Last updated: June 2026 The most important finding in emotional intelligence research right now is not what most people expect. It is not that EQ predicts success. We have known that for decades. The most important finding is that global emotional intelligence scores are falling. As of June 2026, a peer-reviewed study led by Joshua Freedman and colleagues at Six Seconds, published in Frontiers in Psychology in November 2025 and drawing on data from 28,000 adults in 166 countr

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