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Activities to Develop Emotional Intelligence Skills

According to the University of New Hampshire, emotional intelligence is "an ability to validly reason with emotions and to use emotions to enhance thought." Since the 1990s scientific articles have appeared to identify, study and improve emotional intelligence in individuals. Understanding the different factors and strategies of this model of human psychology is key to helping promote and develop a healthier emotional intelligence.
  1. Components of Emotional Intelligence

    • To further theorize and develop strategies to study and improve emotional intelligence, various models have been developed to break down and recognize the individual components involved in emotional intelligence. One such model is a four-branch version which seeks to combine the different components into categories. Each branch addresses a different part of the relationship between emotion and thought. The four branches include the perception of emotion, the use of emotions to enable thought, comprehending the meaning of emotions, and emotion management. The perception of emotion has to do with recognizing and utilizing non-verbal emotional indicators. Enabling thought through emotion involves the ability to utilize emotion to create thought. Comprehending emotions is equally important as it allows for the individual to find the root of the emotion and associated reactions, allowing for more reasonable outcomes. Emotion management is the final branch and is strengthened by the other three branches. Managing emotions allows an individual to better interact with the world.

    Developing EI Skills: Stress Reduction

    • Stress can often lead to irrationality, causing individuals to disregard or contradict previous strategies and plans. Learning to manage and reduce stress helps individuals to affect the way stress interacts with their emotions. The development of three skills related to functioning under stress can help increase emotional intelligence. Skills include the recognition of stressful situations, identification of stress responses and, based on the previous skills, an ability to develop individually effective stress reducing techniques.

    Developing EI Skills: Emotional Awareness

    • An individual's ability to recognize his emotions and how they influence his cognitive and physical reactions to the world is important in a healthy emotional intelligence. The key to developing this skill is to recognize the different manifestations of emotion, from fluctuations in emotions to physical expression and experience of emotions. By becoming aware of how emotions manifest and affect thinking and behavioral patterns, individuals are better able to utilize their emotions effectively.

    Developing EI Skills: Using Nonverrbal Communication

    • Nonverbal skills include timing/pace of verbal communications, physical contact, gestures/posture of speaker, vocal tone, facial expressions and eye contact. Since many nonverbal communication skills are affected by emotion, it is important to understand how nonverbal expressions illustrate meaning. Using nonverbal communication is not limited to personal nonverbal responses but also includes interpreting the nonverbal responses of others. To improve this function of emotional intelligence, individuals must learn to recognize the manifestation of emotion in their own and others' nonverbal responses.

    Developing EI Skills: Learning to Utilize Humor

    • Humor really is the best medicine, particularly when it comes to mental and emotional well-being. Laughter leads to a reduction in stress and positively influences moods. Learning to effectively use humor in relation to emotions can reduce personal and interpersonal conflicts. Once free of these conflicts, individuals are better able to function cognitively and seek alternative solutions to personal and social challenges.

    Developing EI Skills: Positive Conflict Resolution

    • While avoiding conflict can seem impossible, learning to use positive conflict resolution is important in further developing Emotional Intelligence. Through stress management, emotional awareness, use of reflective nonverbal cues and humor, individuals can learn to better interact with the world around them. Positive conflict resolution involves four main areas of interpersonal skills including concentrating on the present conflict, picking arguments, forgiveness, and the end to unresolvable conflicts.

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