INTRODUCTION:

What is EI?

Emotional Intelligence is about being honest, about being aware of your feelings and those of others. It is not about being emotional but being smart with your emotions. This is a non-verbal process which informs a person about his/her thinking and it also influences how well a person is connected with others¹. An emotion is a natural state of mind deriving from one’s circumstances, mood or relationship with others. By mastering a few key skills, EQ can be boosted. Emotional intelligence matters just as much as intellectual ability, when it comes to success and happiness in life.

Fig. 1: Balance between emotional and intellectual behaviour

High EQ contributes in stress management, achieving career and personal goals, success in life, turning intention into action, building stronger relationships, in making decisions, in creating optimism and confidence². Some of the professional benefits of EI includes improved communication, less workplace conflict, effective leadership skills etc.

Types of EI

It can be of positive or negative type:

Positive emotion includes:

· Appreciation

· Happiness

· Hope

· Enthusiasm

· Confidence

· Gratitude

· Trust

· Patience

· Optimism

Some negative emotions are:

· Anger

· Depression

· Jealousy

· Anxiety

· Frustration

· Sadness

· Worry

Functions of emotion:

1. Motivation – Emotion motivate people to engage in actions, that are important for survival. For example ‘excitement’ ( as form of emotion) motivates to take on situation in which energy is required.

2. Adding colour to life – The expression of emotion through poetry, literature and art provides us with much that underpins the sense of being human. The expression of emotions from day to day with people also adds colour to life.

3. Regulation of social interactions – It regulates how one respond to his/her own and other people’s emotion leading to enhancement of social interactions.

Fig. 2: Functions of emotional intelligence

Factors influencing emotions:

· Personality

· Stress

· Exercise

· Sleep

· Age

· Gender

· Health

· Social Activity

Essential attributes or core skills of EI

It includes;

· Self-awareness

· Self-management

· Social awareness

· Empathy

1. Self-management:

It means emotional self-control that is keeping disruptive emotions and impulses under control.

Some important self-management competencies include;

· Transparency

· Optimism (seeing up-side in events)

· Initiative(being ready to act and seize opportunities)

· Achievement (having to drive to improve performance to meet inner standard of excellence)

Self-management can be practiced by accepting responsibility for choosing own emotional responses, learning to ‘reframe’ stressfull situations into challenging ones and by learning to manage own emotional ‘triggers’.

2. Self-awareness:

Emotional self-awareness means reading one’s own emotions and recognizing their impact. Usually people with high emotional intelligence are self-aware, understanding their emotions and they not let them feelings rule them.

They not let their emotions get out of control. They are confident, having sound sense of self-worth and capabilities. They perform accurate self-assessment by knowing their strengths and limits. Awareness of own emotional state is most important part of emotional intelligence. Self-aware people take an honest look at themselves.

3.Social awareness and empathy:

One of social awareness competency is the ability to sense the emotions, needs empathy of other people, understanding their perspectives and taking active interest in their concerns is empathy, which is an important element of EI.

Empathetic people are excellent at managing relationships, listening and relating to others. They avoid judging too quickly and live in a very honest and open way.

4. Relationship management:

Emotionally intelligent people know how to develop and maintain good relationships.

They inspire and influence others and are good in conflict management. They possess inspirational leadership quality, initiating , managing and leading in a new direction.

5. Motivation:

Emotionally intelligent people are usually motivated. They are highly productive and face a challenge.

Fig. 3: Essential attributes of Emotional intelligence

Importance of EI:

EI is the foundation for critical skills. It leads people to think of choices and clarity in differentiating biases to exercise clear and sound judgement.

EI includes;

· Self-actualisation

· Time management

· Stress tolerance

· Anger management/mental health

· Social responsibility

· Flexibility

· Decision making

· Physical health

· Trust

· Empathy

· Team work

· Assertiveness

· Accountability

· Self-regard

· Happiness

Fig. 4: Importance of Emotional intelligence

1. Assertiveness - Is the ability to clearly express your thoughts, feelings, standing a ground and defending a position.

2. Self-regard – The ability of appreciating your perceived positive aspects and possibilities as well as accepting your negative aspects and limitations and still feeling good about yourself is self-regard.

3. Self-actualisation- is a component of EI which means realizing your potential ultimately leading to a meaningful and full life.

4. Empathy- Understanding other’s feeling and thinking is empathy.

5. Social responsibility – EI brings social responsibility i.e. it helps a person in becoming co-operative, constructive and contributing member of social group.

6. Flexibility- The ability to adjust emotions, thoughts and behavior to changing situations and conditions is flexibility. This component of EI helps in adapting to unfamiliar, unpredictable and dynamic circumstances³.

7. Stress tolerance – It means actively and positively coping with stress and withstanding in adverse events and stressful situations without falling apart.

It is associated with the capacity to be relaxed and to calmly face difficulties without getting carried away by strong emotion.

8. Happiness – The ability to feel satisfied with life, to enjoy yourself and others and to have fun, all combined together is happiness. It is genenal feeling of cheerfulness and enthusiasm.

9. Optimism – The ability to look at the brighter side of life and maintaining a positive attitude even in the face of adversity is optimism. It assumes a measure of hope in one’s approach to life.

10. Mental health- EI helps in maintaining a healthy mental state⁴. Uncontrolled stress can make one vulnerable to anxiety and depression. It can also lead to mood swings.

11. Physical health- High stress can lead to serious health problems. Uncontrolled stress can raise blood pressure, suppress the immune system, high risk of heart attack and speedup the aging process.

EI helps in maintaining the stress and emotions and thus maintaining good physical health.

Skills to raise EI:

To improve EI, one need to understand and control the emotional side of brain. This will help in preventing a person from continually repeating earlier mistakes, also enhances decision making ability.

This is done by developing key skills like;

· Ability to quickly reduce stress:

High level of stress disable one to be aware of own feelings and needs. Being able to quickly calm down and relieve stress helps to stay balanced, focused and in control, no matter how stressful a situation becomes.

· Ability to recognize and manage emotions:

The next step in reducing stress is to quickly engage in activities that are soothing and energizing to you. Many people are disconnected from their emotions. One can deny his/her feelings but can not eliminate them. They are still there whether the person is aware or not.

EI helps in understanding one’s own motivations and needs or to communicate effectively with others⁵. Accepting your own emotions and feeling comfortable with them is important to reconnect you to your emotions.

· Ability to connect with others using non-verbal communications:

Often what one say is less important than how you say or the non-verbal signals you send out, the gestures you make, the way you sit, how fast or how loud you talk.

Non-verbal messages have power that can produce a sense of interest, trust, excitement or they can generate fear, confusion, distrust and disinterest. Facial expression, tone of voice, posture and gestures, timing and pace of conversation are non-verbal cues, that can be corrected to improve non-verbal communication.

· Ability to use humor and play to deal with challenges.

Humor, laughter and play are natural antidotes to life’s difficulties. They lighten burden and help keep things in perspective [6]. A good hearty laugh reduces stress, elevates mood and brings nervous system back into balance. Playful communication relieves fatigue and relaxes body and mind. Using gentle humor often helps in saying things that might be otherwise difficult to express. This can be developed by engaging yourself in enjoyable activities. The one more joke, play and laugh- the easier it becomes.

· Resolve conflict positively:

No two people can have same needs, opinions and expectations at all times. Resolving conflicts in a healthy and constructive way can strengthen trust between people. All these skills help in developing emotional intelligence and equipped the person handle emotionally charged situations and in handling issues before they escalate⁷. To resolve conflict, emotionally intelligent person choose to disengage from a conflict even if he/she is still disagree.

CONCLUSION:

Emotional intelligence helps in fabricating stronger bonds with others and supports higher execution and working environment fulfillment. It is clear that emotions play a much important role in full quality of individual’s personal and professional lives. Emotional intelligence assists people to learn and establish strong bonds and thrive them to achieve personal and career goals. Emotionally intelligent people can modify the way of dealing with their emotions and can show better response in any circumstance.

REFERENCES:

1. Gupta Sachin. Research paper on Emotional Intelligence and work life balance of employees in the information technology industry.

2. www.helpguide.org. Improving Emotional Intelligence.

3. Fineman S. 1993. Emotion in organizations. London: Sage Publications.

4. Goffman E. 1969. Strategic Interaction. Philadelpphia PA: University of Pennsylvania Press.

5. Salovey P and Mayer JD. 1990. Emotional Intelligence. Imagination, cognition and intelligence, 9(3)185-211.

6. Sjoberg L. Emotional intelligence: A psychometric analysis. European Psychologist, 6(2), 79-95.

7. Pinder CC. 1998. Work motivation in organizational behavior. New Jersey. Prentice Hall.

Received on 03.06.2021 Modified on 25.06.2021

Res. J. Humanities and Social Sciences. 2021; 12(3):133-136.

DOI: 10.52711/2321-5828.2021.00021