By Jinelle D’Souza
Emotional Intelligence (EI), is the ability of individuals to identify their own, as well as other people’s emotions and to be able to differentiate between emotions. Not only be able to identify but to interpret and understand others emotions as well. By identifying them rightly, one can use that information to guide one’s thinking, behaviour and actions. In other words, it is the ability to monitor, access, express and regulate one’s own feelings.
Studies have shown that people with high Emotional Intelligence have better mental health, job performance, and leadership skills, but no relationship has been shown and this is likely to be caused due to general intelligence and specific personality traits. For example, Goleman stated that EI accounted for 67 percentage of the abilities he considered necessary for better performance in leaders and was twice as much as important as technical expertise or Intelligence Quotient (IQ). The other research states that the effect of EI on leadership and managerial performance is not important when ability and personality are controlled for and that general intelligence corresponds very closely with leadership.
Emotional Quotient (EQ) is used to express Emotional Intelligence.
Some of the main characteristics of emotional intelligence are:
1. Self Awareness
Is the ability to introspect and recognise oneself as an individual separate from the environment and other individuals.
2. Mood Management
How one handles one’s mood, one’s feelings so that they are connected to the current situation and are reacting appropriately.
3. Self-motivation
One has to push oneself towards their personal goals and objectives. So one has to do that by getting in control of all their emotions and directing them towards their goals.
4. Empathy
Empathy is different from sympathy. It means recognising other people’s needs and problems. It is recognizing the feelings others are feeling, and to try to feel what they are feeling.
5. Managing relationships
How one handles one’s own interpersonal interactions, conflicts, resolutions, and negotiations.
Nowadays there are many programs that aim at improving students emotional quotient, which will not just benefit them in academics but in future life well as.
The importance of emotional intelligence is growing as more and more companies are insisting on taking emotional intelligence tests when they are recruiting people, they are doing so because they feel the need to only recruit people who are self-aware.
