COMPETENCY: Show understanding toward other people’s emotions and how to manage them.
Emotions play a significant role in directing and shaping behavior and personality of an individual. Whatever they (emotion) may be, the form, frequency and its intensity of our emotional experience, these can be categorized into two head, positive emotions (like affection, love, amusement, curiosity, joy, etc.); and negative emotions(like, fear, anger, jealously, etc.). However, the development of both positive as well as negative emotions and the learning of their expression in a reasonable way is quite essential for our own and social well-being.
By their nature of being both positive and negative, it should not be assumed that all the positive emotions are always good, and the negative emotions are bad. While weighing their impact, other factors like frequency and intensity, nature of situations and the stimuli aroused, should also be considered. Excess of everything is bad. Emotions with too much of intensity and frequency, whatever positive or negative, bring harmful effects. But, the so-called negative emotions are essential for human welfare. For example, the emotion of fear prepares an individual to face the danger ahead. The child who has no emotion of fear is sure to get affected because it has not learnt to save itself against a possible danger.
While the James-Lange theory advocate that emotions spring from physiological reactions. The Cannon-Bard theory maintains that emotion and physiological responses occur simultaneously, not one after another.
Cognitive theories on the other hand try to emphasize the role of the cognitive factors, a third element, in understanding the relationship between physical reactions and emotional experiences aroused on the perception of an emotion-provoking stimulus.
Lastly, the Activation theories, the most modern in line, emphasize that emotion represents a state of heightened arousal. For occurrence of a significant emotional behavior, the reticular activating system located in our brain stem must be properly activated to reach in consultation with the higher structures of the brain.
IMPORTANCE OF EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE QUOTIENT (EQ):
The term ‘Emotional Intelligence’, first coined by psychologists Mayer and Salovey (1990), refers to one’s capacity to perceive, process and regulate emotional information accurately and effectively, both within oneself and in others and to use this information to guide one’s thinking and actions and to influence those of others.
Emotional intelligence can lead us on the path to a fulfilled and happy life by providing a framework through which to apply standards of intelligence to emotional responses and understand that these responses may be logically consistent or inconsistent with particular beliefs about emotion.
Knowing about one’s emotional intelligence in terms of an emotional quotient has wide educational and social implications for the welfare of the individual and the society. This fact has now been recognized and given practical shape and implications all around the globe.
It is a very important because:
Emotional intelligence is as powerful, and at times more powerful than IQ; while IQ contributes only about 20% of success in life, the other forces e.g. emotional intelligence, lucks and social class are contribute the rest.
Emotionally intelligent people are more likely to succeed in everything they undertake in their life.
Unlike what is claimed of IQ we can teach and improve in children and in any individual, some crucial emotional competencies, paving the way for increasing their emotional intelligence and thus making their life more healthy, enjoyable and successful in the coming days.
IQ and even standard Achievement Test (SAT) Scores do not predict any person’s success in life. Even success in academics can be predicted more by emotional and social measures than by academic ability.
I. Emotion Bingo
II. I am
Actions, Feelings and Expressions