New Study Examines Emotional Intelligence in Incarcerated Individuals
August 2nd, 2012
Emotional intelligence (EI) describes a person’s ability to evaluate the emotional responses of others. Individuals with high levels of EI tend to accurately perceive the emotional reactions, whether visual or verbal, of those around them. This enables them to respond in complementary ways. Individuals who have low levels of EI are unable to process the emotional cues and responses they encounter. For instance, some people with low EI mistake shyness for snobbery or sadness for anger. These misconceptions can often result in negative emotional and behavioral responses. People who exhibit symptoms of psychopathy often have impaired EI. Although the link between psychopathy and low EI has been explored in previous research, Elsa Ermer of the Department of Psychology at the University of New Mexico wanted to further examine this link. She assessed 374 male prisoners using two standard measures, the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT) and the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R).
Ermer found that the inmates had high levels of psychopathy and low levels of EI. When she examined the evidence further, Ermer discovered that although there was no significant link between experiential EI and psychopathy in the inmates, there was a significant link between psychopathy and strategic EI. This was especially evident in the answers related to emotional regulation. The participants with psychopathy had low levels of emotional regulation in contrast to those with lower levels of psychopathic traits. “All of these investigations found some relationship between psychopathic traits and impaired EI,” said Ermer. She believes that these findings demonstrate that inherent personality characteristics play an important role in emotional regulation, and more research should be focused on these relationships.
EI can influence the outcome of a situation, either positively or negatively. EI is involved not only in emotional response but also in emotional manipulation. Some of the participants had high levels of EI, despite evidence of psychopathy, which could enable them to manipulate and coerce future potential victims. In fact, many of the participants, although incarcerated, admitted to other crimes that had gone undiscovered. This manipulation and coercion aspect of EI has yet to be examined but could be an area of interesting research. EI influences not only behavioral emotions such as impulsivity and anger but also internal emotions such as guilt and shame. Exploring the link between responses and behaviors that are prevalent among the incarcerated population, including violence and substance use could provide valuable insight into the potential consequences of impaired EI.
Reference:
Ermer, E., Kahn, R. E., Salovey, P., Kiehl, K. A. (2012). Emotional intelligence in incarcerated men with psychopathic traits. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 103.1: 194-204.
Related articles:
How to Teach Children Emotional Intelligence
Where Does the Violence Really Come From?
Can Therapy Affect the Brain?
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Comments
It would seem that really heinous crimes would be committed by individuals with a high EI, especially those who abuse children. In order to be able to groom someone to be a victim of abuse, you have to be keenly aware of what “makes them tick.” A criminal mind is often very sophisticated which is how criminals find victims and then escape detection. On the other end of the spectrum, there are the very unintelligent criminals who don’t have a high EI or a high IQ. I think both are very resistive to rehabilitation.
its always going to be difficult if you have low emotional intelligence.all things in life involve interacting with other people and if you cannot perceive their emotions and responses accurately enough it is going to lead to failed relationships, partnerships, friendships and what not.
btw,is it possible to train ourselves to increase out EI? if so,how?
EI is a very interesting concept to me. Though I have never defined it in these terms, these are concepts I have often thought about. I have always wondered if EI as it is defined here really has to be taught. Of course, the only way to really find out isn’t exactly ethical. Taking one group of kids and not teaching them anything and then taking another group of kids and directly teaching them for the entirety of their childhoods would definitely pose some ethical delimmas. But, it’s one of those experiments I’d really, really like to do just to see. I personally think most of these traits would end up developing on their own without direct teaching in most individuals. I think you are born with a certain amount of EI and nothing can really change the amount of EI you develop.
EI is different in different people and although it can be developed in my opinion,I do not believe that can be done to a very high degree with success. also, does psychopathy result in diminished EI or is it the other way around?
Kind of leads you to think that EI isn’t very present in those who have been jailed and incarcerated. Maybe if it was something that was abundant for them, then they wouldn’t be a criminal
I work with many men and women (especially men) who have been incarcerated for a long time, I’m talking something like 10-15 consecutive years. Their ability to interpret and process emotional information seems quite low. I think when they do, they’re often misinterpreting the emotional and social cues.
I’ve only worked with a handful of psychopaths and sociopaths (3-4 at best) and it’s remarkable to see the level at which there’s that ‘something’ missing. What seems to be common is the intense hypervigilance, impulsivity, anger, and deep distrust of everyone.
EI is a remarkable area of study! I’d like to see more of it done with inmates serving long sentences.
I too have worked with inmates, men who have been in for varying lengths of time, and I have to say that I find little difference between them and the rest of the general population other than the fact that they made some very poor decisions and ultimately got themselves into trouble as a result. Why they got there is a result of many intricate factors, but the biggest thing is that they just never had the same amount of parental support that the rest of us were fortunate to have. Many come from broken homes, poverty, and as much as we like to think that life is all about individual choices, we also know that how we were raised has a great deal to do with the kind of lives we then lead as adults.
Kelsea, keep up the good work! I completely agree that most (not all) of these individuals have had very chaotic childhoods if they even had one at all. A good individual choice is much easier to make when there’s some degree of safety, maybe a role model and some education. When you’re 7, your mom is smoking crack infront of you and you haven’t been to school yet— chances are slim.
Individuals who have low levels of EI are unable to process the emotional cues and responses they encounter. — so true! Positive emotions can be gathered, however. How you deal with other should start with yourself first, do things that stimulate positive emotions — I usually turn to my Emoplayer because it helps me shape positive emotions. I found it from http://www.emoplayer.com through a friend’s invite on Twitter.
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