تحلیل مؤلفه‌های هوش هیجانی در رمان «العبور الأخیر» اثر بدریة البدری بر اساس مدل پنج‌گانۀ دانیل گلمن

Introduction:

Emotional intelligence (EI), defined as the ability to identify, understand, manage, and regulate emotions in both oneself and others, plays a decisive and widely recognized role in personal, professional, and social success. Unlike cognitive intelligence, which primarily focuses on analytical and logical abilities, emotional intelligence enables individuals to make more effective decisions in high-stress situations, maintain mental health, build sustainable relationships, and persevere through difficulties. Among the prominent theorists in this field, Daniel Goleman stands out as a key figure who, through his five-factor model comprising self-awareness, self-management, motivation, empathy, and social skills, has provided a comprehensive and practical framework for assessing and developing emotional competencies. This model has proven particularly useful not only in psychology and education but also in literary analysis, where it allows researchers to examine the psychological depth of fictional characters and the emotional dynamics of narrative structures. The present study aims to analyze the components of emotional intelligence in the novel Al-Obour al-Akheer by the Omani novelist Badriyah al-Badri, a work that vividly portrays the struggles of migration, alienation, identity crisis, and emotional turmoil. While previous research has applied Goleman's theory in educational, Quranic, philosophical, and other literary contexts, no study has yet systematically examined this specific novel through the lens of Goleman's five-factor model. Accordingly, this research seeks to answer two main questions: first, what are the most significant manifestations of emotional intelligence in Al-Obour al-Akheer based on Goleman's model? And second, how are the characters' social skills evaluated from Goleman's perspective when facing collective situations and interacting with others in multicultural and high-pressure environments?



Methodology:

This study adopts a descriptive-analytical method, drawing on the complete Arabic text of Al-Obour al-Akheer (al-Badri, 2017) as the primary data source. The researchers systematically read the novel to extract all textual evidence, including quotations, dialogues, monologues, and narrative descriptions, that demonstrates any of Goleman's five EI components. The extracted data were then qualitatively analyzed to identify patterns and themes, with particular attention to how emotional awareness transforms into practical action, and the characters' behaviors were consistently compared with Goleman's theoretical definitions to ensure accurate interpretation.

Results and Discussion:

The findings reveal that all five components of Goleman's model are prominently and richly represented in the novel. Regarding self-awareness, deep and honest self-awareness is manifested in the characters' willingness to confess their inner feelings without self-justification; Hawriyah openly admits her pleasure in seeing Mukhtar's weakness and acknowledges her habit of lying since adolescence, while Mukhtar articulates a deep-rooted fear that has accompanied him since childhood. Regarding self-management, the characters demonstrate self-management in realistic and context-dependent ways; Mukhtar deletes Hawriyah's messages to avoid revisiting a painful past, refrains from eating to maintain his ability to feel pain, and steps back from returning to a toxic relationship, though the novel realistically also shows occasional loss of control, presenting self-management as a dynamic and fluctuating skill. Regarding motivation, motivation emerges as a profoundly multi-layered internal force ranging from physical survival (carrying cement bags despite pain) and psychological survival (lying to stay alive) to professional advancement (learning new skills at night) and spiritual meaning (releasing pigeons to atone for past sins), with Hawriyah also expressing a strong existential motivation to "wear life" and overcome the fear of death. Regarding empathy, empathy consistently translates into practical and altruistic action; Mukhtar not only identifies with refugees but physically rescues a frightened girl, Rambir is the first to help others without waiting, and even empathy toward small birds and caring for a weak plant become acts of atonement and reverence for life. Regarding social skills, social skills operate effectively on four distinct levels: at the individual level, Taj al-Islam trusts Mukhtar after observing him pray; at the dyadic level, characters negotiate and coordinate holidays and divide work roles; at the group level, workers hold a formal meeting to solve problems and make collective decisions; and at the intercultural level, Mukhtar learns his colleagues' language while they speak clear Arabic to respect him. The most significant achievement of this study is the finding that emotional intelligence in Al-Obour al-Akheer never remains at the level of cognition and feeling but rather consistently and decisively transforms into practical, behavioral, and altruistic action in high-stress situations. This distinguishes the novel from many other literary works where emotional intelligence is portrayed only as internal awareness or sentimental reflection. Collectively, these findings demonstrate that Badriyah al-Badri has created psychologically deep characters who embody the full spectrum of emotional intelligence as theorized by Goleman, while adding the distinctive feature of translating emotional awareness into concrete altruistic action.