.

Bibliography

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Slaski, M. and Cartwright, S. (2002). Health, performance and emotional intelligence: an exploratory study of retail managers. Stress and Health, 18, pp 63-68.

Slaski, M. and Cartwright, S. (2002). What is emotional intelligence? Can it be developed in managers? If so, what are the effects on stress, health, well-being and performance? (in preparation).

Yukl, G. (1994). Leadership in Organisations. Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ.