1. ‘Social Intelligence’ in Research
Social Intelligence, as a concept, was propounded by psychologist Edward Thorndike in 1920. In
his own words, Social Intelligence is “the ability to understand and manage men and women,
boys and girls, and to act wisely in human relations”. So, by the very definition, the concept
relates to both the cognitive aspects (the ability to understand people) and practical aspects
(ability to deal with and respond towards them).
In years to come, Moss and Hunt defined it on similar lines as “the ability to get along with
others” and P. E. Vernon in 1930s carried it forward by describing it as “Social intelligence is
reflected in the general ability to get along with people in general, social technique or ease in
society, knowledge of social matters and susceptibility to stimuli from other members of a group,
as well as insight into the temporary moods or underlying personality traits of strangers”.
What followed was a lull in terms of specific research invoice automation software the concept,
until Gardner in 1980s proposed a novel model of multiple-intelligences with interpersonal and
intrapersonal as two of them. They, together, are seen in terms of social intelligence. In his
words, “social intelligence allows people to take advantage of the resources of others. We are
finding that much of people’s effective intelligence is, in a sense, outside the brain. This means,
you can use intelligence for other people, if you know how to reach it and how to use it.
Therefore, the best strategy is to mobilize other people around you.”
So, according to him, interpersonal intelligence covers the ability to read other people’s moods,
motives and other mental states; and intrapersonal includes the ability to access and assess one’s
own feelings and to draw on them to guide behavior. He also believed it to be the basis of EI
with a greater focus on cognition and understanding than feeling.
Researchers Ford and Tisak found both convergent and divergent validity for social intelligence.
They also found that social intelligence was a better predictor of a behavioral measure of social
effectiveness than was academic intelligence. In fact, overall in that decade, researchers agreed
that social intelligence is distinct from general intelligence and may serve as a better predictor of
behavior.
