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Article Excerpt
This article explores the relationship between thinking patterns and emotional skills identified by 2 research-derived measures of emotional intelligence that reflect integrative and positive theories of human behavior. Findings suggest implications for planning educational and counseling interventions to facilitate positive growth and future research directions to quantify emotional intelligence.
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The early and significant research and writings of Rogers (1951), Maslow (1962), and Jourard (1971, 1974) shifted counseling and education to a more positive and optimistic view of the person and his or her potential for personal change and growth. Additional humanistic-existential writers (Allport, 1955; Buber, 1958; Fromm, 1955; May, Angel, & Ellenberger, 1958) brought a focus on the active and teleological aspects of human behavior and the importance of intra- and interpersonal relationships. Now, as in the past, both qualitative and quantitative research are important to the theory and effective practice of humanistic counseling and education.
For this reason, the emerging generic construct of emotional intelligence (EI) is potentially important to humanistic counselors and educators, to the end that EI could be a viable and integrative model for healthy and effective human behavior. According to Mayer, Salovey, and Caruso (2000), the construct of EI was first introduced in two academic journal articles published in 1990 (Mayer, DiPaolo, & Salovey, 1990; Salovey & Mayer, 1990); Goleman (1995) popularized the concept. Shortly thereafter EI appeared on the cover of Time magazine (Gibbs, 1995), and everyone began to use the term to refer to personality traits that promoted success in life and especially to psychological and social skills that could be learned.
The present study defines EI as the learned ability to think constructively and act wisely. This definition grew out of the theories of Epstein (1994, 1998) and Nelson and Low (2003). These authors have researched their theories for more than 30 years.
EPSTEIN'S COGNITIVE-EXPERIENTIAL SELF-THEORY
Epstein's (1994) conception of his personality theory, cognitive-experiential self-theory (CEST), made a very important contribution to the theory of EI because it integrated Freud's psychodynamic unconscious and evidence of a rational cognitive system, both of which operated within the minds of human beings. Theorists outside the Freudian tradition have formulated a new cognitive unconscious "that automatically, effortlessly, and intuitively organizes experience and directs behavior" (Epstein, 1994, p. 710). This was not the dark, ominous unconscious that lay buried deep under layers of Freudian defenses. Instead, it was the automatic operation of the brain that allowed people to do one thing while thinking of something else. According to Epstein (1994), human beings have "two interactive modes of information processing, rational and experiential" (p. 710).
Epstein (1994) went on to explain, "People, when they are highly emotional, characteristically think in a manner that is categorical, personal, concretive, unreflective, and action oriented, and the stronger the emotion the more they think that way and the more their thinking appears to them to be self-evidently valid" (p. 710). People are reactive, and it is likely that they survived in prehistoric times because they were able to take note of certain splashes of color and run away or take a fighting stance. People did not react to the event itself but reacted to their interpretation of the event.
Thus, Epstein (1994) emphasized that the experiential system had a long evolutionary history and operated in lower animals as well as in human beings:
At its lower levels of operation, it is a crude system that automatically, rapidly, effortlessly, and efficiently processes information. At its higher reaches, and particularly in interaction with the rational system, it is a source of intuitive wisdom and creativity. (p. 715)
Epstein (1994) believed that the rational system is "a deliberative, effortful, abstract system that operates primarily in the medium of language and has a very brief evolutionary history" (p. 715). In many ways, the author foreshadowed the theories of neurologists like LeDoux (1996). Cozolino (2002) defined the emotional part of the brain as the limbic system and the rational part of the brain as the cortex, particularly the prefrontal cortex where the ability to plan and formulate goals seemed to be located.
Similarly, Epstein's (1998) theory assumed the existence of two cognitive systems that people used to relate to the world. One was rational, and the other was experiential or emotional. The emotional mind acted quickly but changed slowly. According to Epstein (1998), emotional change occurred in three ways. The first was to use the rational system to influence the experiential system by means of the techniques of cognitive-behavioral therapy, such as disputing irrational thoughts. The second way was by learning directly by means of emotionally significant experiences often in relationship with significant others, such as counselors, mentors, or teachers. The third way was to communicate directly with the experiential system by means of fantasy and visualization.
In the same way, Nelson and Low (2003) agreed that human beings think with two minds, one rational and the other experiential. Nelson and Low were deeply influenced by Epstein's ideas as well as by the ideas of the other EI theorists, especially Sternberg (1996, 1998) and Goleman (1995). Nelson and Low believed that EI is the most important variable that influences success in life. In their model, EI can be learned by means of self-directed coaching, mentoring, and visualization. They believe that EI consists of specific skills and attitudes that can be taught to and modeled for students in transformative learning strategies like mentoring and coaching. They designed the Emotional Skills Assessment Process (ESAP; Nelson & Low, 2003) as a beginning point to start dialogues with students about the skills and attitudes they see reflected in current behavior.
Nelson and Low (2003) have also been deeply influenced by humanistic existential theory and the value of a phenomenological approach to assessment and learning. Their theory of EI was similar to Sternberg's (1996, 1998) and stressed the importance of life skill development and the practical applications of EI. The integration of cognitive and experiential thinking processes and intentional behavior, conceptualized as EI skills, was central in ESAP theory.
THEORETICAL BASIS OF THE CURRENT STUDY
According to Kaplan and Saccuzzo (2001), construct validity is a method of determining what a test or assessment means. This method compares one test with another by using correlations. "Each time a relationship is demonstrated, one additional bit of meaning can be attached to the test" (Kaplan & Saccuzzo, 2001, p. 145). When a test correlates well with another test, convergent evidence for validity is obtained. Conversely, when tests do not correlate well with each other, discriminant evidence is obtained and shows that the tests measure unique aspects of the construct under investigation. According to Mayer, Caruso, and Salovey (1999), a moderate correlation between tests is desirable. "The correlation should be high enough to indicate that the new skill is an intelligence, but low enough to illustrate that it says something...
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