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Daniel Goleman: biography of the author of Emotional Intelligence

Daniel Goleman: biography of the author of Emotional Intelligence

April 3, 2024

Daniel Goleman is one of the most famous psychologists of recent years, due to the international best-seller of his book: Emotional Intelligence (1995).

Although the concept of emotional intelligence appears in literature thanks to American psychologists Peter Salovey and John Mayer in 1990, it was Goleman who, thanks to the publication of his work, made this concept famous. Currently, emotional intelligence is applied in many fields (clinic, organizations, sports ...) because it provides benefits for both mental health and performance (sports or work).


You can deepen your work, in this article: "What is emotional intelligence?"

Biography of Daniel Goleman

Currently, Daniel Goleman teaches lectures for entrepreneurs, teachers, psychologists and other groups of professionals , but for many years he was a journalist in The New York Times, because it informed on the science of the brain and the behavior in the prestigious American newspaper. In his book Emotional Intelligence, he explains that the competencies of self-knowledge, self-discipline, persistence or empathy are more important for life than the IQ (Intellectual Quotient), and he affirms that ignoring these competencies is a risk for us.


Therefore, we must teach children to develop these skills from an early age, because they are beneficial for their future. His work was the best-seller in the ranking The New York Times for a year and a half, with more than 5,000,000 books sold worldwide. Further, It was also a best-seller in Europe, Asia and Latin America, and was translated into almost 30 languages. .

Recommended article: "The benefits of emotional intelligence at work"

Daniel Goleman: a renowned psychologist

Daniel Goleman was born in Stockton, California, where his parents were university professors. His father taught literature at San Joaquin Delta College, while his mother taught sociology at Universidad del Pacífico. Goleman, who was a great student, He graduated and PhD in Clinical Development of Psychology and Personality at Harvard University , where he usually holds conferences and is a visiting professor.


He currently resides in Berkshires and is co-president of the Research Consortium on Emotional Intelligence in Organizations, which is located in Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology at Rutgers University. This institution recommends best practices for the development of emotional intelligence skills, and promotes rigorous research for greater effectiveness of emotional intelligence in the workplace and the organizations.

In addition, Goleman was co-founder of the Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning (CASEL) at the Yale University Child Studies Center (now at the University of Illinois at Chicago), which aims to help schools introduce emotional literacy courses, an important part of the communication of emotions. Hundreds of schools around the globe have begun to implement these courses.

His beginnings as a writer: building a long life of success

When he was studying at Harvard University, his mentor was David McClelland, a renowned psychologist who developed the famous theory of achievement. Thanks to him, Goleman started working in the famous journal PsychologyToday. Although he wanted to be a teacher like his parents, writing caught his attention, and the magazine served as a learning experience for the rest of his life and for his successful career as a writer and theoretician.

His first book was "The Varieties of the Meditative Experience", 1977 (later called: "The Paths of Meditation"), in which he described the different meditative systems.In addition to this, Goleman has written the following works:

  • Triple focus (2016)
  • Focus (2013)
  • The brain and emotional intelligence (2013)
  • The power of emotional intelligence (2013)
  • The creative spirit (2009)
  • Ecological Intelligence (2009)
  • Emotional intelligence for children and youth (2009)
  • The blind spot (2008)
  • Transparency: How leaders forge a culture of sincerity (2008)
  • Social intelligence The new science of human relations (2006)
  • Emotional intelligence at work (2005)
  • The resonant leader creates more (2003)
  • Destructive emotions How to understand and overcome them (2003)
  • The practice of emotional intelligence (1999)
  • Meditation and higher states of consciousness (1997)
  • Emotional health: conversations with the Dalai Lama (1997)
  • Emotional Intelligence (1995)

Obviously, his great work and for which he is world-renowned is the book of Emotional Intelligence who wrote in 1995.

Awards and awards

Daniel Goleman has received several awards for his texts, including an award for his career as a journalist awarded by the APA (American Psychological Association). He was nominated twice for the Pulitzer Prize and has received numerous awards in recognition of his research and outreach.

Your contribution to Emotional Intelligence

As has already been said, Goleman made the term emotional intelligence famous when nobody talked about it, and since then, this construct has had a great reception in different areas (business, clinic, education ...).

If we stop to think about the transcendence of our emotions in our daily life we ​​will quickly realize that there are many occasions in which these have a decisive influence on our life, even if we do not realize it. Because, emotional intelligence is key to our mental well-being and our relationships with others .

The psychologist Adrián Triglia , in an article published months ago in Psychology and Mind, says that Emotional Intelligence helps people because:

  • Improves self-knowledge, self-discovery and improves decision-making
  • Improves work performance and productivity
  • Protects and prevents stress and nervousness
  • Improves interpersonal relationships and empathy
  • Encourages personal development
  • Provides capacity for influence and leadership
  • It promotes psychological well-being and emotional balance
  • Reduces anxiety and helps overcome depression and sadness
  • Increase motivation and help achieve goals
  • Help to sleep better
You can learn more about the benefits of Emotional Intelligence in our article: "The 10 benefits of emotional intelligence"

Daniel Goleman Introduces Emotional Intelligence (April 2024).


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