如同其他能力一样，情商也是一把双刃剑，既能作为成功的垫脚石，又能成为危害他人和社会的利器。下面就和我们一同来揭开高情商的阴暗面。

 

Emotional intelligence, or EQ, is the ability to read and understand emotions in ourselves and others. It is said that emotional intelligence accounts for 80 percent of one’s success.

情商也称EQ，是一种读懂自身和他人情绪的能力。据说一个人的成功80%取决于情商的高低。

 

That’s almost certainly an exaggeration. But ever since the 1995 publication of US psychologist and science writer Daniel Goleman’s best-seller, Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ, EQ has been seen by leaders and educators as the solution to many social problems. In some Western countries such as the US, emotional intelligence is now taught widely in secondary, business and medical schools.

这一说法虽然略显夸张。但是自从1995年美国心理学家兼科学作家丹尼尔•戈尔曼的畅销书《情商:它为什么比智商更重要》出版以来，很多和教育家都将情商视为解决诸多社会问题的关键。如今，在美国等西方国家，在中学、商学院和医学院中情商教学随处可见。

 

Anti-social behavior

反社会行为

 

EQ is important. But our enthusiasm for it has obscured a dark side, says a recent article in The Atlantic.

美国《大西洋月刊》近日刊登文章称，情商固然重要，但是人们的趋之若鹜却掩盖了它的黑暗面。

 

Weapon of mass emotion

操纵大众情绪的武器

 

Recent research and studies show that as people improve their emotional skills, they become better at manipulating others. When someone knows what others are feeling, they can tug at their heartstrings and motivate them to act against their own best interests.

研究表明，随着人们情商能力的提高，他们会更擅长操纵他人。当一个人能了解别人的感受时，他就可以撩动他们的心弦，促使他们做出违背自身利益的行为。

 

Does this remind you of those “managers” at pyramid scheme companies? Hundreds of thousands of otherwise cautious and rational people have been brainwashed by their impassioned speeches and become bankrupt as a result.

这是否会令你联想到那些非法传销公司的“经理”们？无数处事理智而谨慎的人被他们激情澎湃的演讲洗脑，却落得个倾家荡产的下场。

 

Social scientists have begun to document this dark side of emotional intelligence. A study by the University of Cambridge found that when a leader gave an inspiring speech filled with emotion, the audience was less likely to scrutinize the message and remembered less of the content.

社会科学家已经开始研究情商的黑暗面。剑桥大学一项研究发现，当一名领导人充满激情地演讲时，听众不会太注意其传达的信息，并且记住的内容也很少。

 

Researchers call this the “awestruck effect”, but it may just as easily be described as the dumbstruck effect, says The Atlantic article. Leaders who master emotions can rob us of our capacity to reason. If they have self-serving motives, or their values are out of step with our own, emotional intelligence becomes a weapon of manipulation and the results can be devastating.

据《大西洋月刊》报道，研究人员将其称为“敬畏效应”，但它也很容易被描述成“惊吓效应”。善于掌控情绪的会让我们丧失辨别是非的能力。当他们产生谋私利的动机，或者他们的价值观与我们的不合拍时，情商就会变成操控他人情绪的武器，其后果不堪设想。

 

Hidden agenda

隐藏的动机

 

This is consistent with another recent study from Kyoto University. According to The Huffington Post, the study shows that “people with high interpersonal EQ influence others’ emotions based on their own goals”.

该观点与日本京都大学的一项研究成果不谋而合。据《赫芬顿邮报》报道，该研究表明：“高情商者会根据自己的目标去干扰他人情绪”。

 

A research team led by University College London professor Martin Kilduff shed more light on this dark side of emotional intelligence. According to them, emotional intelligence helps people disguise one set of emotions while expressing another for personal gain. Emotionally intelligent people “intentionally shape their emotions to fabricate favorable impressions of themselves”, Kilduff’s team writes in the journal Research in Organizational Behavior. “The strategic disguise of one’s own emotions and the manipulation of others’ emotions for strategic ends are behaviors evident not only on Shakespeare’s stage but also in the offices and corridors where power and influence are traded.”

伦敦大学学院的马丁•吉尔达夫教授带领一支研究小组揭开了情商的黑暗面。该小组称，人们为了谋取私利，会掩饰情绪，当面一套背后一套。情商高的人“会故意给人留下对自己有利的印象”。吉尔达夫率领的研究小组在《组织行为研究》期刊中写道：“采取策略来伪装个人情绪，同时为了达到战略目的而操控他人情绪，这些行为不仅出现在莎翁的戏剧中，在交易权力和影响力的场所也十分常见。”

 

It seems that to better understand the dark side of EQ, we need look no further than Shakespeare’s Macbeth or its modern adaption on TV: House of Cards.

看来，要想更好地了解情商的黑暗面，我们只需看看莎翁名著《麦克白》或者它的现代电视剧版——《纸牌屋》就够了。