From structuralism to emotional thinking: the formation of ideas of emotional intelligence in the early 20th century

This article examines the intellectual processes of the early twentieth century that laid the conceptual foundations for what was later called emotional intelligence. The analysis focuses on different approaches to emotion that influenced the formation of psychological and philosophical thought. For example, Edward Titchener's structuralism reduced feelings to elementary sensory components, favoring isolated observation over integrative understanding. Sigmund Freud's psychoanalytic model emphasized the regulatory role of the unconscious in the influence of affects on thinking, motivation, and behavior. Heinrich Mayer's theory of emotional thinking interpreted emotions as adaptive thinking capable of guiding judgment and decision-making. In addition, the works of Carl Jung and Max Scheler highlighted emotional experience as a form of evaluative and moral knowledge, laying the psychological and philosophical foundations for the development of empathy, social consciousness, and moral intelligence. Also, the contribution of Henri Bergson and other thinkers confirms the philosophical aspect of the integration of feelings and reason. The evolution of these intellectual processes demonstrates that emotional intelligence did not emerge suddenly in the second half of the twentieth century, but was the result of a century-long rethinking of the role of emotion in psychology and philosophy. The period was characterized by a gradual transition from the isolated dismemberment of emotions to their recognition as a central aspect of human cognitive, moral and adaptive function. The article positions emotional intelligence in a rich historical and philosophical intellectual context, emphasizing the stable interaction between theory, practice and the human desire to understand the emotional aspects of intelligence. Thus, the study shows that the modern understanding of emotional intelligence is the result of a deep and gradual synthesis of psychological, philosophical and socio-cultural ideas that were formed during the early twentieth century.