Domains, Concept and Key Areas of Emotional Intelligence

The Meaning of Emotions

Etymologically, the word emotion comes from the Latin “removere,” which means “to move.” It can also mean “to stir up,” “agitate,” or “excite.” So, emotion is the moved or stirred-up state of a living being. It is a stirred-up state of feeling, which is how it appears to the individual himself.

Definition: Emotional intelligence refers to the ability to perceive and recognize emotions, assimilate feelings, and acknowledge the message and meaning of emotions.

Different people have different abilities regarding the management and regulation of emotions.

An emotionally intelligent person would understand their feelings and accept others’ emotions.

Salovey and Mayer (1990) viewed emotional intelligence as “the ability to monitor one’s and others’ feelings and emotions, to discriminate among them, and to use this information to guide one’s thinking and actions.” To develop emotional intelligence, exploring oneself in the light of different comforting situations in everyday life is vital. This self-understanding makes it easy to bring new attitudes toward self-nourishment and to improve positive emotional health.

An emotionally intelligent person can maintain fruitful relationships with others. Emotional intelligence is as expressive as when and how to express and control emotions. Emotional intelligence is an essential component of personality. Individual emotional intelligence reflects how they perceive, understand, and regulate emotions in themselves and others.

The Concept of Emotional Intelligence

With emotional intelligence, it is essential to have a background in different types of intelligence, such as general intelligence, multiple intelligences, and emotional intelligence. Baron (1997) approached non-cognitive intelligence, traditionally measured with IQ, indicating the capacity to understand, learn, recall, think, solve problems, etc. The concept of non-cognitive intelligence, which IQ measures, brings new depth to our understanding of intelligence and increases our ability to assess general intelligence. According to Goleman (1995), IQ alone is no longer the measure of success; it accounts for only 20 percent, with emotional and social intelligence making up the rest.

Emotional intelligence is the ability to manage and regulate emotions. It reflects not a single trait or ability but a composite of distinct emotions like reasoning, abilities, perceiving, understanding, and handling emotions. A central tenet of emotional intelligence is that people should have a sense of power and control.

According to Goleman (1995), emotional intelligence is the ability to motivate oneself and persist in the face of frustrations, control impulses and delay gratification, regulate one’s moods, and keep distress from swamping the ability to think and empathize and hope. Emotional intelligence is a learned set of competencies that determine how we interact with people.

Five Domains of Emotional Intelligence:

As per Harvard psychologist Daniel Goleman’s suggestions, there are five domains in emotionally intelligent children’s behavior, which include:

1. Self-awareness: the capacity to distinguish and identify an emotion.
2. Managing one’s emotions: handling fear, anger, anxiety, sadness, and worry appropriately and relatively.
3. Self-motivation: deals with emotional control, delaying gratification, and the ability to keep working towards a goal’s attainment.
4. Empathy: identifying and sensing the emotions of others.
5. Handling relationships: learning to hold an argument and getting along well with others.

Social skills refer to the competence in handling relationships and networks of people. Having social finesse and being able to persuade and influence others without being pushy or aggressive is vital for success in any organization. Social skill refers to the ability to communicate, interact, and maintain good relationships in any setting. One of the main reasons for the failure of executives is due to a lack of social skills, not technical prowess. Teachers who possess good social skills can achieve better classroom management, manage students’ behavior more efficiently, and build a more conducive classroom environment. Social skill can refer to the ability to understand group dynamics and manage conflicts effectively.

The art of relationship is, in large part, about managing emotions in others. Understanding other people’s feelings allows us to motivate them, be influential leaders, and work successfully in teams. People who do exceptionally well in these skills interact smoothly with others. EI gives the ability to have ‘grace under fire’ and to act with integrity and courage.

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