Exploring Emotional Intelligence in Modern Psychology

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What is emotional intelligence, how is it measured, what advantages
does it give, and can we improve it?
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Word Count: 1005

Introduction
This particular study has an aim to provide a brief description of emotional intelligence. In the
onset of the study, the core concept of emotional intelligence is discussed. Then the study
discusses the ways how emotional intelligence is measured. After that, the paper provides
knowledge about the benefits of emotional intelligence. Lastly, the study discusses the ways,
which improve emotional intelligence among people.
Discussion
Emotional Intelligence
The core concept of emotional intelligence was introduced by Peter Salovey in the 90s. In
addition, this terminology has been popular in modern business since 1995. According to,
Petrides and et al., (2016), it can be asserted that emotional intelligence is the ability of an
individual to determine and manage their own emotions and others to attain the pre-determined
goals within a specific timeframe. Likewise, it can be asserted that emotional intelligence is
considered as the essential factors for every leader to attain the desired success. For example,
Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon also utilized emotional intelligence to strategically handle the
criticism of the working condition of Amazon. Besides, people who have a high degree of
emotional intelligence (EQ) are creative and solution-focused persons. The five key elements of
emotional intelligence are motivation, self-awareness, self-regulation, empathy and social skills.
According to sources, it can be asserted that emotional skills are playing an important role rather
than technical skills in the performance of an organization. If an individual is self-aware, then it
is easy for an individual to understand his or her feelings, which also helps to make a certain
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strategic plan to attain the desired outcome within a specific timeframe. Motivation and empathy
skills help a leader to successfully manage his or her subordinates and organization. Likewise,
social skills and self-regulation nature help a leader to run their job responsibilities significantly
to attain desired and fruitful outcomes within a particular time.
Measurement of Emotional Intelligence
Emotional intelligence has been measured with the help of IQ and EQ test. Though the IQ test, a
psychologist can be able to understand a person’s reasoning ability, while through the EQ test,
the psychologist can be able to understand how a person manages their emotions. Self-awareness
is considered as an important tool of emotional intelligence, which helps an individual to react
quickly in a difficult situation. Through the EQ test, a psychologist is able to understand an
individual’s emotional control, which helps a psychologist to define the degree of emotional
intelligence of a person. Empathic nature of an employee also helps to run their job
responsibilities appropriately to attain their individual’s goals (Sánchez-Álvarez, Extremera and
Fernández-Berrocal, 2016). On the other hand, a business organization can utilize self-report
questionnaires to measure emotional intelligence of their employees, which also helps the top-
level management to make appropriate strategic decisions for the betterment of the organization.
Benefits of Emotional Intelligence
According to, Mayer, Caruso and Salovey, (2016), it can be said that people, who have a high
degree of emotional intelligence can be able to maintain the interpersonal relationships
appropriately. Moreover, it can also be said that people, who have a higher degree of emotional
intelligence can also be able to understand their own feelings, which helps them to strategically
run their job responsibilities. With the help of emotional intelligence, a leader can bring certain
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change within their team to complete the assigned task within a specific time. Emotionally
intelligent members of the team have good communication skills and also trust each other while
executing the jobs, which has created a positive impact on the outcome of the team. On the other
hand, the emotionally intelligent leader has that kind of capabilities to make appropriate
strategies to manage the difficult situation successfully. With the help of appropriate
motivational tools, emotionally intelligent leaders can be able to motivate and encourage their
subordinates to improve their performance standard.
Simultaneously, a leader with higher emotional intelligence can easily express themselves
towards their employees or subordinates, which has created a significant impact on the
performance of an organization. With the help of emotional intelligence ability, a leader can even
continue their work under tremendous pressure. Emotionally intelligent leader try to stay
motivated and also try to motivate others to complete the assigned task within a stipulated time.
People with higher emotional intelligence always stay calm and positive draining the difficult
situation. These are the benefits of emotional intelligence (Carson, Carson and Birkenmeier,
2016).
Improvement of Emotional Intelligence
As it is known to all that emotional intelligence is considered one of the indicators of business
success. In order to improve emotional intelligence, it is necessary for every individual to
manage their negative emotions appropriately. Journals help everyone to improve their self-
awareness. For example, if an individual spends his or her time writing down their thoughts, then
it helps to achieve a high degree of self-awareness. On the other hand, if anyone has a tendency
to blame others when something goes wrongs, then he will stop himself in order to improve the
degree of emotional intelligence. An emotionally intelligent person always admit their mistake,
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whatever they have done. A leader should practice empathy to improve emotional intelligence.
Moreover, every person should identify their stress factors, which has adversely affected the
personal as well as professional life. By identifying appropriate stress factor, an individual can
restructure their goals. Communication plays an important role in emotional intelligence. With
the help of communication skills, leaders can be able to understand their employee’s job related
problem and also try to provide appropriate solutions to their subordinates to mitigate their
problems, which will help to gain their loyalty. In relation to this, it will create a positive impact
on the organizational performance of a business organization (Cabello and et al., 2016).
Therefore, these aforementioned recommendations help to improve emotional intelligence.
Conclusion
Grounded on the different aspects, it can be asserted that emotional intelligence is an ability of a
person, which help to determine and manage their own emotions significantly to attain the pre-
determined goals successfully. Moreover, it also helps an organization to improve their
organizational performance.
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References
Cabello, R., Sorrel, M.A., Fernández-Pinto, I., Extremera, N. and Fernández-Berrocal, P., 2016.
Age and gender differences in ability emotional intelligence in adults: a cross-sectional
study. Developmental psychology, 52(9), p.1486.
Carson, K.D., Carson, P.P. and Birkenmeier, B.J., 2016. Measuring emotional intelligence:
Development and validation of an instrument. Journal of Behavioral and applied
Management, 2(1), p.810.
Mayer, J.D., Caruso, D.R. and Salovey, P., 2016. The ability model of emotional intelligence:
Principles and updates. Emotion Review, 8(4), pp.290-300.
Petrides, K.V., Mikolajczak, M., Mavroveli, S., Sanchez-Ruiz, M.J., Furnham, A. and Pérez-
González, J.C., 2016. Developments in trait emotional intelligence research. Emotion
Review, 8(4), pp.335-341.
Sánchez-Álvarez, N., Extremera, N. and Fernández-Berrocal, P., 2016. The relation between
emotional intelligence and subjective well-being: A meta-analytic investigation. The Journal of
Positive Psychology, 11(3), pp.276-285.
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