What is emotional intelligence and how to develop it?

It is well known that intelligence is one of the determining factors in human life. But the vast majority of people mistakenly believe that when it comes to intelligence, the only thing that matters is IQ. However, emotional intelligence, also called EQ, has an important place in our daily lives. Especially when it comes to our relationships with ourselves and other people. For this reason, it is very important to answer the question “what is emotional intelligence” for people who do not know enough about emotional intelligence and do not understand the importance of emotional intelligence. So what is emotional intelligence? What factors influence emotional intelligence, what are the ways of development of emotional intelligence? Let’s look for answers to these questions about emotional intelligence, which plays a very important role in our daily lives and relationships.

What is emotional intelligence?

Emotional intelligence in its simplest form is defined as the measurement of a person’s ability, ability, and ability to understand, anticipate, manage, and direct their own or others’ emotions. However, scientists argue that emotional intelligence is one of the most important factors for establishing and maintaining relationships with people and influencing people.

Accordingly, given that interpersonal relationships are of great importance in all areas of life, the importance of emotional intelligence in human life becomes clearer.

What factors affect emotional intelligence?

According to scientists, emotional intelligence is, in fact, a set of skills and behaviors. Naturally, there are some factors that influence these skills and behaviors and therefore emotional intelligence. These factors, which have a significant impact on emotional intelligence, are grouped into four main areas.

self-awareness

One of the most important elements of emotional intelligence is self-awareness. Self-awareness is roughly defined as “the ability to identify and understand one’s own emotions and their effect on others.” However, it is argued that self-awareness is largely dependent on other factors that affect emotional intelligence.

So why is self-awareness so effective for emotional intelligence? This question was answered by Harvard University scientist Margaret Andrews, known for her important research on emotional intelligence.It all starts with self-awareness, which is the foundation of emotional intelligence, and develops from there. If you become aware of your own emotions and the behaviors they cause, you can begin to manage those emotions and behaviors.gives the answer.

In other words, all people experience certain or variable emotions at every moment of life. Naturally, emotions affect many elements, from business life to everyday life and human relationships. In most cases, our thoughts and behavior are shaped by our emotions. That is why it is so important to be aware of your emotions, behaviors and their impact on other people.

self-control

The mechanism of self-control can be seen as a secondary stage following the process of self-awareness, which determines our level of awareness of our emotions or not. Management of emotions and related behavior is possible only through recognition of emotions and control over them. Andrews emphasizes the importance of self-control for emotional intelligence.”People with strong self-regulation may stop and take a deep breath in tense or stressful situations.explains in words.

Public acceptance

Social awareness is briefly defined by scientists as the ability to understand the emotions of others. It is also closely related to the ability to empathize. On the other hand, Margaret Andrews makes a very important point regarding social awareness and empathy:What matters is not what you feel in their situation, but what they really feel.”

communication skills

Social skills, which are considered one of the important traits of emotional intelligence, are one of the main elements effective in establishing and maintaining healthy relationships in all areas of a person’s life. Because only people with sufficiently developed social skills are able to establish constructive relationships with their environment and the people around them.

What are the signs of emotional intelligence?

There are many signs that a person has a high level of emotional intelligence. It is not hard to guess that these signs are mainly about managing emotions and expressing them in a healthy way.

For example, one of the most common traits of people with high emotional intelligence is their ability to remain calm in stressful situations. Awareness of the relationship between emotions and behavior is also a common trait attributed to people with high emotional intelligence. However, the ability to unite and influence other people around a specific goal is also considered one of the signs of high emotional intelligence.

It is claimed that people with these characteristics are more successful and happy in almost all areas of life compared to other people. For this reason, a high level of emotional intelligence is more important in a person’s life than is commonly believed. So how do you develop emotional intelligence?

What are the ways to develop emotional intelligence?

According to scientists, it is possible to increase and improve the level of emotional intelligence. However, the adventure that each person will embark on to develop their own emotional intelligence will of course have its own dynamics. However, there are some general things that can answer the question of how to develop emotional intelligence.

To have a high level of emotional intelligence, it is extremely important to recognize your emotions and name them.

Because in this way you can make your feelings visible and understandable. As a result, they become easier to identify, manage and, if necessary, control. Depending on this, you can also change your behavior, which is influenced by your emotions, as needed.

Don’t be afraid of feedback

Instead, ask people around you to give feedback about you. For example, ask them how you respond to stressful or difficult moments, how adaptable or understanding you are. You may not like some of the answers you get. However, feedback is extremely important among the ways to develop emotional intelligence.

Try to improve your empathy

We mentioned that high emotional intelligence is related to the level of empathy. For this reason, the research you do to improve your empathy can also increase your emotional intelligence. To do this, you can try to read literary works with multi-layered characters. Because, according to scientific research, working with stories from different points of view can help you better understand people’s thoughts and motives.