Emotional intelligence (EQ) is one of those terms catching on in our society as more people begin to understand what it is and what it can potentially do to help people understand how emotions play an essential role in our decision making and interactions with other people.
Many believe emotional intelligence is a more effective means of determining success than the long-standing intelligence quotient or IQ. EQ deals with a set of emotional skills to do a few things: determine how we perceive ourselves and how we express ourselves. It also determines how we cope, make decisions, and use emotions effectively in our lives.
Many people believe emotional intelligence can’t be quantified, but, as we look into it more, we are finding that it can indeed be done. EQ can be developed throughout our lives and can be improved, whereas personality and IQ are determined when we are children.
There is work going on to label all the different emotions. As this moves forward, it helps to know and see the different types of emotions and what they mean, which allows people to gain more control over how to interact and use emotions. It’s fascinating to watch students learn from emotional coaching!
Everything we do in life is emotionally driven, and, as we all know, emotions can have different levels of intensity. Emotions used to be brushed off as behavioral during emotional outbursts or emotional interactions. For example, aggressive emotional reactions could get someone fired. But the EQ approach would be used to teach how to be assertive to get the job done without being aggressive or passive-aggressive.
EQ points out there are different stimuli and emotional reactions from different people. Knowing this allows people implement control over emotions in situations or take control, so it becomes advantageous to all involved.
To learn more about EQ, there are professional organizations with Certified EQ Consultants who can help and provide more information as well as provide EQ evaluations. There are also several books available you can read more about EQ, some of which can provide an EQ self-evaluation that can help you set goals based on what you want to work on.
For a more detailed explanation and understanding of emotional intelligence and how productive it can be, listen to our RMUpload podcast, A Primer in Emotional Intelligence.
Guest blog by Michael Nelson, DHSc, PA-C (Program Director, Master of Physician Assistant Studies) and Mace Hamblin, DHSc, MPA (Director of Clinical Education, Master of Physician Assistant Studies; Faculty, Doctor of Medical Science)
