Experience in Emotional Enhancement, Research Paper Example

By Emotional Intelligence (EI) the HR Director meant that the company employees should be able to understand and manage human emotions(EQI.Org)in their everyday professional lives. EI is important because human beings are creatures of emotions and biases which influence the way they think, perceive the world, communicate with others, understand things, and make decisions. Having EI not only helps us being more sensitive to our fellow workers but it also helps us separate facts from personal opinions and biases. This is why successful investors tend to have high EI levels(Market Psych LLC) because their success is also due to their ability to resist temptations to buy during market bubbles and sell during market panics. Such investors realize that buying and selling activities during bubbles and panics are driven more by emotions such as greed and fear rather than the underlying fundamental values of the companies.

Different models of EI have been proposed one of which is The Four Branch Model of Emotional Intelligence which describes EI as having the ability to accurately perceive emotions in oneself and others, using emotions to facilitate thinking, understanding emotional meanings, and managing emotions (University of New Hampshire). The numerous ways one can increase his/her EI include becoming aware of social habits including interactions with different kind of people, becoming better at scanning the environment, doing honest self-evaluation of strengths and weaknesses, monitoring self-reaction to stressful situations, and being willing to take responsibility for the actions (MindTools).

I took the EI test which is administered by the Institutefor Health and Human Potential(Institute for Health and Human Potential). During the test I realized that all of the questions focused on personal behavior whether it was dealing with people and work or attitudes towards life. The questions were true to the definition of EI as stated by The Four Branch Model of Emotional Intelligence.The test did help me better understand the concept of EI that EI is very much about honest self-evaluation as well as the courage to admit personal weaknesses and shortcomings. The test did hint that success is not only a matter of intelligence or IQ but also one’s attitude towards work and self-confidence.

I scored 52 on the test and thus, at the upper end of the 45-54 range. The results evaluation told me I have high EQ level which I may also attribute to the time I usually spend on personal reflections. In addition, I often meet people from different professional and ethnic backgrounds and conversations with them have given me a great understanding of societal biases and human behavior. As a result, I particularly take the effort to observe non-verbal cues which help me better understand the other person’s behavior. As a result, I often modify my own behavior to make the person at ease. This may be why I have often been told that I have an ability to understand people in a short period of time which is another indication that I do have a high IE.

I believe that reading on a variety of subjects has also helped me attain high IE. In my personal opinion, knowledge and prejudice has a negative relationship. As our knowledge increases, we become better at identifying personal biases that might have been unconsciously influencing our world view. Moreover, as our knowledge increases we become less judgmental of others. This may be why people feel comfortable talking to psychologists and psychiatrists because they know that the psychologists and psychiatrists have good understanding of human behavior and thought processes and thus, won’t be judging their patients.

References

EQI.Org. (n.d.). The Innate Potential Model of Emotional Intelligence. Retrieved October 22, 2011, from http://eqi.org/eidefs.htm

Institute for Health and Human Potential. (n.d.). IHHP’s Testing Center. Retrieved October 22, 2011, from http://www.ihhp.com/testsite.htm

Market Psych LLC. (n.d.). Profile of Trading Greatness. Retrieved October 22, 2011, from http://www.marketpsych.com/tradingedge.php

MindTools. (n.d.). How to Improve Your Emotional Intelligence. Retrieved October 22, 2011, from http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newCDV_59.htm

University of New Hampshire. (n.d.). The Four Branch Model of Emotional Intelligence. Retrieved October 22, 2011, from http://www.unh.edu/emotional_intelligence/ei%20What%20is%20EI/ei%20fourbranch.htm