Emotional Intelligence: What is it?

, as well as one's own limitations and weaknesses; it also includes the ability to understand how these personal characteristics are able to influence others.

Self-regulation: describes the ability to manage one's strengths, emotions and weaknesses, adapting them to the different situations that may arise, in order to achieve goals and objectives.

Social ability: consists in the ability to manage relationships with people in order to "direct" them towards the achievement of a specific goal.

Motivation: is the ability to recognize negative thoughts and transform them into positive thoughts that are able to motivate oneself and others.

Empathy: is the ability to fully understand and even perceive and feel the mood of other people.

According to Goleman, to each of the aforementioned characteristics belong different emotional skills, understood as the practical skills of the individual necessary for the establishment of positive relationships with others. These skills, however, are not innate, but can be learned, developed and improved in order to achieve important job and leadership performance. According to Goleman, each individual is endowed with a "general emotional intelligence" from birth and the degree of this intelligence determines the - more or less high - probability of later learning and exploiting the above emotional skills.

Goleman, therefore, makes emotional intelligence a fundamental tool in the field of job success.

How is emotional intelligence measured according to Goleman?

The emotional intelligence according to Goleman can be measured through the "Emotional Competency Inventory (ECI) and the" Emotional and Social Competency Inventory (ESCI), these are tools developed by Goleman himself and by Richard Eleftherios Boyatzis, professor of organizational behavior, psychology and cognitive science.

In addition, it is also possible to measure emotional intelligence through the Emotional Intelligence Appraisal. It is a type of self-assessment developed by Travis Bradberry and Jean Greaves.

and a lower level of insecurity. Furthermore, the presence of emotional intelligence seems to be useful in preventing wrong choices and behaviors, also related to one's health (for example, psychoactive substance abuse and addictions to both drugs and alcohol).

Curiosity

An interesting study conducted in 2010 analyzed the correlation between emotional intelligence and the degree of dependence on alcohol and / or drugs. From this study it emerged that the scores obtained from the tests for the evaluation of emotional intelligence increased as the degree of dependence on the aforementioned substances decreased.

The same goes for another study conducted in 2012 that analyzed the relationship between emotional intelligence, self-esteem and marijuana addiction: subjects affected by this addiction scored exceptionally low on tests for both self-esteem and self-esteem. that of emotional intelligence.

Ilaria Randi

Graduated in Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Technology, she took and passed the State Exam for the Qualification to the Profession of Pharmacist