Books in Brief

Emotional Intelligence, by Daniel Goleman (Bantam, 352 pp., $23.95)

THIS entry in the politically correct psychology sweepstakes has been winning big on the bestseller lists, no doubt because its message is so touchy-feelingly agreeable. Daniel Goleman tells us that a) what mainly matters in life outcomes is emotion, not cognition; b) kids who start out lacking the right emotions can learn them in school; and c) once learned, they result in academic gains as well as lots more happiness. Mr. Goleman labors to distinguish his handiwork from the endless flood of self-help books lacking any real scientific basis. He says that Emotional Intelligence could not have been produced earlier because only recently has science begun, in his characteristically klutzy phrase, “to map with some precision the human heart.” In fact one sees few signs of precision in this book, which is relentlessly anecdotal and seldom quantitative and which nowhere seems even mildly skeptical of claims made by the academic grant-gatherers endeavoring to demonstrate that “emotional intelligence” really can be taught. Goleman nowhere squarely defines that term or suggests any way of measuring it. The subject raises fascinating, politically incorrect questions, e.g.: Are differences in emotional intelligence mainly genetic or environmental? But Goleman shows no interest in these. The book is in some measure an argument for teaching emotional intelligence in the schools—obviously a hard sell in a world where parents are already dismayed at their kids’ non-mastery of mere academic subjects. Mr. Goleman notes that “emotional-literacy programs improve children’s academic performance.” You might think he would provide some critical evaluation of this claim, but no. You are pointed only to an appendix where several such claims are repeated by the grant-gatherers themselves.

DS

About the Author

Daniel Seligman

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About the Author

Michele Dorph Sullum

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Emotional Intelligence, by Daniel Goleman (Bantam, 352 pp., $23.95)

THIS entry in the politically correct psychology sweepstakes has been winning big on the bestseller lists, no doubt because its message is so touchy-feelingly agreeable. Daniel Goleman tells us that a) what mainly matters in life outcomes is emotion, not cognition; b) kids who start out lacking the right emotions can learn them in school; and c) once learned, they result in academic gains as well as lots more happiness. Mr. Goleman labors to distinguish his handiwork from the endless flood of self-help books lacking any real scientific basis. He says that Emotional Intelligence could not have been produced earlier because only recently has science begun, in his characteristically klutzy phrase, “to map with some precision the human heart.” In fact one sees few signs of precision in this book, which is relentlessly anecdotal and seldom quantitative and which nowhere seems even mildly skeptical of claims made by the academic grant-gatherers endeavoring to demonstrate that “emotional intelligence” really can be taught. Goleman nowhere squarely defines that term or suggests any way of measuring it. The subject raises fascinating, politically incorrect questions, e.g.: Are differences in emotional intelligence mainly genetic or environmental? But Goleman shows no interest in these. The book is in some measure an argument for teaching emotional intelligence in the schools—obviously a hard sell in a world where parents are already dismayed at their kids’ non-mastery of mere academic subjects. Mr. Goleman notes that “emotional-literacy programs improve children’s academic performance.” You might think he would provide some critical evaluation of this claim, but no. You are pointed only to an appendix where several such claims are repeated by the grant-gatherers themselves.