Essay about Emotional Intelligence
Emotional Intelligence also knew as EQ is the capacity to be aware of, control, express one’s emotions, and to handle interpersonal relationships judiciously and empathetically. Researchers defined EQ as the ability to monitor one’s own and other’s emotions; discriminate between different emotions and label them appropriately, and use emotional information to guide thinking and behavior. Emotional intelligence has five main competencies which define EQ. Self Awareness, Emotional Regulation, Internal Motivation, Empathy, and Social Skills.
Self-awareness his is the ability to label, recognize, and understand your own emotions. Self-awareness requires us to tune in to our feelings and not avoid our negative emotions such as anxiety, fear, and sadness. Recognizing our own emotional states and how they affect our thoughts, behaviors, and decisions is the key to cultivating self-awareness.
Emotional regulation has to do with our ability to control strong emotions by not acting on raw feelings in an impulsive or destructive manner. Developing the ability to sit with unpleasant feelings and to give ourselves the time and space to decide how we may alleviate or reduce negative feelings cultivates self-confidence. Emotional regulation also helps us develop the ability to consider various solutions to a situation or problem. Not reacting solely from an emotionally charged state results in better decision-making outcomes.
Internal Motivation is a passion to work for internal reasons that go beyond money and status which are external rewards, such as an inner vision of what is important in life, a joy in doing something, curiosity in learning, a flow that comes with being immersed in an activity. A tendency to pursue goals with energy and persistence.
Empathy is when we empathize with others, we develop deeper, more intimate relationships. Empathy is the ability to recognize how and why people feel the way they do. Empathy allows us to anticipate how our actions and behaviors influence other people as well as our own. Developing empathy skills enhances our experiences, relationships, and general understanding of ourselves, other people and the world around us.
Lastly, you have Social skills which are a very broad term. In general, having strong social skills means having the ability to communicate in a clear, concise, and courteous manner. In a nutshell, good social skills are the summation of all the components of EQ: self-awareness, emotional regulation, and empathy.
The concept of emotional intelligence was first introduced in the 90s by Peter Salovey from Yale University and John Mayer from New Hampshire University. And in 1996, Daniel Goleman redefines the concept of emotional intelligence in his book “Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ’. There are three general ways to measure emotional intelligence: Self-Report, Other-Report and Ability measures. The MEIS is an ability test, which we believe is the best way to measure Emotional Intelligence. MEIS, developed by Dr. Jack Mayer, Dr. Peter Salovey, and Dr. David Caruso, consists of several different parts. The MEIS measures the four branches of emotional intelligence which are Identifying Emotions, Using Emotions, Understanding Emotions and Managing Emotions all based upon the theory developed by Drs. Mayer and Salovey.
Emotional intelligence can benefit one by helping reduce their anxiety and stress, defuse conflicts, improve relationships and effectively overcome life’s challenges. In the wrong ways emotional intelligence can be used to manipulate people, prevents others from using their critical thinking skills and be used for personal gain.
