Emotional Intelligence & Health Outcomes : Toward an Ecological Model of Well-Being

Everybody talks about emotional intelligence, it seems; educators, organisational science experts, self-help and self-growth gurus all speak of the ability to identify emotions, use them in problem-solving, decode complex emotional reactions and regulate emotion to guide internal and external behavior. Is emotional intelligence really the big answer to all those big questions that went unanswered for so long? Despite the promise this budding concept holds, there is danger in overusing, abusing and overgeneralising our insights in a field still marred by misconceptions, popular notions (that are not necessarily supported by evidence) and misguided perceptions. What people need to promote their knowledge of EI (and how to apply it) is a good theory or model to guide peoples understanding of what is known, and to help design and pose questions to keep exploring and develop our knowledge base. This is exactly what this book attempts. Focusing on the potential role of emotional intelligence within a field that, until recently, was left underexplored by social scientists: health. Despite ample evidence suggesting emotional intelligence can be a pivotal factor in understanding of effective coping with stress, well-being, psychological resilience and health, only a handful of empirical studies examined if and how emotional intelligence is associated with health outcomes. This book takes a good look at the emotion-health association across time, culture and scientific approaches, while reviewing what is known about the potential of EI to account for a broad range of health outcomes. Based on what academics know, or more importantly perhaps what they still do not know, a theoretical model of emotional intelligence and health is presented, and possibilities are presented, including directions for interpretation of current evidence for asking new questions to broaden our understanding and ability to use the concept to explain varying health conditions. Such efforts may lead to the design of screening and intervention procedures, while suggesting how emotional intelligence can work not only within the boundaries of the individual, but also within a socio-ecology of factors that shape, among other things human health. This book can be of interest to students and academics in the social sciences and health sciences, as well as anyone who is fascinated by the intriguing (and often misunderstood) link between body and soul, mind and matter, and emotion and health.