Goleman believes that many of our physiological responses to emotions are referred to as hijacking. This is simply a time when there are so many neurons being collected towards the brain that there isn't time to think about the situation and realize if it is a good way to respond or not. A time when this may happen would be driving down the road and someone cuts you off and you scream at the drive, you simply blow up. An IQ test is not going to tell if an individual is going to always think clearly before acting, however teaching children at a young age to count to ten and cool down is going to make a difference. Goleman feels that an IQ test as well as the SAT is not going to tell the success if an individual.
Anxiety is believed to hinder academic success while optimism predicts success.
An IQ test and SAT test are used for the mere idea of what one has learned not how an individual is going to respond to a situation or their motivation level. Academic talent as well as IQ reports are not going to tell on the job productivity of an individual. Emotional skills such as interacting with others and sharing ideas are going to be necessary in the work field when working in teams. A company would rather have an individual who can share ideas and cooperate with others than an individual who scored high on an IQ test but is nonverbal. Goleman believes that we are born with emotional skills but the environment around the child while the brain is maturing is going to impact the childs emotional growth.