THE INSTITUTIONAL CHALLENGES OF UNIVERSITY LECTURERS

Get Complete Project Material File(s) Now! »

CHAPTER THREE EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE

INTRODUCTION

In Chapter 2, I reviewed relevant literature on professional, academic and institutional challenges as well as Bronfenbrenner’s ecological theory to establish the position in existing literature. Chapter 3 commences with the review of the concept of emotional intelligence, the models of emotional intelligence, cognitive, non-cognitive and a mixed-model of emotional intelligence, with special focus on Daniel Goleman’s conceptualisation of emotional intelligence in accordance with the study. The study also highlights the strengths and limitations of the three models and the possible application in tertiary education is discussed. Within the domain of Goleman’s conceptualisation of emotional intelligence, the four domains such as self-awareness, self-management, social awareness and relationship management were discussed in order to understand how they helped lecturers to adapt, change or sustain themselves in the context of professional, academic and institutional challenges. As a result, I reviewed literature on emotional intelligence in coping with professional, academic and institutional challenges in tertiary education to obtain knowledge on the perception of lecturers towards the challenges, the coping strategies and impact on emotions. Finally the chapter ends with concluding remarks.

THE CONCEPT OF EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE (EI)

This section describes “Emotional Intelligence” as a relative new label for a concept as old as humankind (Nelson & Low, 2011). From a historical perspective, emotional intelligence has been a part of schooling since the beginning of formal education 3,000 years ago in Egypt, India and Greece, in one form or another (Cohen, 2006). The clients of emotional intelligence in the ancient times were only men from wealthy families (Nelson, 2010). The content of emotional intelligence then was to use knowledge of personal emotional weaknesses and strengths to guide behaviour in private and public life (e.g. the Ancient Greeks) (Cohen, 2006). However, at present, Emotional Intelligence is learnable skills provided to people irrespective of social status, educational background; gender and race to enable them to think wisely and act responsibly with emotions (Cohen, 2006; Nelson & Low, 2011).
Thus, the concept of emotional intelligence by scholars such as Payne Wayne (1986), Mayer and Salovey(1990), Goleman(1995), Bar-On(1997), Emily Sterrett (2000), Nelson and Low(2003), Van Rooy and Viswesvaran (2003) Maree and Finestone(2007), Coetzee and Jansen(2007), Zeidner, Matthews and Roberts(2008), Cooper and Sawaf (1997), Davies et al.(1998) was examined in accordance to the study to establish how emotions and intelligence that can work together build, strengthen and enhance the ability of lecturers to handle professional, academic and institutional challenges. I examined the concept of emotional intelligence by Payne Wayne as entry point from describing the concept to the understanding of the application in real-life situations (Weiten, 2013).
Payne Wayne (1986:165) conceptualises emotional intelligence as “…The facts, meaning, truth, relationships, etc. (of emotional intelligence) are those that exist in the realm of emotion. Thus, feelings are facts… The meanings are felt meaning, the truths are emotional problems, and that is those problems in the way we feel”. Payne argues that people actually experience emotions as a result of circumstances, relationships or personal moods, although, the emotions may be exaggerated during interpretation, the fact is that, emotions are actually experienced. Furthermore, the truth according to Payne (1986) is that, the individual experiencing the emotion is the only source of identifying, understanding, assessing and characterising the experienced emotions, implying that the researcher must go into the world of the participants to understand the true emotional experience as perceived, understood and interpreted by the participants. Consequently, Payne’s (1986) concept of emotional intelligence emphasises an accurate understanding of emotional experience as narrated by the participants and the impact on professional growth. Payne’s (1986) concept of emotional intelligence highlights three major points; the first is that circumstances in relationships and personal attitudes can trigger emotions. The second is that the triggered emotions can be identified and labelled by the individual. The third is that the identified and labelled emotions can cause further complications for individuals, implying the need to monitor emotions to curb the impact on persons and other individuals as proposed by Mayer and Salovey in 1990.
Mayer and Salovey (1990:189) conceptualise Emotional Intelligence as “the ability to monitor one’s own and others feelings and emotions to discriminate among them and use this information to guide one’s thinking and actions.” Later, Mayer, Caruso and Salovey (in Salovey Grewal 2005:282) further extend their concept of emotional intelligence to include a group of related skills that helps individuals to think through emotions appropriately and rationally. In their view emotional intelligence is about perception, recognition and assessment to distinguish the emotions in order to use the information to think wisely to act intelligently. The prominent theme in Mayer, Caruso and Salovey’s concept of emotional intelligence is constructive thinking, intelligent reasoning and constructively shaped behaviour for successful interaction and relationships in any given environment, implying that the authors perceive emotional intelligence as the capacity to think constructively and reason intelligently and handle emotions and emotional behaviour appropriately.
Goleman (1995:319) from another perspective conceptualises that: “Emotional Intelligence as the capacity for recognising our own feelings and those of others, for motivating ourselves, and for managing emotions well in ourselves and in our relationships”. In 2011, Goleman presented his summarised idea of emotional intelligence as “emotional intelligence includes self-mastery (self-awareness and self-regulation) plus social intelligence (empathy and social skills). For Goleman (2011) emotional intelligence is fundamental to life of success through constructive thinking, reassurance, and self-confidence in the face of challenges. For Goleman, emotional intelligence begins with understanding of personal emotions and other people’s emotions. The knowledge is to be used in building relationships and empathy in any social environment for teamwork and peaceful circumstances in the work environment.
Bar-On (1997:16) conceptualises emotional intelligence as “an array of non-cognitive capabilities, competencies, and skills that influence one’s ability to succeed in coping with environmental demands and pressures”. Bar-On (1997:16) proposes that environmental problems create emotions of anxieties and frustrations, however applying different kinds of skills enable the individual to navigate the challenges and to create certain associations with emotions. Bar-On posits that the individual ability to navigate challenging environment benefits the individual, institutions and communities because the skills are observable and reflects in activities and behaviours. After the extensive study on emotional intelligence, Bar-On (2007) points out that emotional intelligence is strategic, instant and enhances individual normal wisdom and skills to connect well in personal and professional life.
Emily Sterrett (2000) from a different perceptive regards emotional intelligence as: “True emotional intelligence is the ability to call upon information from the emotional centre of the brain and to balance that with information from the rational centre of the brain.” Emily Sterrett’s (2000) concept of emotional intelligence points to two types of brain activities (emotional and rational) which need to cooperate for accurate emotional intelligence to be achieved. Two emerging themes from Emily Sterrett’s concepts of emotional intelligence is that emotionally intelligent people need to exercise control of their emotions. Secondly acting with emotions needs to be approved by rational brain operations. Thirdly emotional and rational brain activities need to test the emotional information, verify the level of subjectivity and draw conclusions using the contribution information from emotional brain and rational brain activities. This is what Emily Sterrett calls “true” emotional intelligence: balancing subjectivity with objectivity for credible decisions and actions.
Nelson and Low (2003, 2011:74) conceptualise emotional intelligence “as a confluence of developed skills and abilities valuable for (a) more accurately knowing yourself in terms of personal strength and weaknesses, (b) establishing and maintaining effective and healthy relationships (c) getting along and working productively with others and (d) dealing effectively and healthily with the demands and pressures of daily work and life.”
The Nelson and Low (2003) perceive emotional intelligence as a learnable skill capable of promoting respect, acceptance and accommodation of other people with their strengths and weaknesses. Nelson and Low’s concept of emotional intelligence emphasises the fact that emotional intelligence is learnable. This provides opportunities for people without emotional intelligence to learn and bridge the gap between areas of strength and weaknesses. Nelson and Low (2003) point out that learning emotional intelligence is to reduce work anxiety and frustration, increase the quality of relationships and interaction in order to increase quality in service delivery and productivity.
From their perceptive, Van Rooy and Viswesvaran (2003:72) define emotional intelligence as “the set of abilities (verbal and non-verbal) that enables a person to generate, recognize, express, understand, and evaluate their own, and others’, emotions in order to guide thinking and action to successfully cope with environmental demands and pressures”. Van Rooy and Viswesvaran (2003) perceive emotional intelligence as vital in generating data to support individuals or groups of people in developing skills to withstand challenges. Van Rooy and Viswesvaran’s concept of emotional intelligence focuses on the role emotional data play in services provision such as providing instant data, saving valuable time and resources that would have been invested in resolving conflict.
Maree and Finestone (2007:178) assert that “emotional intelligence as the individual ability to understand his or her emotions and express them, to understand the emotions of others, to control the emotions, to reveal the problem-solving skills in relationships and to be self-motivating”. The authors regard emotional intelligence as personal skills fundamental for human behaviour with regard to emotions such as solving relationship problems and motivating oneself irrespective of the challenges.
According to Coetzee and Jansen (2007:3) “emotional intelligence refers to an array of attitudes, social skills and a personal management style that allows us to succeed in the teaching profession and life in general”. The author’s concept of emotional intelligence embraces a focus on different behaviours, relationships abilities and an individual way of handling issues, which promotes success in professional and personal life. In other words, emotional intelligence is person-oriented, because application to real-life starts with the individual’s behaviours, interactional processes and ways of managing challenges. This implies if an individual has emotional intelligence, then he will dispose of good behaviour and relationship skills and he will display a personal managerial style.
Zeidner, Matthews and Roberts (2008:100) maintain that “Emotional intelligence as the competence to identify, monitor and express emotions; to label, differentiate, and understand the complex nature, antecedents, and consequences of emotions; to assimilate emotions in thought and strategically use emotions to achieve one’s adaptive goals; and to effectively regulate positive and negative emotions, both in oneself and others.” Zeidner et al. (2008) opt for a concept of emotional intelligence which includes identification, observation, directing and labelling of emotions and the individual’s use of the information to prevent problems, solve problems and adjust to encouraging and discouraging situations.
Cooper and Sawaf (1997:xiii) define emotional intelligence as “the ability to sense, understand and effectively apply the power and acumen of emotions as a source of human energy, information, connection and influence.” The acumen of emotions refers the use of insight from emotional data to influence, motivate and maintain institutional success. Cooper and Sawaf’s concept of emotional intelligence emphasises the use of emotional information both negative and positive as a strategy to solve and prevent institutional challenges.

• Davies et al. (1998) have a different perspective of the definition of emotional intelligence.
• According to them, emotional intelligence acts in a four key direction. It embraces:
• Expression and appraisal of emotions in oneself which relates to an individual’s ability to fathom his or her deeper emotions and to be able to communicate these emotions naturally. People who dispose of a good ability in this realm will be able to sense and acknowledge their emotions more successfully than most people;
• Recognition and appraisal of emotions in others which refers to an individual’s ability to observe and understand the emotions of those around them. People who rate highly in this area will be very sensitive to understand the emotions of others. They will also be able to predict the other people’s emotional responses;
• Regulation of emotions in oneself which refers to the ability of a person to maintain his or her emotions, giving rise to a faster recovery from psychological distress. A person who has a high score in this area will be able to return to his normal psychological status soon after being upset or celebrating. Such individuals will also have better control of their emotions and will less likely lose their temper; and

The use of emotion to promote performance relates to the ability of the individuals to make use of their emotions by directing them towards constructive activities and personal performance. Individuals who are highly capable in this dimension will be able to encourage themselves to do better continuously. They will also be able to project their emotions in productive and positive directions (Davis et al., 1998).

Dedication 
Acknowledgements 
Declaration of Originality 
Declaration of Language Editor 
Ethics Clearance Certificate 
Abstract 
Keywords 
Acronyms and Abbreviations 
Table of Contents 
List of Figures 
List of Tables
CHAPTER ONE ORIENTATION AND BACKGROUND
1.1 INTRODUCTION
1.2 RATIONALE OF THE STUDY
1.3 PROBLEM STATEMENT
1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS
1.5 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
1.6 BASIC ASSUMPTIONS OF THE STUDY
1.7 CLARIFICATION OF CONCEPTS
1.7.1 EMOTIONS
1.7.2 INTELLIGENCE
1.7.3 EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE
1.8 LITERATURE REVIEW
1.8.1 THE PROFESSIONAL CHALLENGES OF UNIVERSITY LECTURERS
1.8.2 THE ACADEMIC CHALLENGES OF UNIVERSITY LECTURERS
1.8.3 THE INSTITUTIONAL CHALLENGES OF UNIVERSITY LECTURERS
1.9 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
1.9.1 BRONFENBRENNER’S ECOLOGICAL SYSTEMS THEORY
1.9.1.1 The microsystem
1.9.1.2 The mesosystem
1.9.1.3 The exosystem
1.9.1.4 The macrosystem
1.9.1.5 The chronosystem
1.10 CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK FOR EMOTIONAL  INTELLIGENCE (EI)
1.10.1 SELF-AWARENESS
1.10.2 SELF-MANAGEMENT
1.10.3 SOCIAL AWARENESS
1.10.4 RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT
1.11 THE RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
1.11.1 RESEARCH PARADIGM
1.11.2 RESEARCH APPROACH AND DESIGN
1.11.3 RESEARCH TYPE: MULTIPLE CASE STUDY ANALYSIS
1.11.4 SAMPLING
1.11.5 RESEARCH SITES AND PARTICIPANTS
1.11.5.1 Research sites
1.11.5.2 Participants
1.11.5.3 Role of the researcher
1.12 DATA COLLECTION STRATEGIES
1.12.1 INTERVIEWS
1.12.2 FIELD NOTES
1.13 DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION
1.14 TRUSTWORTHINESS
1.14.1 CREDIBILITY
1.14.2 DEPENDABILITY
1.14.3 CONFORMABILITY
1.14.4 TRANSFERABILITY
1.15 DELIMITATION OF THE STUDY
1.16 ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS
1.17 STRUCTURE OF THE STUDY
1.18 CONCLUDING REMARKS
CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
2.1 INTRODUCTION
2.2 OVERVIEW OF TERTIARY EDUCATION PROVISION IN NIGERIA
2.3 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
2.4 LITERATURE ON BRONFENBRENNER’S ECOLOGICAL THEORY   IN THE CONTEXT OF NIGERIA
2.5 THE CHRONOSYSTEM
2.6 THE MACROSYSTEM
2.7 THE EXOSYSTEM
2.8 MESOSYSTEM
2.9 THE MICROSYSTEM
2.10 THE IMPACT OF PROFESSIONAL, ACADEMIC AND INTERNATIONAL  CHALLENGES ON LECTURERS IN REGIONAL AND CONTEXTS
2.11 THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ECOSYSTEMIC CHALLENGES AND EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE
CHAPTER THREE EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE
3.1 INTRODUCTION
3.2 THE CONCEPT OF EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE (EI)
3.3 COGNITIVE MODEL OF EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE
3.4 NON-COGNITIVE MODEL OF EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE (NCMoEI)
3.5 A MIXED MODEL OF EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE (MMoEI)
3.6 JUSTIFICATION FOR THE EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE MODEL IN THE STUDY
3.7 CONCEPTUALISING EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE IN ACCORDANCE  WITH GOLEMAN’S FOUR DOMAINS
3.7 CONCLUDING REMARKS
CHAPTER FOUR RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
4.1 INTRODUCTION
4.2 RESEARCH PARADIGM
4.3 RESEARCH DESIGN
4.4 RESEARCH METHODS
4.5 ETHICAL CONSIDERATION
4.6 THE ROLE OF THE RESEARCHER
4.6 CONCLUDING REMARKS
CHAPTER FIVE DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION
5.1 INTRODUCTION
5.2 BACKGROUND DATA ON RESEARCH SITES AND PARTICIPANTS
5.3 DATA ANALYSIS: THEMES AND CATEGORIES
5.4 THEME 1: THE PERCEPTION OF CHALLENGES
5.5 THEME 2: COPING STRATEGIES
5.6 THEME 3: IMPACT ON EMOTIONS
5.7 DATA INTERPRETATION
5.8 CONCLUDING REMARKS
CHAPTER SIX SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
6.1 INTRODUCTION
6.2 OVERVIEW OF PREVIOUS CHAPTERS
6.3 SUMMARY OF LITERATURE AND EMPIRICAL FINDINGS
6.4 RESEARCH CONCLUSIONS
6.5 THE PROCESS FOR DEVELOPMENT OF AN EMOTIONAL  INTELLIGENCE MODEL
6.6 AN EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE MODEL
6.7 RECOMMENDATIONS
6.8 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH
6.9 LIMITATIONS
6.10 EPISTEMOLOGICAL UNDERSTANDING ON EMOTIONAL  INTELLIGENCE IN COPING WITH CHALLENGES AMONG NIGERIAN UNIVERSITIES
6.11 CONCLUDING REMARKS
LIST OF REFERENCES 
LIST OF APPENDICES
GET THE COMPLETE PROJECT