MODULE 5: Lecture 1

 

Human Emotions and Emotional Intelligence

This section delves into the understanding of one’s emotional self through the lens of emotional intelligence theories, particularly in the aspects of emotional awareness and emotional management.

  • Human Emotions

    • An important aspect of understanding the self is acknowledging the presence of emotions. Emotions serve as a driving force in how one acts and behaves. It plays a part in making decisions, embracing certain lifestyles, and relating to others. Emotions are the lower level responses occuring in the brain, which create biochemical reactions in the body, and consequently cause changes in one’s physical state (Hampton, 2015).

    • While emotion is a biological experience and response, feelings have been defined as the mental portrayal of what is going on in your body when you have an emotion and is the by-product of your brain perceiving and assigning meaning to the emotion (Hampton, 2015). In other other words, feelings are subjective experiences that frame the interpretation of emotion.

    • In managing emotions, one is actually managing his/her feelings because he or she is the one “assigning” what emotion means to him/her. Despite this distinction, researchers have used the term emotional intelligence to denote the interpretation and managemebt of emotional experiences.

  • Emotional Intelligence

    • Emotional intelligence has been defined by a number of theories.

    • For Bar-on (1997), it is “an array of non-cognitive abilities, competencies, and skills that influence one’s ability to succeed in coping with environmental demands and pressures.”

    • According to Mayer, Salovey, and Caruso (2004), it’s one’s ability to understand emotion and for them to contribute in how one perceives the environment he or she is in.

    • For Goleman (1998), it is the” capacity for recognizing our own feelings and those others, for motivating ourselves, and for managing emotions effectively in ourselves and others.”

    • Emotional intelligence with its specific components has been outlined by 3 models to explain its importance.

      • The first model (Mayer, Salovey, & Caruso, 2004) as outlined 4 branches:

        1. Emotional Perception and Expression

        2. Emotional Facilitation as aids to make sound judgment

        3. Emotional Understanding and Analysis

        4. Reflective Emotional Regulation

      • Goleman (2005) came up with his own clusters of emotional intelligence, namely:

        1. Self-awareness

        2. Self-management

        3. Social awareness

        4. Relationship management

      • Bar-On’s model (1997) is made up of 5 composites:

        1. Self-perception

        2. Self-expression

        3. Interpersonal

        4. Decision-making

        5. Stress management

    • These 3 models seem to underlie 2 general aspects of emotional intelligence: Intrapersonal and Interpersonal.

    • Research has supported the positive impact of emotional intelligence in a variety of settings. It has been seen to have positive effects on thinking abilities during anxiety-provoking testing conditions and enable students to obtain good scores.

    • In the workplace, emotional intelligence, EQ, is said to be more important than IQ. Employees with high EQ achieve corporate success and exhibit flexibility skills in dealing with superiors, colleagues, and subordinates.

    • The results of various research have highlighted the importance of emotional intelligence for all individuals. The application of emotional intelligence can be seen in different aspects of daily life. Emotional intelligence research has also produced a number of self-reports and assessment tools to measure EQ levels in specific individuals.