Before advocating in favor of either emotional intelligence or cognitive intelligence, we

should understand the meaning of both principles. Emotional Intelligence (EI) is the ability to

manage both your own emotions and understand the emotions of people around you. There are

five key elements to EI: self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy, and social skills.

People with high EI can identify how they are feeling, what those feelings mean, and how those

emotions impact their behavior and in turn, other people. (Mental Health America-MHA, 2023).

On the other hand, Cognitive intelligence is referred to as human mental ability and

understanding developed through thinking, experiences, and senses. It is the ability to generate

knowledge by using existing information. It also includes other intellectual functions such as

attention, learning, memory, judgment and reasoning. (Mercer,2023)

In my opinion, both emotional intelligence and cognitive intelligence plays significant

role in success of any individual however their importance may vary depending upon specific

situation and context Emotional intelligence help to build strong relationship with other people

by understanding the weakness lies inside him/her. In addition, it helps to build leadership skills

by solving complex practical problems. In nutshell I would say emotional intelligence makes

people more mature in terms of dealing, managing the people around them and maintaining the

healthy relationship within team or organization. On the other hand, cognitive intelligence

consists of abilities of people such as problem solving, critical thinking, information processing

and learning etc. These skills help to analyze complex problems. People with cognitive skills

have ability to generate unique ideas, think out of box to solve the critical issues.

Combination of emotional intelligence and cognitive intelligence create synergy effect

and holistic approach in human intelligence. This integration allows people to overcome the
complexities with greater efficiency to build meaningful relationships in their professional as

well as personal life.

References

Think Psych, (N.d), What’s the difference between cognitive vs. emotional intelligence? Retrieved

from https://thinkpsych.com/blog/cognitive-vs-emotional-intelligence/

MBA Knowledge base, (N.d.), Emotional Intelligence is more Important than Cognitive

Intelligence Retrieved from

https://www.mbaknol.com/human-resource-management/emotional-intelligence-is-more-

important-than-cognitive-intelligence/