Emotional Intelligence and Positive Psychology: discovering the keys to success.

A philosophical vision of the social value of Positive Psychology and Emotional Intelligence.

Emotions are perhaps one of those spheres of the personality that we very rarely value and that in Western culture are still considered to be somewhat irrationalThey are mere outbursts of our animality that distance us from the ideal of logical, quasi-machine-like men.

Although it is also very true that this vision is no longer as strong as it was during the Enlightenment, the truth is that it still exists and continues to permeate a dualistic vision that separates reason from the "heart", or rather, from the emotions.or rather, from the emotions.

Two essential concepts: Positive Psychology and Emotional Intelligence.

This conception of the human person, which falls more within the scope of philosophical study and discussion, has had repercussions beyond the merely theoretical. Indeed, at the time the enlightened vision led to important political and social changes attested in any history book and along with them an enormous scientific and industrial progress that in a few decades advanced by leaps and bounds and whose benefits and consequences we are still living today.

It is enough to observe the always fast and moving life in any big city, especially in industrialized countries; the need for efficiency and effectiveness as well as success both at a personal and social level, the transformation of social relations from the new technologies and social networks where a deep thought has no more than 140 characters or lasts more than a few hours at most or where a deep thought has no more than 140 characters or lasts no more than a few hours at most or where the vision that a person has changes according to his or her Facebook statusthe need to overcome separateness by entering the market game of supply and demand in love based more on sentimentality and, unfortunately, on sex appeal; the change in the way of understanding the traditional equality term that sustained the Christian worldview to one where equality no longer meant being equal in nature but with intrinsic differences that made us different and the search was for unitybut where equality has become synonymous with identity.

Numerous authors have studied and written about the consequences of contemporary society: Frankl, Fromm, Goleman, among others.

"Know thyself".

Now, faced with this reality facing the world in which we live, Psychology has chosen to return, in fact, to a very basic principle: Know thyself.. As old as the oracle of Delphi from where the legend says that it arose and always important because man is always the same regardless of the change of his social and historical circumstances. This ancient and always new saying has been translated nowadays into the so-called Emotional Intelligence, which could be roughly defined as "the capacity or ability to know how to perceive, understand and manage one's own emotions"[(/emotional-intelligence-and-positive-psychology-a-philosophical-look/].

Emotions are thus conceived not as something extrinsic to the being of the human person, but as an integral part of the whole capable of entering into the realm of reason and, consequently, of being channeled for the good of the person and of society. This means that emotions are not enemies to be oppressed or controlled, but rather a way of unfolding, capable of being formed and apprehended so that the person can use them to their full potential, having not only a healthier and more harmonious life, but also the ability to cope with the adversities that arise in it.

The road to emotional intelligence

Bringing out the best in human beings is perhaps one of the most praiseworthy and noble things that psychology is doing today. Since psychological science began to take shape as such, special emphasis was always given to what was wrong with the human being: mental disorders, the unconscious, and Freudian theory.. The vision of psychology is still that of a kind of shrink in many places and somehow promoted by the mass media.

Emotional Intelligence is just one of those new trends in which the focus, while not forgetting the weak side of Man in which the focus, without forgetting the weak side of Man, looks more at what we actually do well: the positive valuation of emotions, the search for happiness and its achievement, love, strengths and virtues, the ability to achieve the goals set are some of the new areas in which psychology wants to help the human being.

Positive Psychology: the foundations of the perfectible being

This new approach is what we call Positive Psychology. It is not only a question of accusing man of fatalistic determinism (psychoanalysis and classical behaviorism), but of seeing him as a perfectible being. perfectible beingalways open to improvement and, above all, not as a sick being to be diagnosed.

This is perhaps one of the most indispensable things in this century full of noise, ever-changing information, social and electronic networks, and a market eager to have professionals who fit its molds on the one hand, and, on the other, consumers of increasingly perishable items.

What Emotional Intelligence and Positive Psychology give to the world is the ability to be a person: Not to lose my self in front of everything that surrounds me (reification) and, above all, to give the tools to be able to live fully..

Bibliographical references:

• Coon, D. and Mitterer, J. (2010). Introduction to psychology: Access to mind and behavior.. Mexico D. F.: Cengage learning
• Fromm, E. (2000) The art of loving. Mexico D. F.: Paidós
• Goleman, D. (1995) La inteligencia emocional. Mexico D. F.: Javier Vergara Editor.
• Pretelín, F. (2012) Referendum Twitter. Mexico D. F.: Coyoacán
• Rojas, E. (1992) The Light man, a life without values. Mexico D. F.: Booke
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhKPpYCCXLs
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcZrUtDYqb8&index=...
• [Fromm, E. (2000) El arte de amar. Mexico D. F.: Paidós, p. 19.
• [ii] Cfr. FROMM, E. Ob. Cit., p. 24-25.