EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE ( EQ )
WHAT IS IT? HOW IS EQ DIFFERENT THAN IQ?
“The heart has its reasons, which reasons knows not.” -Blaise Pascal
As I see and understand it, the possession of feelings of empathy is the key element to have foremotional intelligence (EQ).But I have problems integrating emotions and intelligence. To me, emotions have nothing to do with intelligence. Emotions are simple and primitive instincts that are generated subconsciously by the subcortical primitive brain region, called the limbic or reptilian brain, for the mindless purposes of survival and propagation of the species.
I believe we are all subject to a constant stream of emotional behaviors, without emotionally even realizing them.
Feelings, on the other hand, are conscious expression of different emotionsby the involvement of cerebral cortex and higher mental faculties such as thinking, reasoning and decision-making. This is where and how intelligence originates. So, it is more meaningful and descriptive for me to say ”feeling intelligence (FQ)” instead of saying emotional intelligence (EQ).
My other objection is to general statement that EQ and IQ are separate concepts, and they have nothing to do with one another.
To me, IQ is genetically inherited from our parents and it is a basic determinate in everything we do in our life, from a simple reflex movement to a very complex thinking and problem solving.
While IQ level remains stable throughout the life and makes everything easier to achieve, EQ level improves and gets better with learning and experiences in our daily life.
Let’s now try to define, what is emotional intelligence (EQ)?
EQ is an ability to recognize and become aware of our own emotions/feelings and as well as emotions/feelings of other people around us, and having the personal skills to know how to control and manage them properly, with appropriate thinking, willpower, voice, spoken language and body language. From this definition, we can clearly see that there are four different required emotional awareness and management skills in EQ :
1. Awareness of our own emotions.
2. Control and management skills for our own emotions.
3. Emotions of other people around us, this is called ”social emotions.”
4. Control and management skill for social emotions.
These are very important skills to acquire because strong emotions always cause sudden, irrational decision-making and regrettable, dangerous emotional behaviors.
Social awareness of emotions and management skills are sine qua non for establishing goodfriendships and to become successful in professions that deal with people.
For my readers who want to know more about EQ and how to develop more control and management skills of emotions, I would strongly recommend reading the book of Emotional Intelligence 2.0 written by Bradberry and Travis.
