the dark side of emotional intelligence - the atlantic

Some of the greatest moments in human history were fueled by emotionalintelligence. When Martin Luther King, Jr. presented his dream, he choselanguage that would stir the hearts of his audience. Instead of honoring

H E A L T H

The Dark Side ofEmotional IntelligenceIn some jobs, being in touch with emotions is essential. In others, itseems to be a detriment. And like any skill, being able to readpeople can be used for good or evil.

A D A M G R A N T | J A N 2 , 2 0 1 4

"Two faces" by Lajos Vajda, 1934 (Wikimedia)

The Dark Side of Emotional Intelligence - The Atlantic http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/01/the-dark-sid...

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this sacred obligation to liberty, King thundered, America has given theNegro people a bad check. He promised that a land sweltering with theheat of oppression could be transformed into an oasis of freedom andjustice, and envisioned a future in which on the red hills of Georgia sonsof former slaves and the sons of former slave-owners will be able to sitdown together at the table of brotherhood.

Delivering this electrifying message required emotional intelligencetheability to recognize, understand, and manage emotions. Dr. Kingdemonstrated remarkable skill in managing his own emotions and insparking emotions that moved his audience to action. As his speechwriterClarence Jones reected, King delivered a perfectly balanced outcry ofreason and emotion, of anger and hope. His tone of pained indignationmatched that note for note.

Emotional intelligence isimportant, but the unbridledenthusiasm has obscured a darkside.

Recognizing the power of emotions, another one of the most inuentialleaders of the 20th century spent years studying the emotional eects ofhis body language. Practicing his hand gestures and analyzing images ofhis movements allowed him to become an absolutely spellbinding publicspeaker, says the historian Roger Moorhouseit was something heworked very hard on. His name was Adolf Hitler.


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Since the 1995 publication of Daniel Golemans bestseller, emotionalintelligence has been touted by leaders, policymakers, and educators asthe solution to a wide range of social problems. If we can teach ourchildren to manage emotions, the argument goes, well have less bullyingand more cooperation. If we can cultivate emotional intelligence amongleaders and doctors, well have more caring workplaces and morecompassionate healthcare. As a result, emotional intelligence is nowtaught widely in secondary schools, business schools, and medicalschools.

Emotional intelligence is important, but the unbridled enthusiasm hasobscured a dark side. New evidence shows that when people hone theiremotional skills, they become better at manipulating others. When youregood at controlling your own emotions, you can disguise your truefeelings. When you know what others are feeling, you can tug at theirheartstrings and motivate them to act against their own best interests.

Social scientists have begun to document this dark side of emotionalintelligence. In emerging research led by University of Cambridgeprofessor Jochen Menges, when a leader gave an inspiring speech lledwith emotion, the audience was less likely to scrutinize the message andremembered less of the content. Ironically, audience members were somoved by the speech that they claimed to recall more of it.

The authors call this the awestruck eect, but it might just as easily bedescribed as the dumbstruck eect. One observer reected that Hitlerspersuasive impact came from his ability to strategically expressemotionshe would tear open his heartand these emotions aectedhis followers to the point that they would stop thinking critically and justemote.


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"Whenever we wanted to persuadeour sta to support a particularproject we always tried to breaktheir hearts."

Leaders who master emotions can rob us of our capacities to reason. Iftheir values are out of step with our own, the results can be devastating.New evidence suggests that when people have self-serving motives,emotional intelligence becomes a weapon for manipulating others. In astudy led by the University of Toronto psychologist Stphane Ct,university employees lled out a survey about their Machiavelliantendencies, and took a test measuring their knowledge about eectivestrategies for managing emotions. Then, Cotes team assessed how oftenthe employees deliberately undermined their colleagues. The employeeswho engaged in the most harmful behaviors were Machiavellians withhigh emotional intelligence. They used their emotional skills to demeanand embarrass their peers for personal gain. In one computer companystudied by Tel-Aviv University professor Gideon Kunda, a manageradmitted to telling a colleague how excited we all are with what he isdoing, but at the same time, distancing my organization from theproject, so when it blows up, the companys founder would blame thecolleague.


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Shining a light on this dark side of emotional intelligence is one mission ofa research team led by University College London professor MartinKildu. According to these experts, emotional intelligence helps peopledisguise one set of emotions while expressing another for personal gain.Emotionally intelligent people intentionally shape their emotions tofabricate favorable impressions of themselves, Professor Kildus teamwrites. The strategic disguise of ones own emotions and themanipulation of others emotions for strategic ends are behaviors evidentnot only on Shakespeares stage but also in the oces and corridors wherepower and inuence are traded.

Of course, people arent always using emotional intelligence for nefariousends. More often than not, emotional skills are simply instrumental toolsfor goal accomplishment. In a study of emotions at the Body Shop, aresearch team led by Stanford professor Joanne Martin discovered thatfounder Anita Roddick leveraged emotions to inspire her employees tofundraise for charity. As Roddick explained, Whenever we wanted topersuade our sta to support a particular project we always tried to breaktheir hearts. However, Roddick also encouraged employees to bestrategic in the timing of their emotion expressions. In one case, after


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noticing that an employee often breaks down in tears with frustration,Roddick said it was acceptable to cry, but I told her it has to be used. Isaid, Here, cry at this point in the ... meeting. When viewing Roddick asan exemplar of an emotionally intelligent leader, it becomes clear thattheres a ne line between motivation and manipulation. Walking thattightrope is no easy task.

In jobs that required extensiveattention to emotions, higheremotional intelligence translatedinto better performance. In jobsthat involved fewer emotionaldemands, the results reversed.

In settings where emotions arent running high, emotional intelligencemay have hidden costs. Recently, psychologists Dana Joseph of theUniversity of Central Florida and Daniel Newman of the University ofIllinois comprehensively analyzed every study that has ever examined thelink between emotional intelligence and job performance. Acrosshundreds of studies of thousands of employees in 191 dierent jobs,emotional intelligence wasnt consistently linked with better performance.In jobs that required extensive attention to emotions, higher emotionalintelligence translated into better performance. Salespeople, real-estateagents, call-center representatives, and counselors all excelled at theirjobs when they knew how to read and regulate emotionsthey were able


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to deal more eectively with stressful situations and provide service with asmile.

However, in jobs that involved fewer emotional demands, the resultsreversed. The more emotionally intelligent employees were, the lowertheir job performance. For mechanics, scientists, and accountants,emotional intelligence was a liability rather than an asset. Although moreresearch is needed to unpack these results, one promising explanation isthat these employees were paying attention to emotions when they shouldhave been focusing on their tasks. If your job is to analyze data or repaircars, it can be quite distracting to read the facial expressions, vocal tones,and body languages of the people around you. In suggesting thatemotional intelligence is critical in the workplace, perhaps weve put thecart before the horse.

Instead of assuming that emotional intelligence is always useful, we needto think more carefully about where and when it matters. In a recent studyat a healthcare company, I asked employees to complete a test aboutmanaging and regulating emotions, and then asked managers to evaluatehow much time employees spent helping their colleagues and customers.There was no relationship whatsoever between emotional intelligence andhelping: Helping is driven by our motivations and values, not by ourabilities to understand and manage emotions. However, emotionalintelligence was consequential when examining a dierent behavior:challenging the status quo by speaking up with ideas and suggestions forimprovement.

Emotionally intelligent employees spoke up more often and moreeectively. When colleagues were treated unjustly, they felt the righteousindignation to speak up, but were able to keep their anger in check and


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RREELLAATTEEDD SSTTOORRYY

How the Brain Creates Personality: ANew Theory

reason with their colleagues. When they went out on a limb to advocate forgender equity, emotional intelligence helped them keep their fear at bay.When they brought ideas for innovation to senior leaders, their ability toexpress enthusiasm helped them avoid threatening leaders. On a muchsmaller scale, they were able to follow Martin Luther King Jr.s lead inrocking the boat while keeping it steady.

More than two decades have passedsince psychologists Peter Salovey atYale and John Mayer at the Universityof New Hampshire introduced theconcept of emotional intelligence in1990. Why has it taken us so long todevelop a more nuanced view? AfterDaniel Goleman popularized the ideain 1995, many researchersperhapsawestruck themselves by enthusiasmfor the concept of emotional

intelligenceproceeded to conduct studies that were fatally awed. AsUniversity of Lausanne professor John Antonakis observed, practice andvoodoo science is running way ahead of rigorous research.

One of the most persistent problems was the use of self-report measures,which asked employees to rate their own emotional abilities on items likeI can tell how people are feeling even if they never tell me and I amgenerally very good at calming someone down when he or she is upset.Abilities cannot be accurately measured with self-reports. As emotionexperts Sigal Barsade of Wharton and Donald Gibson of FaireldUniversity lament, One might compare this approach to assessingmathematical skills by asking respondents, How good are you at solving


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algebraic equations? rather than asking the person to actually solve analgebraic equation.

Thanks to more rigorous research methods, there is growing recognitionthat emotional intelligencelike any skillcan be used for good or evil. Soif were going to teach emotional intelligence in schools and develop it atwork, we need to consider the values that go along with it and where itsactually useful. As Professor Kildu and colleagues put it, it is high timethat emotional intelligence is pried away from its association withdesirable moral qualities.

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ADAM GRANT is a professor of management and psychology at the University ofPennsylvanias Wharton School of Business. He is the author of Give and Take: Why HelpingOthers Drives Our Success.


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the dark side of emotional intelligence - the atlantic

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