Culture and Emotional

Intelligence

Amarendra Kumar Dash

Invited lecture, IIT Kharagpur
 Emotional Intelligence
 Seven core emotions show up chemically in the body: 
 1. Love
 2. Joy
 3. Hope
 4. Sadness
 5. Envy
 6. Anger
 7. Fear
Each emotion has triggers. For instance, you often feel hope
when you begin working with a new coaching client.
 What TRIGGERS you to feel each of the seven core
emotions?
 Symptoms of Emotions

Each emotion also has symptoms that show up in our thinking

and our bodies. When some people have to give a
presentation to a large group, it’s often a trigger to feel fear.
The symptoms of fear may be:
 foggy thinking
 sweaty palms
 a shaky voice
 red blotches all over one’s face and chest.
Each person’s emotional triggers and symptoms are unique. In
other words, we each have our own customized emotional
map.
 Emotional Symptoms

6. Voice becoming loud or high

Your emotions map is unique to
pitched
you. Can you map each of
these to one of the seven core 7. Crying
emotions? Each of these 8. Laughing
physical symptoms links to an 9. Sweaty palms
emotion or several emotions: 10. Trembling
11. Stomachache
1. Tapping fingers on the desk as 12. Headache
someone speaks 13. Rolling eyes
2. Speaking quickly 14. Smiling and singing a playful
3. Heart beating faster song
4. Giggling 15. Walking with a skip in your
5. Giggling uncontrollably at an step—a little lighter than normal
inappropriate time
 Emotional States of Being

Each of the following states of being is distinctly tied to one of the

seven core emotions. See if you can figure out which ones go
together for you:
1. Freedom, 2. Passion, 3. Enthusiasm, 4. Positive expectations
5. Optimism, 6. Contentment, 7. Boredom, 8. Pessimism, 9.
Frustration
10. A sense of being overwhelmed, 11. Disappointment, 12. Doubt
13. Worry, 14. Blame,15. Discouragement,16. Bitterness,17.
Vengefulness
18. Hatred, 19. Jealousy, 20. Insecurity, 21. Guilt, 22. Unworthiness
23. Grief, 24. Depression, 25. Powerlessness, 26. Inability to
concentrate
 Each of us has our own unique emotions map.
 Emotional Intelligence
Competencies
The BarOn Emotional Quotient Inventory (EQ-i) has five composite
scales subdivided into fifteen content scales
 Intrapersonal: this scale assesses the inner self.
• Emotional Self-Awareness: the ability to recognize one's
feelings.
• Assertiveness: the ability to express feelings, beliefs, and
thoughts and defend one's rights in a nondestructive manner.
• Self-Regard: the ability to respect and accept oneself as
good.
• Self-Actualization: the ability to realize one's potential
capacities.
• Independence: the ability to be self-directed and self-
controlled in one's thinking and actions and to be free of
emotional dependency.
 Emotional Intelligence
Competencies
 Interpersonal: this scale assesses interpersonal skills and
functioning.

• Empathy: the ability to be aware of, to understand, and

to appreciate the feelings of others.
• Interpersonal Relationships: the ability to establish and
maintain mutually satisfying relationships that are
characterized by intimacy and by giving and receiving
affection.
• Social Responsibility: the ability to demonstrate oneself
as a cooperative, contributing, and constructive member
of one's social group.
 Emotional Intelligence
Competencies
 Adaptability: this scale assesses how successfully a
person copes with environmental demands by sizing up
and dealing with problematic situations.
• Problem Solving: the ability to identify and define
problems as well as to generate and implement
potentially effective solutions.
• Reality Testing: the ability to assess the
correspondence between what is experienced and
what objectively exists.
• Flexibility: the ability to adjust one's emotions,
thoughts, and behavior to changing situations and
conditions.
 Emotional Intelligence
Competencies
 Stress Management: This scale assesses the extent to which people
are able to withstand stress without falling apart or losing control.
• Stress Tolerance: the ability to withstand adverse events and
stressful situations without "falling apart" by actively and
positively coping with stress.
• Impulse Control: the ability to resist or delay an impulse, drive,
or temptation to act.
 General Mood: This scale assesses the ability to enjoy life, to feel
content, and to be positive about the future.
• Happiness: the ability to feel satisfied with one's life, to enjoy
oneself and others, and to have fun.
• Optimism: the ability to look at the brighter side of life and to
maintain a positive attitude, even in the face of adversity.
 Emotionally Intelligent Leadership
and Communication

 Having the emotional intelligence to deal with our own emotions

first gives us the confidence and ability to navigate through the
changes that are inevitable in our careers.
 We can experience an emotional hijack as a result of a change,
or we can self-regulate and catch ourselves before we head into
an emotional uproar.
 We can be aware of how other people’s emotions are impacting
their ability to have a meaningful conversation.
 When we know how to process ourselves and others through our
emotions, we will be able to create more meaningful
conversations.
 We will be able to create conversations for change.
 The Emotional Ladder

 In the sequence of an experience emotions come first.

 Emotions are faster than thoughts.
 That means emotion trumps competencies, behavior, and
character unless we learn to be self-aware and channel
our emotions consciously.
 
 Shifting from a Problem Focus to a
Solution Focus
When people fight about something, the subject of the argument
is rarely the real issue. The real issue is about vulnerability,
connectedness, safety, trust, or love—which are all emotional
states.
We connect with others authentically, with deep rapport and
emotional safety, when we listen to ourselves well enough to
tap into our own thoughts and feelings and share them in the
moment.
Then when we listen to others, we create the space for them to
be here now, emotionally engaged. That’s being emotionally
intelligent.
 Problem Focus to a Solution Focus:
Can you out-smart Diya?

 Diya complained bitterly about her boss’s behavior (always

criticizing him and his decision making) instead asking for
what she wanted from him.
 She stopped focusing on his blind spots and began to see his
strengths. Instead of complaining, she started describing
solutions and what the situation would look like if things were
going well. She involved him where his strengths would play
out best and told him how she was involving others where she
needed different abilities.
 This shift in Diya transformed her relationship with her boss
and rippled into creating more meaningful conversations in
every area of her life.
 EI: Questionnaire

A simple, enjoyable Questionnaire to measure your EI

competencies

 Tips for getting started: There is always some scope

 Disconnect from past issues
 Negotiate for a fresh relationship
 Ice-breaking
 Emotions and Culture

 Theories that view emotions as culturally based tend to

emphasize aspects related to the social environment:
antecedent situations, overt behavior, and culturally
specific ways of thinking and talking about emotions.

 Theories that regard emotions as universal, on the other

hand, tend to focus on individual emotion elements such
as facial expression
 Continued...

 Culture direct the attention to different sources of

information for making the life satisfaction judgments,
thus affecting subjective well being appraisal.

 Individualistic cultures direct attention to inner states and

feelings (such as positive or negative affects).

 Collectivistic cultures the attention is directed to outer

sources (i.e. adhering to social norms or fulfilling one’s
duties).
 Work context: Shame across Cultures

Bagozzi et al. (2003) study the effects of shame on salespersons in

Holland (an individualistic culture) and the Philippines (a
collectivistic culture).
 Findings: bad experiences with clients led to similar shame emotions
in both cultures.
 Responses to this shame:
 Dutch salespersons to withdraw and to perform poorer on their job,
apparently because they directed most of their mental resources
inwards, to defend the self.
 Filipino salespersons felt shame all the same; however, the shame
caused them to put more efforts in building relationship and thus to
perform better on the job. Moreover, Filipino salespersons
demonstrated more Organizational Citizenship Behaviors (OCB).
 Reasons: collectivistic cultures shame signals that social harmony
has been hampered and that the individual should act to rebuild it.
 Eastern Independence, Western
Conformity? Case

Scientists arranged a series of studies designed to at least argue

against the widely accepted stereotype that Americans
prefer qualities of uniqueness while the Japanese intuitively
value conformity.
American and Japanese participants were presented with
various scenarios that asked them to select, actually and
hypothetically, a pen from a cup filled with four pens of one
color and one pen of another, alternating between green and
orange.
The results show that both American and Japanese participants
were more likely to select a majority pen over the uniquely-
colored pen if they had been previously monitored by other
participants or asked to choose with an experimenter
present.
 Cultural Intelligence

Cultural intelligence can be defined as a person’s capacity to

adapt effectively to new cultural settings or contexts based
on multiple facets including cognitive, motivational, and
behavioral features (Molinsky, 2007).
People with high cultural intelligence are able to depict the
universal, group- or person-specific and culture-specific
elements when observing a person’s or group’s behavior
(Earley and Mosakowski, 2004).
A person, who is able to tease out the culture-specific elements
of behavior, is able to advance to the more important step
of adapting him- or herself to this behavior.
Cultural Intelligence (Earley and Ang,
2003)
Fostering Emotional and Social
Intelligence in Organizations
Cultural Intelligence Self
Appraisal Questionnaire

The journey may be lengthy...

...But self help is best...

Updated Emotional Social
Intelligence (ESI) Model
 Updated Emotional Social
Intelligence (ESI) Model

Source: CRAIG R. SEAL Seal, C.R., Boyatzis,R.E., Bailey, J.R.

(2006).

Building upon and integrating the competency research,

Goleman, Boyatzis, and McKee (2002) presented a model
of ESI with 18 competencies arrayed in four clusters and
two aspects (Boyatzis, 1982; Spencer & Spencer, 1993;
Rosier, 1994-1997; Goleman, 1998).
 Behavioral Change Model: Intentional
Change Theory

Intentional Change Theory (ICT) describes the essential

components and process of desirable, sustainable change in
one’s behavior, thoughts, feelings, and perceptions.
ICT is the modern equivalent of Self-Directed Learning (Boyatzis,
1999; Goleman, Boyatzis, & McKee, 2002; Boyatzis, 2006).
The “change” may be in a person’s behaviors or intentions
(i.e. competencies). It is “desired” in that the person wishes
it so or would like it to occur. It is “sustainable” in that it
endures—lasts a relatively long time.
A “desirable, sustainable change” may also include the desire to
maintain a current desirable state, relationship, or habit.
Behavioral Change Model
 CI: Sustaining Competitive Advantage
in a Global Economy

 If a resource or capability is commonly available, regardless

of its value, it is less likely to lead to competitive
advantage because competitors can acquire the resource
easily.
 As such, rarity is also considered a key feature of a
resource that can lead to sustained competitive advantage.
 At the same time, a resource should be costly to imitate by
competitors.
 The value of a resource can be maximized when it is
closely linked to complementary resources within the firm
(Helfat, 1997).
Framework of firm-level cultural
intelligence
Global Cultural Capital and Cosmopolitan
Human Capital: Firm Level Analysis
Source: Ng, K-Y; Tan, M. L. & Ang, S.(2009)
 Please Visit

 http://culturalq.com/addresources.html

 CRAIG R. SEAL Seal, C.R., Boyatzis,R.E., Bailey, J.R.(2006).

Fostering Emotional and Social Intelligence in Organizations.
Organization Management Journal, Linking Theory &
Practice: EAM White Papers Series, Vol. 3, No. 3, 190-209.
Thank You