Since the concept of the intelligence quotient (IQ) was introduced more than a century ago, the ways we work, interact with others and live on a daily basis have changed dramatically. By contrast, the ways in which we define and measure IQ have remained almost unchanged. We need to consider new ways in which individuals can be intelligent in the 21^st century. Emotional intelligence (EI) – the ability to recognise, understand and regulate emotions in oneself and others – is one of them.

IQ tests assess how individuals manipulate and process information, e.g., numbers, symbols and their logical connections. These are all cold, lifeless things. Emotions colour perceptions and give new meanings to inanimate objects through valuing them positively or negatively, and through activating higher-order cognitive functions, e.g., attention, motivation and creativity. EI is needed to account for the role of emotions in human functioning.

EI can be considered as a form of intelligence related to IQ, but is also distinct enough to represent a new construct. There is no doubt that EI is included among the life skills or competences identified by international organisations as necessary to lead a gratifying life and to flourish. As evolved social animals, humans have been equipped with higher order functions that allow us to understand others, share feelings and recognise each other’s expressions. These are precisely the core characteristics of EI, and a well-established predictor of the quality of relationships. We all want to live a life filled with purpose and positive emotions. EI helps us to achieve this goal by providing a basis for the development of worthwhile social bonds. If we want our kids to be happy and thrive, we should support their EI more than their IQ.

Marina Fiori is the head of research field-learning processes and support at the Swiss Federal University for Vocational Education and Training.

Psychology has always assumed the task of systematising and quantifying differences among people. Tests have been developed to this end that have to meet certain quality criteria.

We speak of ‘personality traits’ when test results remain stable over time and in different situations. This has been achieved satisfactorily for some character traits, such as in the dimension of introversion/extraversion, and it has worked very well for intelligence too. By ‘intelligence’ we mean the ability to reason logically, and to process information efficiently. Differently designed tests reveal a high degree of correlation, which suggests that there is a general mental performance that is not dependent on content. Differences between intelligence tests conducted over a lifetime remain very stable.

Tasks to measure intelligence can be ordered on a very precisely graded scale of difficulty, and IQ is quantified as a deviation from the average. It is therefore possible to predict both that a person with a higher IQ is very likely to get better grades at school (or in some other quantifiable situation) and that a person with a lower IQ will accordingly get lower grades. It is also possible to quantify the average advantage that they get with each additional IQ point.

No other psychological construct has achieved a similar quality of measurement. To call something ‘emotional intelligence’ is nothing less than bogus. It is an attempt to exploit the reputation of research into cognitive intelligence without providing tests of corresponding quality. Someone who has problems regulating their emotions can be recognised by their behaviour; tests rarely provide any additional information. What’s more, our emotions influence our experiences and behaviour in so diverse and variable a way that it is simply not justified to speak of this as a personal characteristic – which is very different from the case of cognitive intelligence.

Elsbeth Stern is a professor of empirical research on learning and instruction at ETH Zurich and has published numerous books and articles on cognitive intelligence.