Emotional Intelligence

Kenya Tigue

PSY-100

4/16/17

Professor Amber Loftus

                                                     Emotional Intelligence (EQ)

        Emotional Intelligence, (EQ), is when an individual is aware of, in control of, and express one's emotions to handle personal relationships empathetically and sometimes judiciously. Many people deal with their emotions differently. Some know how to control them, others don’t know how and their emotions could possibly be displayed in a negative way. Some people want to know how to deal with their emotions to gain more control. When a person has control over their emotions, they tend to become a more positive individual. We, as humans, are sometime ruled by our emotions which, in some cases, aren’t always pleasant.  There are a few ways to help manage our emotions and it’s by working on self- awareness, self-management, and social-awareness.

        Self-awareness is when you have the ability to read and comprehend ones’ emotions and also identify the impact on ones’ personal performance such as a person’s work relationships and personal relationships with family and friends. When an individual is having a bad day, it will show whether the person is at home, school or work. The person wouldn’t be focused and the person emotions will be easy to identify if they are angry, sad, or even worried. We are not always happy and find ourselves in situations where we are not overly confident (Nov/Dec2002, Vol. 11 Issue 6, p21. 1p.) When a person doesn’t keep their emotion in check, it could be displayed in such a way where friends, loved ones, and co-workers my not want to come around them. In order to keep your emotions in check, make sure you clear your thoughts of anything negative that can and will affect your mood around others. Think on something happy, for example a special event that will be taking place soon or say a quick prayer asking God to help you stay focused and not get side track if someone or something negative comes your way out of the blue.  Keeping a level head is a great way to show that you have great self-management skills and can deal with anything that comes your way.

        Self-management is where a person has the ability to keep their negative emotions and their impulses under control. Self-management is a great idea when it comes to situations such as a disagreement between to people. It could be over a late bill payment.  The other individual may blame you as the reason why a bill wasn’t paid on time and they are saying all these negative things to you and it gets you really upset. You have a few choices, you could react by shouting and cause a major scene, or you can take a deep breath, collect your thoughts, and respond calmly. Taking deep breaths are a great way to release tension and remain calm in any situation. Although all humans experience emotions, individuals markedly differ in the extent to which they experience, attend to, identify, understand, regulate, and use their emotions and those of others (Salcedo & Kaufman 2013).

        In today’s society, everyone is using social media to communicate with one another via text, email, and blogs. Sometimes people gather at social events such as concerts, lounges, and mixers to meet old or new friends and in these particular times and places, a person needs be socially aware of their surroundings. Being socially aware means a person understands how to act or react in different social situations. This particular emotion displays how well you interact with others socially. It is important to be socially aware because in certain environments, you have to be able to understand other people’s feelings. Empathy plays a major role in some social settings because you want to be able tocomprehend other people’s perspective in certain situations. For example, a person want to apply for a payday loan because they had an unexpected emergency. They express to you how important it is for them to get approved for this loan. As a loan officer, you feel empathy for the customer and it motivates you to do all you can to help that person. When a person shows compassion, it displays that they care. Facial expressions and body language often shows a person’s true emotion in a social setting, if they don’t know how control them. We, as human can show how we really feel and don’t realize it. If facial expressions of emotion were delivered uniformly each and every time an emotion was elicited, eventually all of us would be near perfect perceivers of others (Hurley 2012).