ABSTRACT
In 1983 educational psychologist Howard Gardner put forward the argument that the traditional model of intelligence (general intelligence, as measured by IQ tests) was only one form of what he called multiple intelligences – citing areas like musical ability or the ability to craft beautiful things as alternative intelligences. Amongst this list he also included interpersonal intelligence (the capacity to understand the intentions, motivations and desires of other people) and intrapersonal intelligence (the capacity to understand oneself, to appreciate one’s feelings, fears and motivations). Other academic explorations of these latter areas led to the publication of a paper in 1990, by John Meyer and Peter Salovey (in the journal Imagination, Cognition and Personality), entitled ‘Emotional Intelligence’. Then, five years later, Daniel Goleman published his bestselling book Emotional Intelligence and the concept moved from a specialist academic arena into the mainstream.
