Emotional Intelligence and Attachment Orientations

Abstract

Attachment orientations reflect the inner representations of the self and others that are formed in early childhood. Emotional intelligence is seen as a set of skills involved in the expression of emotion, its effective regulation of emotion, and the use of feelings. Attachment orientations are thought to derive from infants’ experiences with their primary caregivers and are associated with a range of cognitions, emotions and behaviors, including the interpretation of emotional experiences, the use of coping mechanisms, and affect regulation strategies to deal with stressful events and as such are closely related to emotional experiences and the broader concept of emotional intelligence. This chapter presents the foundational studies and recent empirical findings on attachment theory and emotional intelligence and then discusses ways to integrate these two concepts from a dual psychodynamic-cognitive perspective.