Daniel Goleman
Daniel Goleman is an influential psychologist and author known for his pioneering work on emotional intelligence, a concept that highlights the critical role emotions play in decision-making and personal success. Born in 1946 in Stockton, California, he grew up in an academic environment, with both parents being educators. Goleman excelled in his studies, eventually earning a PhD in clinical psychology from Harvard University after a transformative year studying Eastern mysticism in India. His landmark book, "Emotional Intelligence," published in 1995, introduced a framework that redefined intelligence to include emotional awareness and management, emphasizing components such as self-awareness, self-regulation, empathy, and relationships.
Goleman’s theories gained significant traction in both business and educational settings, influencing leadership styles and classroom dynamics. Over the years, he continued to explore the intersection of emotional intelligence with spirituality and environmental activism, promoting the idea that emotional awareness is essential for addressing complex societal issues. His later works, including "Altered Traits" and "The Emotionally Intelligent Leader," further examined the impacts of meditation and leadership on emotional well-being. Goleman's contributions to the field have earned him numerous accolades, including the Harvard Griffin Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Centennial Medal in 2023.
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Daniel Goleman
Author, psychologist, science journalist
- Born: March 7, 1946
- Place of Birth: Stockton, California
Education: Amherst College, Harvard University
Significance: A psychologist with an extensive background in both brain studies and Eastern spirituality, Daniel Goleman pioneered research into the role that emotions play in effective decision making in both personal and professional spheres. He has also authored or co-authored numerous books exploring the interplay of the mind and behavior.
Background
Daniel Goleman was born in 1946 in the small town of Stockton, tucked away in north central California far from the distractions of the city. He was the son of college professors who had worked diligently to secure their education and were committed to the teaching profession. His father, Irving, taught literature and writing, and his mother, Fay, taught sociology. They dedicated the bulk of their careers to teaching at the University of the Pacific, a small private university in Stockton. Goleman’s parents stressed to their son the importance of providing topnotch educational opportunities to the widest possible range of people.
Goleman, early a voracious reader and accomplished student, received an endowed scholarship to attend Amherst College in Massachusetts. There he thrived, excelling in both humanities and science courses and graduating magna cum laude in 1968. He was determined to study the brain, but, grounded in the humanities, he wanted to approach the study through more than science, certain that the brain was far more complicated. He spent a formative year studying Eastern mysticism in India under the mentorship of Hindu teacher Neem Karoli Baba (c. 1900–1973). Goleman returned to the United States and completed his PhD in clinical psychology at Harvard. After teaching briefly at Harvard, Goleman began a successful career as a science journalist, writing initially for Psychology Today but accepting in 1984 a position as science writer at theNew York Times, where over the next decade his work, probing and incisive essays on cutting-edge brain research, would twice be shortlisted for the Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction.
Life’s Work
In the late 1980s, Goleman began compiling research on a theory he was developing that defined intelligence as being far more complicated than the ability to master a set of cognitive skills and technical know-how—in other words that intelligence was more than intellect. Goleman was interested in data dating back to the early 1960s that suggested how often critical decisions, both in relationships and in business, were driven more by the emotions than by reason. He also noticed that people ignored or even demonized the impact of emotions, seeking to justify decisions based on reason. Goleman came to realize that intellect was hardly the sole measure of intelligence, that effective leadership and successful lives were driven as much by the emotions as the intellect, and that success in the business community was as often attributable to hunches and gut feelings as it was to expertise and network capabilities.
Goleman published his theoretical framework in 1995’s Emotional Intelligence. In it, Goleman theorized four components of emotional intelligence that guided a person’s life, and he further argued that by cultivating the emotions rather than dismissing them, a person could better understand their own self and, in turn, live a more productive and more successful life.
The four levels were: (1) self-awareness, the capacity of a person to understand their own emotions and how they affect their life, and to appreciate the full range of emotions; (2) self-regulation, the need for a person to manage their emotions, to recognize their possibilities and their limits; (3) empathy, the ability of a person to feel beyond their own experience and to appreciate the emotional needs of others, whether in their families or in their businesses; and (4) relationships, the ability to apply awareness of the emotions to create healthy relationships and maintain nurturing communities as part of living a full and rewarding life. He later added a fifth component, motivation, or the drive to succeed, in applying emotional intelligence to business leadership.
It was a groundbreaking paradigm. Helped greatly by Goleman’s charismatic presence as a motivational speaker, the book became an international best seller, translated into more than forty languages. Initially embraced by the business community as a radical new theory on decision making and network dynamics, Goleman’s theoretical framework would be applied to other networks, perhaps most profitably as a paradigm for more successful classroom operations: it offered a way for educators to address a range of emotional problems in adolescents, from classroom apathy and test anxiety to poor self-image and social development. The book became a standard text in a variety of college curricula, including business administration, political science, education, and psychology. Time magazine listed the book as one of the 25 Most Influential Business Management Books of the Twentieth Century.
Over the next two decades, Goleman developed corollary theories that applied emotional intelligence to a wide range of human activities both in business and in relationships; his work came to embrace Eastern spirituality (he was particularly impacted by the vision of the Dalai Lama) and ultimately to help redefine the urgency of environmental activism, stressing the emotional response of people to the threat to their ecosystem as crucial in developing effective environmental policy.
In 2017 Goleman published the book Altered Traits: Science Reveals How Meditation Changes Your Mind, Brain, and Body, coauthored with Richard J. Davidson. The book examined the scientific basis of many of the claims surrounding the benefits of meditation to one's health and well-being, finding that the practice did have a demonstrable impact on the brain, calming the activity of the amygdala (the emotion center of the brain) and increasing the intensity of gamma waves, associated with conscious perception. The book received largely favorable reviews.
Goleman's next book came in 2019 and was entitled The Emotionally Intelligent Leader. It explored the importance of leaders being aware of their thoughts and actions and the impact they have on the people who work with and for them. It was also well-received. He followed this with the 2022 book Why We Meditate: The Science and Practice of Clarity and Compassion. This was a collaborative effort with Tibetan Buddhist author and founder of the Pundarika Foundation, Tsoknyi Rinpoche. The book explored the history and purpose of meditation along with its benefits, including the neuroscience behind the practice.
In 2023, Goleman received the Harvard Griffin Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Centennial Medal. This annual award is given to the school's graduate degree recipients who have made outstanding contributions to society.
Impact
Goleman’s theoretical framework suggested that the emotions were far more fundamental—and far more complex—than had been suspected by a pragmatic culture that valorized the logical and rational. His work created a paradigm applicable to a variety of human endeavors that highlighted the affective, or emotional, dimension of a person and that suggested that for a person to succeed in life, the workings of their emotions had to be understood and engaged.
Personal Life
Goleman is married to Tara Bennett-Goleman, a psychotherapist who pioneered protocols for recovering from emotional devastation. The couple has two sons and several grandchildren.
Bibliography
"About Daniel Goleman." Daniel Goleman. Daniel Goleman, n.d. Web. 12 Aug. 2016.
Bond, Michael. "Lost in Meditation: Two Books Argue over Mindfulness." Review of Altered Traits: Science Reveals How Meditation Changes Your Mind, Brain, and Body, by Daniel Goleman and Richard Davidson, and Mindlessness: The Corruption of Mindfulness in a Culture of Narcissism, by Thomas Joiner. New Scientist, 13 Sept. 2017, www.newscientist.com/article/mg23531430-900-lost-in-meditation-two-books-argue-over-mindfulness/. Accessed 25 Sept. 2024.
"The Book of Daniel: A Universal Hymn to Emotions." Psychology Today 30.5 (Sept./Oct. 1997): 88. Print.
Bradberry, Travis, and Jean Greaves. Emotional Intelligence 2.0. Berkeley: TalentSmart, 2009. Print.
Castellano, Stephanie. "Getting Sophisticated about Emotional Intelligence." T+D 68.6 (June 2014): 58–63. Print.
Gibbs, Nancy. "The EQ Factor." Time. Time, 24 June 2001. Web. 12 Aug. 2016.
Goleman, Daniel. "Stressed Out, Anxious or Sad? Try Meditating." Interview by Elizabeth Bernstein. The Wall Street Journal, 4 Dec. 2017, www.wsj.com/articles/anxious-sad-or-grumpy-try-meditating-1512404519. Accessed 25 Sept. 2024.
Goodman, Jonathan R. "Why We Meditate Review: A Convincing Argument for Regular Meditation." New Scientist, 18 Jan. 2023, www.newscientist.com/article/mg25734221-500-why-we-meditate-review-a-convincing-argument-for-regular-meditation/. Accessed 25 Sept. 2024.
Hahn, Kelly. "Daniel Goleman: 2023 Centennial Medal Citation." Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, 24 May 2023, gsas.harvard.edu/news/daniel-goleman-2023-centennial-medal-citation. Accessed 25 Sept. 2024.
O’Neil, John. "On Emotional Intelligence: A Conversation with Daniel Goleman." Educational Leadership 54.1 (1996): 6+. Print.
Zigler, Ronald Lee. "The Four Domains of Moral Education: The Contributions of Dewey, Alexander and Goleman to a Comprehensive Taxonomy." Journal of Moral Education 27.1 (Mar. 1998): 19+. Print.