We spoke with the psychologist from Madrid to get to know this concept in depth.
But what are we talking about when we refer to emotional intelligence? To answer this, it is worth making a brief contextualization.
What is emotional intelligence?
After decades of talking about intelligence to refer to a person’s logical-mathematical and linguistic abilities, researchers realized that this was a limited and poor view of the concept of intelligence. There should be other elements to be considered and that, in addition, were really useful when explaining how an individual is able to adapt to their reality.
This is where the concept of emotional intelligence comes in. This type of intelligence addresses the social and introspective dimension of the human being, basic elements when it comes to elucidating why certain people are able to function more and better in an advanced society.
Interview with Rocío Blanco, psychologist at UPAD Psychology and Coaching
To delve into the most practical aspect of emotional intelligence, we have had the pleasure of speaking with Rocío Blanco .
Rocío is a sports and clinical psychologist at the UPAD center in Madrid , so her experience in these two fields is key to understanding how to use emotional intelligence as a tool to achieve certain goals, whether they are professional or in our emotional health.
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Bertrand Regader: How would you define Emotional Intelligence?
Rocío Blanco: Emotional intelligence is the ability to perceive, understand and manage our emotions, as well as recognize the emotions of others.
The development of this ability allows us to act appropriately in different situations, resolve conflicts satisfactorily, develop and implement solutions, interact positively with others and communicate effectively.
When talking about facets of intelligence that are far from verbal skills and logical-mathematical reasoning, it is often assumed that they are not productive in the workplace. Is it possible to mature long-term projects without the support of a well-developed Emotional Intelligence?
clearly not. Daniel Goleman, genius in the study of emotional intelligence states “in the best of cases, the IQ seems to provide only 20% of the determining factors of success”, from this, we can intuit the need for its presence in a work environment characterized by globalization and competition between companies.
The achievement of a work project entails the implication of different cognitive and emotional processes. The development of emotional intelligence involves managing work-related stress, making the right decisions, resolving conflicts, learning from one’s own mistakes, cooperating with others and being able to listen, reflect and respond constructively; being all this, the key that ensures the success of said project.
In what areas of life is the influence of this type of intelligence most noticeable?
I would dare to say that in all of them. We are social beings and we need interaction and coexistence with others for our education and development in all stages of our lives and vital contexts that appear in them.
Learning to manage our emotions and understand those of others opens up a range of experiences, personal and social, to which we can expose ourselves and develop in the most evolutionary and healthy way to achieve our goals. Emotionally intelligent people show more social skills and this is a fundamental factor that will help them in their personal, educational, social, family, sentimental and work spheres.
After the unpleasant events that are happening to us today, I would place special emphasis on the role it plays in childhood and in bullying.
Emotions appear as we grow, they are biologically programmed. From cognitive development, children become aware of their own emotions and those of others and around the age of 4, they begin to be aware that we feel differently, they begin to empathize. Emotional Intelligence plays a determining role, given that on many occasions, aggressions occur due to poor management of emotions.
If we teach children to manage and channel frustration, anger, rage, and educate them to empathize and identify the emotions of others, we can prevent them from considering aggressiveness as the only solution in front of their peers.
The educational system is frequently criticized for not involving tasks designed to work Emotional Intelligence. Is it the task of the school to promote the development of these skills?
Of course, just like homeschooling. School is the perfect setting for learning the knowledge, skills, and attitudes necessary to understand, express, and appropriately manage emotional phenomena.
Empathy, motivation, responsibility, self-control and assertiveness are skills that begin to develop at an early age. If we invest in promoting these skills from the beginning, we increase the probability of success, growth and well-being of the person in their interaction with the different areas of their life.
How can a lack of Emotional Intelligence affect the development of mental disorders?
It has been proven that a low level of emotional intelligence has negative effects on the emotional development of the person, among which a deficit in coping capacity, in the control of emotions and in the generation of social support stands out.
This deficit constitutes a vulnerability factor to develop pathologies such as anxiety, depression, eating behavior disorders and impulse control disorders.
And how can psychologists help their patients and clients to exercise this form of intelligence linked to emotions?
Our role lies mainly in providing people with tools that allow them to achieve maximum well-being in their lives. Teaching them to interpret reality in an adaptive, rational and realistic way, to behave in a congruent and evolutionary way and to identify and manage their emotions, is the key to our work.
Regarding emotional intelligence, these tools are aimed at the formation of four fundamental pillars for its development:
- Awareness of their emotions: it is about teaching the person to self-observe to learn to identify what they feel and put a name to it. In this way he will be able to recognize his emotional states and their origin.
- Management of their emotions : teaching how to control emotions and not let these be the ones that control us and at the same time, how to express or inhibit them appropriately through physiological, cognitive and behavioral techniques.
- Develop empathy: learning to identify your own emotions allows you to recognize and understand that of others. Reasoning about how others may feel about their motives and circumstances, learning to listen, collecting emotional information received and returning this information with an accompanying response, are strategies to foster the capacity for empathy.
- Importance of social skills: it is about providing communication strategies and conflict resolution techniques, which allow the person to relate effectively and healthily with others, thus promotingself-esteemand personal growth.
To the classic question “what do you do?” I always answer “basically I am a psychologist”. In fact, my academic training has revolved around the psychology of development, education and community, a field of study influenced my volunteer activities, as well as my first work experiences in personal services.