Chapter 9: Emotional Intelligence a more rational and effective

response

The Neurological Basis of Emotions What is Emotional Intellegence?

o lies between this interaction of the
 Daniel Goleman amygdala and the pre-frontal cortex
o wrote the book, Emotional o Goleman defines it as “the ability to
Intelligence : Why It Can Matter motivate oneself and persist in the face
More than IQ (1995) of frustrations, to control impulse and
o presented the physiological delay gratification, to regulate one's
process on how emotions occur. moods and keep distress from
o stated that “all emotions are in swamping the ability to think, to
essence, impulses to act, the empathize, and to hope."
instant plan for handling life that
evolution has instilled in us.”  Daniel Goleman: popularized emotional
 Fight or Flight Response intelligence
o Goleman traces the origins of  Peter Salovey: first introduced the
concept of emotional intelligence
emotions from human race’s
 John Mayer: a psychologist from the
survival instinct to sense, detect,
University of New Hampshire, who
assess and how to act on any
joined Salovey in formulating emotional
threat to its life and survival
intelligence.
o It is the instinct that animals and
humans alike are capable of
doing when faced with danger. Salovey identified five domains of emotional
intelligence, namely:
Neuroscientists have agreed that there are  Knowing one’s emotions or self
parts of the human brain primarily involved in awareness
the creation of emotions:  Managing emotions
 Motivating oneself
 Amygdala  Recognizing emotions in others
 Neocortex  Handling relationships
 Frontal Lobes

 Amygdala (Dr. Joseph LeDoux, 1992) 1) Knowing one’s emotions or self Self-
o become the center of action, the awareness
 Self-awareness brings with it the
emotional sentinel that can take
skill for self-reflection
control of our actions even before
 It is about a person who
the neocortex could assess what
recognizes an emotion being felt,
to do.
and is able to verbalize it.
o keeps a memory bank of previous
 This is about knowing how we
experiences related to emotions
feel and the thought behind the
o pulses coming from the thalamus
feeling
escape to the amygdala, which
 According to Mayer, when one
triggers what we know as our
recognizes this emotion, there is
knee-jerk reaction to a situation,
also a desire to get rid of it or get
happening even before the
out of that situation. When this
information was processed by the
happens, this is seen as a sign
rational part of the brain. This
that the neocortex is gaining
phenomenon is also known as
some control over the amygdala.
"hijacking of the amygdala."
2) Managing emotions
 Pre-frontal cortex  Goleman points out that we often
o controls emotions so we can deal have very little or no control when
better and more effectively with an emotion occurs and what this
the situation emotion will be, but we can have
o can take control of the amygdala control on how long an emotion
and modulate its impulses and will last.
puts it on hold while it allows the  It is important to recognize an
processing of the information for emotion and experience it, but
dwelling on it, particularly if it is
 negative, is not healthy. usually have this natural tendency to
relate to others.
3) Motivating oneself 4) Social Analysis- is the talent to step
 Research studies have shown out of a situation and objectively form
that hope is a major indicator of insights about the way people feel
emotional intelligence. and behave. Therapists are gifted
 Hope is the element present with this talent.
when one is fighting some
overwhelming anxiety, a defeatist
Goleman also gave some attention to Howard
attitude, or depression.
Gardner's multiple intelligences saying that
 Goleman points out that optimism
emotional intelligence could be part of the
is a great motivator, and like
seven key varieties namely;
hope, it provides a person with
expectations that things will turn  verbal-linguistic,
out better or right, when faced  mathematical-logical,
with adversity.  spatial,
 kinesthetic,
4) Recognizing emotions in others  musical,
 'Sympathy' is when you share  interpersonal, and
the feelings of another;  intrapersonal
'Empathy' is when you
kunderstand the feelings of  Robert Plutchik
another but do not necessarily o another psychologist who
share them. It is the capacity to theorized that emotions are multi-
recognize the emotions in other dimensional, or having various
people intensities, identified these as:
 The root cause of our capacity to  adoration,
empathize is self-awareness. It is  ecstasy,
about putting yourself on  anticipation,
someone’s shoe  rage,
 Empathy is important in  disgust,
maintaining relationships as this  grief,
also taps on the caring capacity  surprise, and
of people.  fear
o Plutchik's Wheel of Emotions
5) Handling Relationships  Each of these eight basic
 Emotional intelligence is also emotions have varying
evident in the way we manage intensities, starting with the
our relationships with others. most intense at the center of
Howard Gardner and Thomas the circle with the most
Hatch: the proponent of multiple intense colors to the least
intelligences; came up with four intense of emotions within that
components of social intelligence (or category
interpersonal intelligence)

Four Components Of Social Intelligence:

1) Organizing groups- a leadership
skill essential in mustering groups of
people toward a common action.
Examples of people with this talent
are orchestra conductors, military
officers, and stage directors.
2) Negotiating solutions- this talent to
bring people in conflict to talk and
come up with a solution is usually
found among mediators of disputes.
3) Personal connection- this is the
talent where empathy and
connecting with another person's
emotions are manifested. Teachers
Eight main families of emotions and their
corresponding members:
1. Anger: fury, outrage, resentment, wrath,
exasperation, indignation, vexation, acrimony,
animosity, annoyance, irritability, hostility; and
to its extremes, hatred and violence
2. Sadness: grief, sorrow, cheerlessness,
gloom, melancholy, self-pity, loneliness,
dejection, despair; and in extreme, depression
3. Fear: anxiety, apprehension, nervousness,
concern, consternation, misgiving, wariness,
qualm, edginess, dread, fright, terror; and in
extreme, phobia and panic
4. Enjoyment: happiness, joy, relief,
contentment, bliss, delight, amusement, pride,
sensual pleasure, thrill, rapture, gratification,
satisfaction, euphoria, whimsy, ecstasy; and to
its extreme, mania
5. Love: acceptance, friendliness, trust,
kindness, affinity, devotion, adoration,
infatuation, and agape
6. Surprise: shock, astonishment, amazement,
and wonder
7. Disgust: contempt, disdain, scorn,
abhorrence, aversion, distaste, and revulsion
8. Shame: guilt, embarrassment, chagrin,
remorse, humiliation, regret, mortification, and
contrition

Emotional Intelligence is important as it directly

affects:
1) Physical and Mental Health
2) Work performance
3) Relationships