Emotional intelligence essentially differs from general intelligence in having a distinctively strong emotional life. This expression includes one’s own emotional life as well as that of other people and can be a decisive factor for personal success.
What is emotional intelligence?
Emotional intelligence essentially differs from general intelligence in having a distinctively strong emotional life. While the general intelligence refers more to rational and logical factors of thinking, the emotional intelligence shows the expression and special perception in the field of feelings. The concept of emotional intelligence was first introduced into psychology in 1990 by various scientists. Emotional Intelligence became popular in 1995 by the psychologist David Goleman. Since the beginnings of the scientific debate, numerous studies have been conducted on the subject, which could show that often in life an emotional intelligence (EQ) can be more decisive for personal success in relationships and also the profession than the general intelligence (IQ).
Function and task
Emotions accompany humans from birth. Whether sadness, joy, desire, anger, hatred or even anger and love – without feelings a life can hardly not go. The intelligence of emotions, however, turns out to be a special feature, because those who have a high emotional intelligence can not only perceive their own feelings more concretely and clearly, but also those of other people. Many people without emotional intelligence often feel at the mercy of their own feelings. A fact that often leads to the person concerned fighting against himself and not being able to accept and embrace his feelings, such as jealousy, envy and anger. The circumstance is different when the personal perception of one’s own emotional world is strongly pronounced. Resistance to oneself, which is often transferred to other people, can be accepted and processed even after a long time. In such a process, an emotionally intelligent person learns to deal with his or her feelings in a targeted manner as well as to control them and to show them, mostly with positive intentions, to others as well. Basically, there are four basic areas of emotional intelligence: the perception, the use, the understanding as well as the influencing of emotions. The perception refers here to the own as well as the strange feelings. This includes the body posture, the voice, the gestures and the facial expressions of a counterpart. The use of perceived emotions, on the other hand, proves to be important when it comes to solving problems, among other things. Assessing and analyzing as well as possible emotional changes again fall under the category of understanding emotions. Finally, knowing how to improve one’s own emotions and those of others through personal influence is helpful. Those who have a high level of EQ (emotional quotient) can positively influence their professional careers and relationships within them as well as their private relationships. Companies already focus on how pronounced emotional intelligence is in the potential new employee during job applications and interviews. This is often associated with the so-called soft skills, a factor that can be more decisive than a pronounced logical thinking when it comes to people management, leadership positions and business relationships. What is essential here is that the ability to empathize with other people can not only lead to an improved working atmosphere or economic growth of the company. Also the own well-being can be increased meaningfully and effectively and the private relations can be improved. For example, a high EQ proves to be extremely helpful when the partner expresses feelings through his or her body posture, gestures or facial expressions, which are sometimes misunderstood at the first moment. An emotionally intelligent person, on the other hand, develops a fine sense for this and usually quickly gains an understanding for the partner. As a result, misunderstandings and possible points of conflict can be cleared out of the way much more quickly.
Illnesses and complaints
Depending on the personal presence, a high emotional intelligence may well lead to mental complaints.If the expression is strong, there is the possibility that just the negative feelings of others are made their own. This is a stressful condition for those affected, which can lead to mood swings and even depression. One’s own lack of understanding of emotional outbursts that occur or suppressed emotions can lead to psychological stress. Furthermore, there is the risk that an emotionally highly intelligent person manipulates other people in a negative sense in order to achieve a personal goal. This in turn can lead to conflicts with varying degrees of severity. Other complaints caused by a wrongly perceived emotional intelligence (from the outside or oneself) are listlessness, a desire for revenge, shyness, inappropriate emotional outbursts, tension pains, the development of feelings of guilt, and a tendency towards perfectionism and addictions, such as gambling addiction or drugs. Consequently, a person may not only bring positive aspects into life through Emotional Intelligence, but may sometimes suffer so much from it that therapeutic guidance may become necessary. A therapy then deals in turn with the targeted perception as well as the personal influencing of the feelings that occur to varying degrees, in order to understand them and to be able to communicate them better to the outside world.
