是情緒智力對工作組的作用嗎？在這篇文章中，我將解釋為什么我強烈同意的想法，工作組的運作是基于高情商的工作組成員。我將開始通過定義一些關鍵概念，在這篇論文發(fā)表聲明，，把他們作為背景來完成其余的報告。然后，我會在學術(shù)期刊和研究的幫助下，舉例說明為什么我認為情緒智力對工作組的作用是至關重要的。我將解釋為什么群體凝聚力，溝通和情感的理解和控制是確保工作小組運作的基本特征。我還將談論情緒感染，以及如何在一組成功的負面影響。
情緒智力（或EI），定義由Mayer，沙洛維和卡魯索（2000），是“感知和表達情感的能力，在思想情感的理解和吸收，理性與情感、調(diào)節(jié)情緒的自我與他者。情緒智力也可以適用于一組，而被定義為“開發(fā)一套規(guī)范管理情緒的過程，從而培養(yǎng)信任、能力的群體認同、群體效能感”（Druskat &沃爾夫，2001）。個體情緒智力是重要的，因為它影響一個人的能力，發(fā)展和維護關系，有效地溝通，了解人們的感覺，以及如何最好地回應他們的情緒狀態(tài)的基礎上。
Is emotional intelligence essential to work group functioning? In this essay, I will explain why I strongly agree with the idea that work group functioning is based on the high emotional intelligence of the work groups members. I will start by defining some key concepts of this thesis statement to put them in context for the rest of the report. I will then, with the help of academic journals and research, provide examples of why I believe that emotional intelligence is essential to work group functioning. I will explain why group cohesion, communication and the understanding and control of emotion are essential characteristics to ensuring work group functioning. I will also talk about emotion contagion, and how this has a negative effect on the successfulness of a group. 

Emotional Intelligence (or EI), as defined by Mayer, Salovey and Caruso (2000), is “the ability to perceive and express emotion, assimilate emotion in thought, understand and reason with emotion, and regulate emotion in the self and others”. Emotional Intelligence can also apply to a group, and is defined as “the ability to develop a set of norms that manage emotional processes so as to cultivate trust, group identity, and group efficacy” (Druskat & Wolff, 2001). Individual Emotional Intelligence is important because it influences a person’s ability to develop and maintain relationships, communicate effectively and understand how people are feeling, and how best to respond to them based on that emotional state. 

For the purpose of this essay, a work group (or team) are “(a) are composed of two or more individuals, (b) who exist to perform organizationally relevant tasks, (c) share one or more common goals, (d) interact socially, (e) exhibit task interdependencies (i.e., workflow, goals, outcomes), (f) maintain and manage boundaries, and (g) are embedded in an organizational context that sets boundaries, constrains the team, and influences exchanges with other units in the broader entity” (Kozlowski & Bell, 2001). Finally, I will use a dictionary definition to define functioning as ‘to work or operate in a proper or particular way’.  

As stated above, work groups consist of at least two people, so cohesion between members of the group is important to the success of that group. A group that ‘gels’ together is going to function more successfully than a group that doesn’t. In their 2004 paper, Liden, Wayne, Jaworski & Bennett determined that group cohesion was instrumental to the group’s overall job performance, as well as its planning, quality and quantity of work, communication and cooperation. Moore and Mamiseishvili (2012) conducted an experiment to determine whether or not emotional intelligence was linked to group cohesion. The results of this experiment concluded that ‘there was a significant positive correlation between overall EI mean and total group cohesiveness mean’. So, based on these two conclusions by Liden et al. and Moore & Mamiseishvili, emotional intelligence is essential to work group functioning. High emotional intelligence of group members has been proven to increase group cohesion, and group cohesion is vital to a group functioning successfully. 

As Druskat & Wolff stated in their definition, the ability to perceive emotion, whether your own or someone else’s, is key to being emotional intelligent. Moore and Mamiseishvili (2012) concluded that, based on their experiment, having an awareness of you own emotion was the emotional intelligence characteristic that had the most association with group cohesion. For a group to work properly, it is important that they have a sense of cohesion. A person who is aware of their own emotions is more likely to work cohesively with the group because they have less intense reactions emotionally to the group (Wolff, Pescosolido, and Druskat, 2002). Therefore, a group which consists of group members who are aware of their own emotions is likely to function well, indicating that emotional intelligence is essential to work group functioning. Additionally, those high in emotional intelligence have a greater ability to regulate their emotion. This means that they have the ability to express or repress their emotions. People low in emotional intelligence can’t do this, and tend to react  

aggressively when they hear something they don’t like. This aggressive reaction creates tension within the group, and decreases the group’s ability and willingness to collaborate with the offending party, so it has a negative effect on group cohesion, and therefore the group’s ability to act in a proper way. 

One of the parts of the definition of a work group is the fact that the group ‘interact socially’. If one is interacting socially, they are communicating with a person or a group of people. Effective communication, therefore, is essential to the success of a group. Jorfi & Jorfi (2012) state that, based on their research of educational administrators of Iran, ‘there is a significant and positive relationship between independent variable (emotional intelligence) with dependent variable (communication effectiveness)’. Somebody with high emotional intelligence has the ability to perceive, understand and regulate emotion in themselves and in others. Somebody who can understand the emotion of a person they are interacting with is going to communicate with them more successfully because they have the ability to read how the person is responding to them, and can adapt how they are communicating with the other person to get them to react more positively. Simply put, a work group that knows how to talk to, and interact with, each other is going to function better because everybody is going to act in a manner which is accepted by everybody else. 

As defined in the opening part of this essay, group emotional intelligence is “the ability to develop a set of norms that manage emotional processes so as to cultivate trust, group identity, and group efficacy” (Druskat & Wolff, 2001). Communication is essential to the emotional intelligence of a group. If a group can’t communicate effectively, it has no means to develop the norms that are required to develop the trust, identity and efficacy that are required for a group to have a high emotional intelligence. Based on the definition of group emotional intelligence, a group with low EI is simply not going to be able to function successfully. If members don’t trust each other the group will not achieve anything because  

everybody is going to heavily scrutinise everyone else’s work, and even redo the work to assure themselves that it has been done properly and is correct. Also, if people don’t feel part of the group, they aren’t going to feel motivated to perform to their highest capabilities. Communication is essential to the group creating an identity and ensuring everybody feels a part of that identity. A group with low EI won’t do this, and therefore want function as effectively as they would otherwise. Therefore, emotional intelligence is absolutely essential to the successful operation of a work group. 

Moore & Mamiseishvili (2012) discovered that groups which have one member who is exceptionally low in EI comparative to the rest of the group don’t have the cohesiveness, and therefore effectiveness, that they would have had had that member not been present, ‘…groups with higher minimum scores even had an increased level in performance when compared to groups who just had higher average scores’. They determined from this discovery that emotions can be contagious. This theory makes sense. A group with a member who has low emotional intelligence will find it more difficult, and longer, to develop acceptable group norms than what it would have had that member not participated in the group. The other members of the group may also lower what they deem to be acceptable levels of behaviour and what actions they consider suitable when they interact with each other. If one member of the group wrongly interprets emotion (Due to low EI) conveyed during an interaction with another member, and they react aggressively, the whole group is going pick up on the tension and anger, and may even take it on and respond in a similar manner. Low emotional intelligence means a person is less likely to be able to regulate their emotion, so they react in a more negative way to a situation than someone with higher emotional intelligence would have. One person with low emotional intelligence can bring down the performance of the whole group. Therefore, having high emotional intelligence is essential to work group functioning.  

Thus far, I have talked about why I believe emotional intelligence is important to work group functioning. But does this mean that somebody with low emotional intelligence is destined to spend the rest of their life desperately trying to work in a group with little to no success? No, emotional intelligence can be developed ‘Evidence shows that a person’s EI can be improved through training and development’ (Sadri, 2013). So, there is hope for those of use that struggle to understand and control our emotion. The key to improving your emotional intelligence and contributing successfully to a group is to practice. Moore and Mamiseishvili (2012) stated the following about improving emotional intelligence, ‘….when students are working in groups, providing several opportunities for students to reflect on their experience within the team, their individual contribution, and the contribution of their other team members is important. It is essential to equip team members with the ability to self-assess and deliver positive and negative feedback to others’. It is important that the group takes time to reflect, both on themselves and others, on the successful and not so successful times the group had. The group can reflect on times when they conveyed their emotions well and times they could have improved control of their emotions. They can also reflect personally on whether they felt they understood what other members of the group were feeling during particular interactions. This enables the group to improve their EI because they are thinking about how they can better control their emotions and interpret the emotions of both themselves, and the group. Group members can develop strategies to improve their ability to perceive and express emotion, and regulate emotion in the self and others. 

The EI of a group member can also be improved by creating collaborative goals and improving the group members’ motivation (Sadri, 2013). If somebody feels involved and can relate to the vision or goal of the group, they have a greater willingness to positively interact with the group, maintain and manage boundaries, and understand and follow the boundaries  

and constrains imposed by the team, which are the key components of group emotional intelligence. 

To conclude, I strongly believe that emotional intelligence is essential to work group functioning. Group cohesion has been directly linked to the successful functioning of a group, and experiments have concluded that emotional intelligence has a significant impact on the cohesion of a group. Communication is one of the most important aspects of an efficiently operating group. It allows a group to develop norms and acceptable practices, and communication, as stated earlier, is more effective when a person is high in emotional intelligence. The ability to understand and control emotions is vitally important because it means people will react less aggressively and maintain group cohesion. Emotions are contagious, so having low EI and reacting negatively to people because you have wrongly interpreted their emotion is going to be detrimental to work group functioning. Based on all of this evidence, I believe it is clearly evident that emotional intelligence is absolutely essential to work group functioning. However, emotional intelligence levels aren’t set at a certain level forever. EI can be improved over time, meaning that everybody has the potential to contribute to work group functioning.  

References 文獻

Mayer, J. D., Salovey, P., & Caruso, D. R. (2000). Models of emotional intelligence. In J. Sternberg (Ed.), Handbook of intelligence (pp. 396). Druskat, V. U., & Wolff, S. B. (2001). Group emotional competence and its influence on group effectiveness. In C. Cherniss and D. Goleman (Eds.), The emotionally intelligent workplace (pp. 133). Kozlowski, S. W. J. & Bell, B. S. (2001). Work groups and teams in organizations. Retrieved 16/4/13, from Cornell University, ILR School site: Moore, A. & Mamiseishvili, K. (2012). Examining the Relationship between Emotional Intelligence and Group Cohesion, Journal of Education for Business, 87(5), 296-302. Liden, R. C., Wayne, S. J., Jaworski, R. A., & Bennett, N. (2004). Social loafing: A field investigation. Journal of Management, 30, 285–304. Jorfi, H. & Jorfi, M. (2012). Management: A Study of Organizational Culture and the Relationship between Emotional Intelligence and Communication Effectiveness, Journal of Management Research, 4(1). Wolff, S. B., Pescosolido, A. T., & Druskat, V. U. (2002). Emotional intelligence as the basis of leadership emergence in self-managing teams. Leadership Quarterly, 13, 505–522 Sadri, G. (2013). Improving emotional intelligence. Industrial Management, 55(1), 18-22.