The study has found that 'problem' behaviours
in teenagers can be addressed by implementing
principles of emotional intelligence.
Image: iStockphoto 

In an increasingly stressful world it can be a familiar scenario: a minor irritant, a ‘2’ on the stress scale, triggers an explosive over-reaction that hijacks reason, equanimity and perspective. The damage done can be awkward to heal, produce unintended consequences, and in the corporate human resources arena can even see the perpetrator marched off to anger management classes. However, research across cultures is proving that the issue of sudden anger is better framed in terms of emotional intelligence (EI).

That feelings can be ascribed ‘intelligence’ is a comparatively new principle, first proposed in the early 1990s by American researchers John Mayer and Peter Salovey. By EI they meant the ability to understand emotions and the use of that understanding to guide appropriate actions. The concept proved a best-seller when it was popularised by Daniel Goleman in his 1995 book, Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ.

Like its better-known IQ cousin, EI can be measured using a quiz-style test and once again, scores tend to vary among people. An increasing body of evidence is finding that these differences can have powerful effects on quality-of-life outcomes, including physical and mental health.

For instance, a study dealing with happiness in relation to brain plaques and dementia found that while emotional outlook had no impact on plaque formation, people with more positive emotions proved less likely to develop the associated dementias.

At Swinburne University of Technology, where one international measure of EI was developed, researcher Dr Karen Hansen says these studies have an important, but hard-to-spot implication. “Unlike our IQ, which appears to be difficult to improve relative to our standing with others, EI is a trait that can develop and grow,” she says. “That means people can improve core competencies and acquire new EI capabilities over a lifetime … if they are provided with the right tools.”

Developing those tools has become something of a crusade with the Swinburne EI team. Ultimately, their aim is to develop a suite of EI products and services for all age groups. Using collaborative relationships, the team is also actively engaging organisations that stand to benefit from advances in EI.

Overseeing those efforts is the Brain Science Institute’s Professor Con Stough. Along with Dr Ben Palmer, he was involved in creating the original SUEIT – the Swinburne University Emotional Intelligence Test.

“The first version of the test was designed for adults,” Professor Stough says. “Through the university we then set up Genos EI, a company now headed by Dr Palmer that uses the adult SUEIT to help businesses and organisations tackle EI issues in the workplace. It has since grown into an international network of specialists who deliver EI products, services and consultants to businesses and researchers worldwide.”

With adults taken care of, the researchers’ focus has since shifted to adolescents and children, a move that entails dealing with EI issues in the classroom. That is where Dr Hansen comes in. She is supervising a number of projects targeting EI tools to students and teachers.

With a large campus in their own backyard, Swinburne’s tertiary students were the first recruited to the new EI efforts. That project hopes to discover some of the reasons behind the high student dropout rates at Australian universities, a problem Dr Hansen says costs the nation about $100 million a year. However, given the nature of existing measures, that was as far as EI could go into classrooms.

Uncomfortable with that limitation, Professor Stough and Dr Hansen set about applying an EI measure adapted for adolescents in secondary school settings.

Financial support from the Australian Research Council, the Trust Company and the William Buckland Foundation will see the new test applied in a long-term study, which started in 2008, that tracks EI scores and scholastic performance at schools around Australia. Participants include the Anglican Church Grammar School in Brisbane, Girton Grammar School in Bendigo and, in Melbourne, Presentation College, Balwyn High School and Eltham College.

“Scholastic performance, disruptive behaviour, underachievement and the relationship with the teacher are all likely to have an EI aspect,” Dr Hansen says. “Ultimately, the project aims to spot at-risk children and work with them using EI tools appropriate for their age group.”

The next and final frontier is children and primary schools. It is early days yet and Dr Hansen says this test needs to be different. Nonetheless, the team is looking for schools interested in participating.

In the meantime, teachers have already tested an EI course designed to help staff better cope with classroom stress. This program was initially developed by one of Professor Stough’s PhD students, Dr Lisa Gardner, and has subsequently been amended for use in the general workplace by Professor Stough and Dr Hansen.

Virginia Mitchell of Balwyn High was in the third group of volunteers to test the course and describes the experience as life changing, although she is aware just how dramatic that might sound. “The course was not just about stress relief,” she says. “We also learnt about EI theory and how to apply it to our individual situations. It forced me to take control of emotions, without suppressing how I feel. It also made me reprioritise how I approach my life. That’s why it had a huge impact.”

With one EI alumni reporting that life has acquired more balance, Professor Stough says this is the goal of EI tools. “EI is not about telling people what feelings they should have,” he says. “It is more about how effectively we behave in the presence of emotions. In fact, when we are working with organisations, we do not identify EI as ‘therapy’ but as coaching.”