EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE
In Focus
"See more clearly when you are informed"
Emotional Intelligence is the perception, understanding, use, and management of emotions, also called EQ (Emotional Quotient). Mainstream usage began with Daniel Goleman's book in 1955. Of the two commonly discusses quotients, IQ accounts for only 20% of success in your life, while EQ takes the other 80%. Below you will find key terms, statistics, and other useful tools to understand and talk about emotional intelligence. If you would like to know more, consider coming to an IYC event. Our next one can be found below in the section labeled Our Events. We host them virtually, on a wide range of topics, discussing policy, civics, and current events.
Key Terms You Should Know
Emotional Intelligence:
The perception, understanding, use, and management of emotions. Also called EQ (Emotional Quotient). Mainstream usage began with Daniel Goleman’s book in 1995.
Emotional Manipulation:
Can be subtle and evolve slowly over time (e.g., narcissistic abuse), be consistent and frequent (e.g., bullying), or either (e.g., domestic violence).
Feeling Rules:
Cultural and societal norms governing how people ‘should’ feel in a given situation. Relatedly, display rules do this for the expression of feeling.
Emotional Hijacking:
Occurs when high emotional response overrides logical thinking often resulting in impulsive actions and reactions.
Emotional Contagion:
Occurs when people share and/or spread similar emotions, perhaps due to shared experience, stressors, relationships, etc., resulting in convergence of those emotions. Can be positive or negative emotions.
Moments In History
350 BC - Aristotle references emotion in his book, Nicomachean Ethics and his discussion of modes of persuasion
1983 - Howard Gardner discusses that intelligence involves more than IQ testing in his book, Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences
2020 - The focus on emotional intelligence increases during the Covid Pandemic to help people prevent burn-out, have greater empathy, and practice self-care
1870 - Charles Darwin publishes his book, The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals
2013 - The Edutopia Foundation lobbies to begin teaching social and emotional skills in schools
Statistics
87% of Millennials are motivated to foster company success by emotionally intelligent leaders.
Unconscious factors like emotion drive 95% of purchasing decisions.
95% of people think that they are self aware. How many actually are?
10-15%
Approximately 1 in 4 employees struggle to interpret other people's emotions.
Of the two commonly discussed quotients, IQ accounts for only 20% of success in your life, while your EQ takes the remaining 80%.
Values
Reciprocation
Intent vs Impact
Reaction vs Response
Pattern Recognition
Trust and Vulnerability
Notable Names
Paul Ekman
Cathy Mott
Yoda
Daniel Goleman
Abraham Maslow
Symbols
Our Events
Past
Future
Further Resources
Emotional Intelligence Infographic
Share what you have learned about emotional intelligence. Our Infographic has been designed to be shared easily by printing, emailing, or posting on social media. Click on the image to view or download the PDF File. (Not for commercial use.)
Popcorn & Chat Event Video
Our film event was insightful and fun! After watching Inside Out 2 together, we discussed the film and what we learned about emotional intelligence. Feel free to share this video with others! (Not for commercial use.)
Take Action
Don’t tell people how to feel, help people consider where to put their emotions.
Have impulse control. Before you take action, reflect on your own feelings by taking time to recognize your own emotional responses to situations.
Commit to one weekly action to raise awareness about emotional intelligence!
Engage in conversation with someone you care about. Sincerely ask: “How are things going?” “How are you feeling today?” or “What’s been going on?” … and really listen to their answer. Be attentive and in the moment. Practice your emotional intelligence skills.
Share our Emotional Intelligence Infographic with friends, family, and anyone and everyone you think would appreciate becoming more informed!