Over the past few decades the effect of intelligence on individual performance in the workplace has been intensely studied. As a result of these studies, a discrete form of intelligence has been identified, explaining the variance in workplace performance of individuals that could not be explained by the constructs of other forms of intelligence (Mayer & Salovey, 1997; Goleman, 1998; Mayer, Salovey & Caruso, 2000; Caruso & Salovey, 2004). This newly identified form of intelligence is emotional intelligence, defined by Mayer and Salovey (1997) as a set of capabilities that allow an individual to recognise and identify emotions in oneself and in others, which, in turn allows for the facilitation of performance within the workplace. Emotional intelligence is a distinct but compensatory construct from what has historically been recognised as the standard meaning of ‘intelligence’ – cognitive intelligence. Cognitive intelligence can be defined as “the general efficacy of intellectual processes” (Ackerman, Beier and Boyle, 2005, p. 33). This essay aims to assess the important individual differences of cognitive intelligence and emotional intelligence in the field of organisational behaviour by evaluating the theoretical and practical strengths and limitations of each theory and discussing how they can be applied in modern organisations.
Gardner’s (1983) theory of multiple intelligences proposes eight abilities that meet his definition of intelligence: verbal-linguistic facility, logical-mathematical abstraction, reasoning and critical thinking, musical recognition and perception, bodily-kinaesthetic control, spatial judgement and reasoning, interpersonal sensitivity, intrapersonal capacity and naturalistic ability (Gardner, 1983). When looking closely at these categories, it is apparent that logical-mathematical abstraction and reasoning and critical thinking is closely associated with general mental aptitude (also known as intelligent quotient or cognitive...