What are emotionally intelligent people like?
Some traits to know what is your level of emotional intelligence.
For some time now, our conception of what intelligence is has not been limited to a good development of classical cognitive abilities.
Nowadays we also talk about emotional intelligenceone of those human facets that, although often ignored and difficult to objectify, affect us in all areas of life.
What is Emotional Intelligence?
As we saw in the article on emotional intelligence, this can be defined as our ability to manage our emotions in an adaptive way, both in decision making both when making decisions and when we need to relate to others or regulate our affective states. However, as this type of intelligence is difficult to measure and it is difficult to isolate the results of a good emotional intelligence, these types of skills are often overlooked, considering that all people are more or less capable of managing their emotions in the same way.The fact that all people are more or less capable of managing their emotions equally, or that, on the contrary, these skills are encoded in the genes and cannot be modified with experience, is often overlooked.
However, emotional intelligence is something that can be improved over time, as it is one of the many faces of learning and human potential, and that is precisely why there are also differences between people who manage their effectiveness well and others who have not yet learned all they could. It is even possible that some have been learning to improve their emotional intelligence without knowing it!
10 characteristics of emotionally intelligent people
To situate yourself and know where you are in the development of emotional intelligence, here is a brief list with the characteristics of emotionally intelligent people. In turn, these points can help you to set goals when training in the management of emotions.
1. They do not pursue only short-term rewards.
This type of objectives or "reinforcements" are the foundation on which, among other things, addictions and procrastination are based. Emotionally intelligent people are capable of not being governed by the immediate proximity of a reward that is not beneficial in the long run. that is not beneficial in the long run.
2. They are able to recognize their own emotions
It is also relatively easy to relate these emotions to their origin or origins, i.e., to the main factors that have caused an emotion to appear, the main factors that have caused an emotional state to appear, whether positive or negative.whether positive or negative.
3. They know the importance of inner speech
They do not limit themselves to interpreting their experiences automatically, as they are presented to them, but rather they They make efforts to construct a useful interpretation of these experiences that will help them to direct their that will help them direct their objectives towards a useful goal and maintain an emotional state that does not work against them.
4. They show good empathic abilities
They are able to connect affectively with other people quickly and with little information. quickly and with little information. This makes them more likely to establish a constructive dialogue.
5. They know how to externalize their emotions
Both in a dialogue in real time and in writing (regardless of its literary quality!). They know how to express their emotional state in any of the possible languages.
6. They orient their actions and their thoughts
Towards the management of their emotions. They know the importance of the thoughts towards an adequate mental and spiritual health, and they and spiritual health, and they manage this to their advantage.
7. They tend towards positive attitudes
However, they do not let themselves be dragged down by them, either, and implicitly know that there is no bad emotional state in and of itself. per se.
8. The values that govern their lives are positive and negative in equal measure.
Positive values so as not to fall into constant and unproductive criticism, and negative values so as not to deny reality and to recognize problems when they occur.. Their actions are based on the dialectic of these two types of values.
9. They are motivated and know how to motivate others.
They recognize the importance of meaningful tasks for people. They value the need for intrinsic motivation. Most importantly, they are able to keep their colleagues motivated. They have the soul of a leader.
10. They consider the human being an emotional being, not an automaton.
They know the importance of affective states in all areas that have traditionally been believed to be purely rational. They know that emotions shape decision making, memory retrieval, memorization, and so on.
Concluding...
So much for this list of characteristics of people with good emotional intelligence. Remember that, as with all learning, no one will ever fit this description perfectly (among other things, because it can be interpreted in many ways) and that all training takes time and some effort.
(Updated at Apr 13 / 2024)