Emotional Intelligence and Its Application

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EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE AND ITS APPLICATION An individual’s ability to control and express their emotions is just as important as his/her ability to respond, understand, and interpret the emotions of others. The ability to do both of these things is emotional intelligence, which, it has been argued, is just as important if not more important than IQ (Cassady & Eissa, 2011). Emotional intelligence refers to one’s ability to perceive emotions, control them, and evaluate them. While some psychologists argue that it is innate, others claim that it is possible to learn and strengthen it. Academically, it has been referred to as social intelligence sub-set. This involves an individual’s ability to monitor their emotions and feelings, as well as those of others, and to differentiate them in a manner that allows the individuals to integrate them in their actions and thoughts (Cassady & Eissa, 2011). There are four main factors identified in emotional intelligence. The first is the perceiving of emotions, which involves the initial understanding of emotions in order to perceive them accurately (Parker et al, 2013). In most cases, it could involve the comprehension of facial expressions and body language. The second factor is reasoning with emotions, which involves the use of perceived emotions in the promotion of cognitive and thinking activity. An individual’s emotions have a critical role to play in their prioritization of what they pay attention to, as well as react to. Te next factor is the understanding of emotions, which involves how the individual interprets the perceived emotions. The individual will be required to, for example, interpret why another individual is expressing emotions of anger. The final factor is the management of emotions, which refers to a person’s ability to manage effectively their own emotions (Parker et al, 2013). Regulation of emotion, appropriate response, and how one responds to other people’s emotions is fundamental aspects of EI. Applying these aspects of emotional intelligence has a significant enhancing effect on every aspect of life. It allows one to be self aware, improving the ability to process information about oneself accurately (Goleman, 2008). Emotional intelligence also affects management of mood in that it enhances one’s ability to manage emotions, create moods of positivity, and defuse bad moods. Emotional intelligence also comes in handy with regards to motivation of self. It increases an individual’s ability to overcome frustration, the ability to be persistent, ability to engage in tasks that are boring, but necessary, and to be involved in and cut out productive and non-productive actions respectively.

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