Emotional Intelligence
photo courtesy of Cat Shilova, Flickr

Intelligence is an extremely broad subject. What we colloquially refer to as “intelligence” is not quite the same as the discipline studied by those governed by professional scientific endeavor. Interestingly, there are as many theories of intelligence as there are people that research it. This means the discipline is a hotbed of contention and overlapping models. If there is a consensus, it is that there is none. In a very loose fashion, however, scholars tend to slackly group around the idea that intelligence has many facets, thereby eluding a tidy, all-encompassing definition. Emotional intelligence is one of those facets.

Ask any layman what his definition of intelligence is, and you will get a similarly vague answer. It’s one of those things you know what it is, but it’s hard to pin down with words. Emotional intelligence, specifically, refers to “the ability to monitor one’s own and others’ feelings and emotions, to discriminate among them and to use this information to guide one’s thinking and actions”, according to John D. Mayer and Peter Salovey, two leading researchers on the topic.

Emotional intelligence is a relatively new field in psychology. Over these brief years, it has been shown that higher emotional intelligence is significantly tied to elevated social effectiveness. Namely:

  • Someone with higher emotional intelligence is more effective at perceiving, understanding, managing and utilizing emotions.
  • Ÿ They are generally more open and easy to get along with.
  • Ÿ They are less likely to pursue risky endeavors such as smoking, drinking and drug abuse.
  • Ÿ They are less likely to be violent.
  • Ÿ They experience more positive social encounters.

Some researchers believe that emotional intelligence can be improved and reinforced, whereas others suggest it is a static characteristic, unmoved by outside influence.

Mayer and Salovey’s model proposes four different components of emotional intelligence:

  • ŸThe Perception of emotion.
  • Ÿ The ability to reason using emotions.
  • Ÿ The ability to understand emotion.
  • Ÿ The ability to manage emotions.

According to Mayer and Salovey, these four components are, “arranged from more basic psychological processes to higher, more psychologically integrated processes. For example, the lowest level branch concerns the (relatively) simple abilities of perceiving and expressing emotion. In contrast, the highest level branch concerns the conscious, reflective regulation of emotion.”

Can We Improve Our Emotional Intelligence?

As has been mentioned, opinions vary on this. However, it makes sense to assume that we “mature” emotionally as we grow older. We develop coping mechanisms that override emotional predispositions.

We can help the process along by actively focusing on methods to directly improve our emotional intelligence.

Observe yourself honestly. Do you rush to judgment or “go with your gut” before possessing all the facts? Do you stereotype? Instead of judging people based on flimsy evidence, empathize with their position and openly accept their perspectives and needs.

At work, do you pursue attention for your accomplishments? Quiet confidence beats pushy conceit any day. Humility gets noticed in a far more positive light.

ŸHow do you react to stressful situations? If you get upset when something doesn’t happen the way you want it to, you may instead want to look at ways to control and manage your emotions. Staying calm in stressful situations is a highly valued trait.

ŸTake responsibility for your actions. Apologizing for hurting someone’s feelings is a step in the right direction.

As with all things, emotional intelligence takes practice, and practice will make these elements second nature.

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