Emotional intelligence in Tanzanian political communication

Abstract

Emotional Intelligence (EI) is the ability to understand and manage one’s own emotions and those of others. It caters for better relationships and connection, smoothens the human communication process, and remains one of the most sought-after skills in the contemporary World. However, this seems not to be the case in Tanzania. In recent years, there has been a public outcry about politicians’ language use that ignores audiences’ emotional dispositions. This study investigates EI awareness among politicians and its application in Political speeches in Tanzania. The study had three objectives; first, investigating EI awareness among politicians in Tanzania, second, examining the extent to which emotional intelligence is incorporated in political speeches, and third, the impact EI incorporation in speeches had on the audience. The study used the Language Expectancy Theory (LET) and Bar-On’s model of Emotional-Social Intelligence (ESI). The double-theory axis guided the analysis of communicative patterns and their interpretation into emotional intelligence cues in the selected speeches. LET was used to establish language patterns such as sentences, words or phrases that signalled audience expectations, while the ESI model interpreted such patterns into adhering or ignoring EI cues in a particular context. The study adopted a descriptive design to accurately profile EI in the political communication context by establishing EI awareness among politicians, incorporation in political speeches, and impact on the audience. The study used a questionnaire, sampling ten respondents, and document analysis, selecting ten online political speeches delivered in Tanzania between 2015 and 2019. In data analysis, a thematic approach was used. Themes such as connection, bond, and effective communication were established from both questionnaire feedback and speeches. Language patterns such as words, phrases, and sentences were extracted from speeches using the LET and translated into EI cues using the ESI model. Findings reveal that Tanzanian politicians are aware of the EI concept. However, through speeches, politicians appeared to have an inconsistent pattern in their care for EI, especially when they were emotionally pressed hard. It was also established that the impact of EI incorporation in speeches to the audience was represented through audience reaction to particular statements. The study concluded that EI is an important element in political communication and Tanzanian politicians have considerable awareness of EI and how important it is in political communication. It was also concluded that EI is less incorporated in speeches; even when politicians do engage it, the level of incorporation is inconsistent throughout the same speech, especially on emotionally demanding occasions. On the impact of EI incorporation, it was concluded that audience reaction can signal the impact a speech has on the audience. Incorporating EI in a speech can result in audience reactions such as applause, which signal positive impact such as connection, bonding, and relationship building, while negative impact such as poor relationships result from occasions where EI is ignored through the language used by the speaker. The study recommends training on EI for politicians, attention to EI skills in speech contexts, and a relatively larger scale research on EI and communication.