Reflection on the course

Over the last two weeks, we have taken a journey exploring what emotional intelligence is, what it isn’t and the different ways in which psychologists have attempted to measure and research emotional intelligence. But would you prefer to work for someone with a high intelligence quotient or one with high emotional intelligence? Someone like Richard Branson, who is known for a high level of heart centred emotional intelligence. Or someone like Steve Jobs, who was highly brilliant at his work but reported by his staff to be ruthless and uncaring. This question is deceptively tricky.

Emotional intelligence is only one aspect of what makes up a whole person and as business psychologist, we would never make a decision based solely on one aspect of an employee. If one explores another aspect of human nature, the question is what makes us intelligent? Think about this, many mobile phone manufacturers have developed artificial intelligence assistants, who can answer questions, respond to your conversations and even speak multiple languages. But are these assistants truly intelligent or do they represent something different to the human experience of intelligence? Can a machine fully emulate human intelligence? You can consider the concept of intelligence, how to define it and how intelligence and ability testing can be used successfully in an organisational setting.

We hope you continue your journey to understand Business and Organisational Psychology.