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Emotional and social intelligence will ultimately be proven to be important for two reasons, the authors predict. First, they are likely to be core requirements for success in certain occupations. And second, they may be a link between innate ability and the mature expression of talent in work and in life.
ONE OF the best-selling books of 1995 was Daniel Goleman's Emotional Intelligence.' This book, which galvanized popular sentiments that some form of intelligence beyond academic knowledge and cognitive problem-solving capacity is essential to success in life, represents a broader trend toward examining the personal attributes and skills that link academic intelligence and success in school, work, and interpersonal relationships.2
Since the 1920s academics have engaged in a long, though sporadic, discussion in the popular media of the talents and aptitudes associated with personal (emotional) intelligence and social intelligence.3 Despite this history of popular and academic interest, conceptions of personal and social talent appear crude in comparison to theories of intellectual ability. In this article, we examine the expanding theoretical and empirical literature regarding personal and social talents, consider the distinction between academic intelligence and these talents, and identify the components of both talent areas. Our goal is to summarize current information regarding personal and social talents and their roles in academic, career, and personal success.
Personal Talents
We define personal talents as aptitudes that are primarily intrapersonal and enable one to take constructive action with respect to both people and tasks. This definition is broader than Howard Gardner's. He defines intrapersonal intelligence as "access to one's own feeling life" or what others have called "emotional intelligence." In our view, personal talents include both affective processes and aptitudes and connative processes and aptitudes, such as volition and self-regulation.5 These two correlated sets of abilities help an individual develop self-awareness,...