Jung, a contemporary of Freud and within the psychoanalytic tradition, contributed to the field of emotional intelligence, with his belief that each individual functions in a unique way and that there are fundamental traits which allow a belonging to a certain group or type (Myers, McCauley, Quenk, & Hammer, 1998). Myers et al., (1998) developed a personality type indicator based on this theory, which appears to dovetail with the theory of emotional intelligence, in that conscious and unconscious emotions and thoughts, shape who we are, what we learn, and how we act. The temperament paradigm refers to patterns of behavioural and emotional reactivity that are relatively stable over time and situation (Durbin, Klein, Hayden, Buckley, & Moerk, 2005). Low positive emotionality, which is often associated with AD/HD learners, is associated with risk through the alteration of mood states, cognition which is related to the expectation of rewards for behaviour, and goal directed behaviour (Durbin et al., 2005). In addition, these authors submit that positive emotionality, which is closely linked to the construct of extraversion, relates to positive mood states, as well as high sociability and environmental engagement, whereas negative emotionality is related to a propensity for negative affect and cognitions, as well as high levels of perceived stress. The learner with AD/HD, seems to evaluate his world and himself in a more negative way, and appears to experience high levels of stress in terms of peer rejection and low social acceptance. It is posited by the researcher that an intervention which incorporates training in social cognition, and the understanding and ability to label and discuss emotions, may help the learner with AD/HD to view his world from a different perspective with positive emotionality rather than negative emotionality. This in turn may help to lessen the symptoms and behaviour that he displays.
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Although Kristjansson (2006) poses the question of whether the concept of emotional intelligence can be clearly referenced to an identifiable psychological state or process, Petrides, Frederickson and Furnham (2004) propose a clear conceptual distinction between two types of emotional intelligence, namely, trait emotional intelligence (hereafter referred to as trait EI) and ability emotional intelligence (hereafter referred to as ability EI).
Table 3.2 Two types of emotional intelligence (Petrides et al., 2004).
Trait emotional intelligence Ability emotional intelligence • Measured through self report
questionnaires
• Relates to behavioural dispositions and self-perceptions
• Incorporates different dispositions from the personality domain such as empathy, impulsivity and assertiveness • Incorporates elements of social
intelligence proposed by Thorndike (1920) and personal intelligence proposed by Gardner (1983).
• Refers to cognitive-emotional ability which is the individual’s actual ability to recognize, process and utilize emotion- laden information.
• Measured by maximum performance tests using correct and incorrect responses (Petrides et al. 2004)
Trait EI seems to best meet the requirements of this research in that it relates to the symptoms and behaviour of learners with AD/HD rather than a cognitive ability, and takes into account their behavioural dispositions and self perceptions, their social intelligence and personal intelligence. By exposing the learners in our school, particularly those with AD/HD, to the vocabulary of emotion, in order to gain a deeper understanding of emotions in relation to the self and to others, and to be able to understand situations from the perspectives of others, the researcher is hopeful that this will result in a better cycle of social interaction, and an alleviation of the specific symptoms and behaviours that these learners exhibit (Fonagy et al., 2007). Learners with AD/HD within our schools, may be able to link academic achievement with the skills necessary for succeeding in life in general, and to highlight the impact of emotions and emotional well-being on how and what is learned, as well as to develop positive relationships, as these provide the foundation needed in order for learning to take place.
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Emotional states are said to be shorter in duration than mood states, more intense, and characterized by a number of different cognitive appraisals (Dunn & Schweitzer, 2005). It appears that emotions are more complex than moods, although moods are said to be more likely to influence judgements than are emotions. For example, when people were asked to rate life satisfaction, they provided higher ratings of life satisfaction on sunny days than on rainy days, and when asked to attribute their mood to the weather before making a judgement, there were no significant difference in ratings on sunny and rainy days (Dunn & Schweitzer, 2005). Fridja (1998) states that the meaning attributed to a situation or an event gives rise to an emotional response, which tends to be subjective and to relate to the way in which an individual perceives a situation. In this regard, learners with AD/HD appear to perceive the environment as confusing and sometimes threatening, and this subjective emotional response may influence the way that they react to and interact with their environment.
Diener (2000) proposes that personality type also affects the maintenance of levels of pleasant and unpleasant affect. It seems that advantageous and disadvantageous events move individuals temporarily away from their personal baselines, but over time they return to them. Emotions therefore become more important than an intellectual knowledge of a situation, and a tone of voice may have more meaning than the actual words that are used. Oatley and Johnson-Laird (1998) concur with this and add that emotions are at the centre of human, mental and social life, and are able to integrate and mediate experiences. Behaviour may be motivated by the desire to improve mood and Salovey et al., (2000), discuss research showing that self-defined chocolate addicts tended to eat more chocolate when they were in depressed moods, in an attempt to improve their mood, and another study showing that individuals participating in physical activity such as exercises, did so to increase positive feelings and reduce negative feelings. Social skills and self-confidence seem to relate to a subjective feeling of well-being and correlate with feelings of satisfaction about life (Diener & Fujita, 1995). It therefore seems relevant to improve the social skills and self-confidence levels of learners with AD/HD through a program which promotes alternative thinking strategies, to increase their feeling of well being and thus improve upon the symptoms and behaviour they exhibit.
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