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Emotional Intelligence: Understanding the Influence of Emotions on Communication and Decision-Making within Practice Settings
Book chapter

Emotional Intelligence: Understanding the Influence of Emotions on Communication and Decision-Making within Practice Settings

Rod Peadon, John Hurley, Marie Hutchinson Professor and Paul Linsley
Emotional Intelligence for Health and Social Care Practice, pp.47-68
Routledge, 1st
2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003673309-3
Appears in  Recent Faculty of Health Publications

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Abstract

In Chapter 2, we examined the research evidence on the need for practitioners to develop emotional intelligence (EI) capabilities to best meet the needs of mental health service users and carers. Our scoping review findings suggested that the core skills of EI, perceiving and influencing the emotions of self and others, using emotions and thinking together, and being genuine and trustworthy, were highly valued by service users and carers. In this chapter, we highlight the wider role of emotions across all practice settings through the findings of an original research study of Australian medical officers. When making clinical decisions, practitioners are influenced by emotions, either consciously or unconsciously, and these decisions, in turn, impact patient outcomes. This chapter underscores that health and social work practitioners need skills that enable them to recognise, interpret, and utilise emotions as part of the decision-making process. Fear and power within professional relationships, emotionally intelligent leadership, and the structural context of healthcare services are all critically influential in both generating challenging emotions and enabling emotions to inform effective decision-making.

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