UPSC Mains 2020 GS Paper 4 Q2b: model answer
What are the main components of emotional intelligence (EI)? Can they be learned? Discuss.
What the question wants
Describe the main components of emotional intelligence and discuss whether they can be learned.
How to structure it
Components, then learnability.
- Five components
- Evidence they can be learned
- Limits
How to think it through
Goleman five; plus Mayer–Salovey four branches. Learnable: neuroplasticity, training programmes, mindfulness research, Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) in schools—Delhi Happiness Curriculum (2018). Limits: temperament partly inherited, takes time, needs practice, adults change slower; genuine vs performed empathy.
Model answer
Many people assume emotional maturity is fixed, like height. The evidence from schools and workplaces suggests it is closer to a skill, like driving.
Main components (Goleman)
1. Self-awareness: recognising one's own emotions and their effect.
2. Self-regulation: controlling impulses and moods.
3. Motivation: drive towards goals beyond money or status.
4. Empathy: understanding others' feelings. 5. Social skills: managing relationships, persuading, resolving conflict.
- Mayer and Salovey describe a similar four-branch model: perceiving, using, understanding and managing emotions.
Can they be learned? Largely yes
- Neuroplasticity: the brain changes with practice, so new emotional habits can form.
- Schools: Delhi's Happiness Curriculum (2018) gives daily mindfulness and reflection periods; social-emotional learning programmes worldwide report better behaviour and wellbeing.
- Workplaces: coaching, feedback and roleplay improve listening and conflict skills.
- Training of officers: academies now use behavioural and soft-skill modules, and Mission Karmayogi adds online courses.
Limits
- Temperament is partly inborn; some people start ahead.
- Change is slow and needs steady practice.
- Training can produce performed empathy without real feeling if values are absent.
EI can be taught, but it is learnt only through daily practice.
Draw: A ladder with five rungs (the components) and the label 'practice' on both rails.
Keywords, cases and data to drop in
Goleman five components, Mayer–Salovey four branches, neuroplasticity, Happiness Curriculum Delhi 2018, social-emotional learning, coaching, Mission Karmayogi, temperament, performed empathy.
Where most answers lose marks
- Saying EI is purely inborn, or purely trainable, without nuance.
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Fresh examples from current affairs
Supreme Court: no prior approval under Section 17A needed to probe a bribe demand
In a judgment of 16 October 2026, a Supreme Court Bench of Justices S.V.N. Bhatti and N.V. Anjaria held that investigating a bribe demand by a public servant does not need prior approval under Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act. Asking for a bribe, the court said, is not part of discharging official duties.
UPSC angle: Prelims: Sections 7, 7A, 17A and 19 of the PC Act. · Mains GS-II/GS-IV: honest officers versus accountability.
19 Oct 2026Learn the concept
Question text as printed in the official UPSC Civil Services (Main) question paper. The model answer is original Battle IAS work; use it to learn structure, not to memorise.
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