What’s Emotional Intelligence?

A common question that is asked is what’s emotional intelligence? Emotional intelligence or EI is a measure of someone’s ability to identify, understand and manage one’s own and others emotions

Almost all of us could do with improving our EI, some areas more so than others. The only thing we really need is the motivation to learn and improve and the intention to apply it within our lives

A little Background

Although the term, “emotional intelligence” has been around since the mid 1960’s. In the 1990’s Salovey and Mayer (1990), defined it as the “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”. However not until the early 2000’s when a couple of classifying measures were developed did it become popular

What makes up emotional Intelligence?

• Self-Awareness – Basically the more in-touch you are of your own emotions and feelings the more you will be able to understand and mange not only your own but others too
• Self-Regulation – The ability to control your feelings and behaviours
• Social- Awareness – The ability to recognise and understand the emotions and feelings of others. Thus leading to increased empathy for others and their concerns
• Relationship Development – Being able to identify and understand, and control your own emotions and feelings and that of others you wish to influence

Common EI abilities

• Able to recognize your own emotions
• Effectively relate to others’ emotions
• Actively listen to others
• Identifying nonverbal cues of behaviour
• Purposely control your thoughts and feelings
• Effectively manage and express your emotions
• Take on board criticisms
• Willingness to forgive and move forward

Emotional Intelligence Test

Generally speaking there are a number of tests available. Two measures are EI ability and the other is Trait EI

Ability EI – Measures the ability to solve emotion related problems
Trait EI – Measures likely behaviours in emotion appropriate situations
Mixed EI – Measures a combination of traits, social skills and competencies and overlaps with other personality measures

Why is emotional intelligence important?

Simply put, those with higher EI tend to lead happier and more fulfilling lives. Have a sense of who they are and what motivates them.

Emotionally intelligent people tend to just get along with others better. Build more meaningful relationships’ and have less stress and anxiety in their lives

Can you improve your emotional intelligence?

The great news is that yes you can! There is plenty of evidence out there that supports the idea. Here a couple of steps you can take to get you started

• Journal your emotions
• Reflection exercises
• Get some feedback
• Read books with complex characters
• Practice active listening

So in summary having the ability to manage through recognition and understanding your own and others emotions tend to lead to a better quality of life both professional and personal. Understanding what’s emotional intelligence is a great first step to improving one’s EI