The Science of Emotional Intelligence by Peter Salovey and Daisy Grewal - Article Example

Emotional Intelligence Task 1: Summary The title of the article under this summary is “The Science of Emotional Intelligence” authored by Peter Salovey and Daisy Grewal (Dacre & Sewell, 2007). The authors seek to provide an overview of research that has been undertaken in the topic of emotional intelligence. According to the authors, emotional intelligence is a great topic of interest in the field of psychology as it helps in organizing the studies regarding the potential differences that prevail between individuals in terms of abilities related to emotions. Emotional intelligence is an important factor in the everyday life because it helps in the development of positive relationships and positive outcomes in life as well as achieving success in the place of work. Emotional intelligence is a combination of two branches namely intelligence and emotions fields. Emotions are perceived as important sources of information used by an individual to navigate and relate to the social environment that surrounds him/her. From the above observations presented in the article, emotional intelligence is defined as the individual’s ability to monitor the feelings of others as well as his/her own feelings and discriminating against the feelings as a way of guiding one’s action and thinking (Dacre & Sewell, 2007). The definition above can be broken into four abilities namely managing emotions, perceiving emotions, understanding emotions and using emotions. These four abilities form the four-model of emotional intelligence. According to the authors, perceiving emotions is the ability to decipher emotions in the voice, pictures of facial expressions. Using emotions is the ability to apply emotions in problem solving and enhancing thinking (Dacre & Sewell, 2007). Understanding emotions refers to the ability to understand emotions as depicted in a language. Managing emotions is the ability to regulate emotions in others as well as emotions regulating our own emotions. The four basic models of emotional intelligence mentioned above cannot be applied in a vacuum. Rather they operate within a social setting where an individual is aware of the appropriate behaviour required in the social setting. Emotional intelligence can be measured in different ways. The first measure of emotional intelligence is the use of self-report scales. This involves the rating of individuals according to various capabilities such as having good relationships, the ability to tolerate stress and display of patience (Cherniss, 2010). The other method of measuring emotional proposed in the article is the Mayer-Salovey-Carusso Emotional Intelligence Test that comprise of a battery that can be completed using a computer or on a piece of paper for an average duration of 40 minutes (Cherniss, 2010). This method helps in measuring the emotional intelligence abilities of an individual as per the four models of emotional intelligence mentioned above. Findings from previous measurements of emotional intelligence conducted using the MSCEIT criteria reveals that emotional intelligence is an important factor in all spheres of life from succeeding in ones career to the social skills held by an individual (Cherniss, 2010). It is also an important consideration in the development of social skills that enables an individual to interact positively with members of the opposite sex. Application of emotional intelligence facts affects the lives of family members, school children and workers. Task 2: Four branches of emotional intelligence The four branches of emotional intelligence include perceiving emotions, understanding emotions, using emotions and managing emotions. Perceiving emotions is a model that deals with an individual’s ability to detect his/her emotions as well as the emotions of other people (Salovey & Grewal, 2005). Understanding emotions is a model that deals with a person’s ability to understand emotions hidden in the language. Using emotions is the model that deals with an individual’s ability to apply emotional intelligence in problems solving and thinking as a way of harnessing the potential hidden in emotions (Cherniss, 2010). Managing emotions is a model that deals with an individual’s ability to regulate hi/her emotions as well as the emotions of other people in order to create a positive interactive environment. Task 2 Conti: Summary of the four branches As stated in the sections above, perceiving emotions is the detection of emotions as presented through facial expressions, voice, cultural artefacts and pictures. Perceiving emotions is therefore the basic step in emotional intelligence because the reaction of an individual towards others and himself depends on the perceived emotions (Cherniss, 2010). For example, a harsh voice can be an indication of bitterness in a person. The second branch of emotional intelligence is using emotions. Using emotions means harnessing emotions in order to facilitate various skills such as problem solving and thinking. For instance, a sad mood (sad emotions) can be used to solve methodical problems while a happy mood can be used to think creatively and innovatively. Understanding emotions means being capable of differentiating between different moods expressed through the voice, facial expressions or even language. For example, understanding emotions can help differentiate between when a person is happy or sad (Cherniss, 2010). Managing emotions is the most important aspect of emotional intelligence because well managed emotions helps prevent conflicts in the workplace or in any given setting. Being aware of the times when a person can lose control of his/her emotions is vital because it helps in the management of emotions. A politician can also manage the emotions of his/her followers by either delivering a powerful speech full of anger or a less powerful speech full of happiness. Task 3: Graduate employability Employability can be defined as possession of knowledge, skills, personal attributed and understanding that make a person more likely to secure and choose occupations in which they can be successful and satisfied. Emotional intelligence is an important consideration in graduate employability because it helps the graduates to keep a fulfilling job characterised by the greatest level of fullfillment. Just like the other essential employability components such as (knowledge and understanding of the study area, generic skills, work experience and life experience, career development and learning), emotional intelligence is an important element because it contributes largely to the overall reflection and evaluation of a graduate. The evaluation and reflection of the graduate involves aspects such as self-esteem, self-confidence and self-efficacy. An emotionally stable graduate has a high level of self-esteem, self-confidence and self-efficacy that makes it possible for the graduate to undertake his/her responsibilities in both demanding and less demanding work environment. On the other hand, a less stable graduate in terms of emotions becomes a liability in the workplace because of increased conflicts and inefficiency in handling problems in the workplace. Hence, emotional intelligence is vital in handling of customer-service jobs in which thorough-interaction of people with diverse emotions is required. TASK 4: Summary The article by Dacre Pool and Sewell is titled “The key to employability: developing a practical model of graduate employability”. The purpose of the article is to introduce a practical and straightforward model of employability that can be used by graduate students to enhance their employability skills and employers to find the right people for the job. The article can also be widely used by lecturers to develop teaching methods that can mould graduate students into holistic individuals able to cope with both demanding and less demanding situations in the workplace. According to the authors, employability is not just getting a job but rather but also possessing the right knowledge and skills, generic skills, right life experiences and emotional intelligence skills required to interact with other people in the workplace. In this regard, employability comprises of different components such as metacognition, understanding, skills, career development and learning, generic skills as well as emotional intelligence. These components are essential because they provide an avenue for reflecting on and evaluating the required experiences in order to develop higher levels of self-efficacy, self- confidence and self-esteem which are the key links to employability. The subject knowledge, skills and understanding are vital because employers judge graduates depending on the level of success and qualification obtained in the degree course. In this perspective, a well qualified graduate is regarded as having put much effort in his/her degree course and thus deserving to be employed for his/her seriousness. Generic skills refer to the capabilities held by individuals such as creativity, being innovative, flexibility, adaptability, imaginative, ability to work both in less stressful and stressful situations, willingness to learn, ability to work under minimum supervision (to mention a few). These are capabilities inherent in individuals that make it possible for an individual to cope with a wide range of tasks. Emotional intelligence is another important employability component included in the employability model. The ability to perceive, use, manage and understand emotions is an important consideration because it promotes intellectual growth. Emotional intelligence is vital because it helps in understanding the feelings of others as well as our own feelings and it goes a long way in creating motivation in the creation of positive relationships in any social setting (Salovey & Grewal, 2005). The authors noted that a graduate should have well developed emotional intelligence capabilities to increase his/her level of competence. Since, the concept of emotional intelligence is not a fixed concept; the authors observed that it can be learnt and taught in different institutions of learning particularly the higher institutions of learning in order prepare graduates to face the external environment effectively (Salovey & Grewal, 2005). Hence, incorporation of emotional intelligence in the curriculum is an important aspect noted by the authors in the article. To further improve and increase their employability opportunities, it is noted in the article that students of all ages can be helped to learn from their life experiences in order to improve their skills and competencies. For instance, students can learn to handle people from different knowledge and cultural backgrounds through their interaction with people outside their workplace setting. Task 5: Piece of literature (Charlotte , 1847, p 303). ‘My nerves vibrated to these low-spoken words as they had never vibrated to thunder – my blood felt their subtle violence as it had never felt frost or fire: but I was collected, and in no danger of swooning. I looked at Mr Rochester: I made him look at me. His whole face was a colourless rock: his eye was both spark and flint. He disavowed nothing: he seemed as if he would defy all things. Without speaking; without smiling; without seeming to recognise in me a human being, he only twined my waist with his arm, and riveted me to his side (Charlotte, 1847, p 303). Task 5 CONT: Piece of writing I chose this piece of writing because it is a clear demonstration of how emotions can be expressed not only in the voice, facial expression or even cultural artefacts, but emotions can also be demonstrated significantly through various pieces of writings. Through the words used by the author, it is possible to b carried away by the emotional way the author expresses the situation that surrounds her. It is evident that the emotions brought out in this piece of writing are fearful emotions that make the author shake more than any other time before. Hence, this piece of writing is a good expression of emotions. Task 5 CONT: Two passages ‘People everywhere brag and whimper about the woes of their early years, but nothing can compare with the Irish version: the poverty; the shiftless loquacious alcoholic father; the pious defeated mother moaning by the fire; pompous priests; bullying schoolmasters; the English and the terrible things they did to us for eight hundred long years.’ This passage is titled “Angela’s Ashes” by Frank (1996). The passage evokes emotional feelings particularly among the people who did not encounter poverty experiences during their early years. Painful, distressful and hopeless emotions are evoked by this passage particularly because of the extent of frustration the reader identifies with in the passage. For example, bullying schoolmasters and alcoholic father makes it even painful to relate to such experiences. The environment expressed by the author is a hopeless environment with numerous problems and woes which evoke distressful feelings. The distressful feelings are perpetuated by the fact that people underwent through the experienced described in the passage. Putting oneself in the shoes of the people that went through such experiences it hurts to realize that some people can openly subject others to such magnitude of frustration. I have chosen this passage because it demonstrates effectively the different types of emotions that can engulf a person through reading a piece of emotional literature. For instance, the above piece of writing brings out several emotional experiences such as distress, pain, frustration and hopelessness. It also shows that author may have been emotionally intelligent to have overcome the above experiences and live to tell of his/her experiences as an Irish. ‘My nerves vibrated to these low-spoken words as they had never vibrated to thunder – my blood felt their subtle violence as it had never felt frost or fire: but I was collected, and in no danger of swooning. I looked at Mr Rochester: I made him look at me. His whole face was a colourless rock: his eye was both spark and flint. He disavowed nothing: he seemed as if he would defy all things. Without speaking; without smiling; without seeming to recognise in me a human being, he only twined my waist with his arm, and riveted me to his side” (Charlotte , 1847, p 303). The above passage evokes fearful emotional feelings. The passage is a story of a person that found herself in a very tense and fearful situation. The author expresses fearful emotions by bringing out the picture of a huge and frightening being that stood next to her. The chilling experience makes it possible for the reader of the passage to also identify with a similar experience in life that caused so much fear. The most important aspect of this passage is the expression brought out by the author regarding the Mr. Rochester which sends an emotional message that his size was fearful and his sigh alone, no one could fathom. The words “without recognising in me a human being” reveal an emotional aspect of mercilessness depicted by the Mr. Rochester and the fact that he stood in front of the person speaking in the passage, is a reason enough to believe that the victim was in dangerous situation. I have chosen this passage because it evokes different emotions such as fearful, merciless, tense and frightening emotions as told by the author. The topic creates a necessary ground for the reader to apply emotional intelligent to find the solution to the problem presented in the passage. Task 5: CONT Brian V. A revolutionary therapy is transforming these people’s lives. In this article, the author the Reading Group is not an idea aimed at the physically, emotionally unwell but for people who had not had much education (Mayer, Roberts & Barsade, 2008). Testimonies given by those involved in Reading Groups reveal that the exercise makes them feel well and it alleviates the emotional and physical troubles such people could experience in their daily lives by helping the people involved in Reading Groups not to look stupid in the midst of the ever changing society that demands key skills and knowledge on different issues. Reading groups helps to unravel mysterious experiences and stories among the reading group members. This is made possible by the fact that every group member is allowed to contribute towards the literature being read (Mayer, Roberts & Barsade, 2008). Additionally, every group member reads the story in order to enhance his/her reading skills as well as sharpening his/her understanding of the text when reading. This enables the participants to unload their own stories. By relating to the text being read, emotions are evoked and emotional intelligence is applied to solve trouble or the situation as it presents itself in the story and also in real life experiences (Mayer, Roberts & Barsade, 2008). The basic purpose of Reading Groups is not to teach but to enable people involved in the exercise feel good about themselves. This is from the realization that people that failed to complete their education harbour bitter emotions about themselves and such emotions can only be alleviated by enabling them to realize the potential they have. Get into Reading Groups is therefore a form of therapy partiualry to those whose health and illiterate problems leads them to thinking o committing suicide. Hence, it is a way of escaping from the bitter reality of being stupid and feeling neglected by the society to a reality of being able to read and talk like the rest of the people in the society. References Brian, V. A revolutionary therapy is transforming these people’s lives. Its name? Literature. The Independent magazine. Cherniss, C. (2010). Emotional Intelligence: Toward clarification of a concept. Industrial and Organization Psychology, 3 (110-126). Dacre, P. & Sewell, P. (2007). The key to Employability: developing a practical model of graduate employability. Centre for Employability, University of Central Lancashire, Preston, UK. Mayer, J., Roberts, R., & Barsade, S. (2008). Human Abilities: Emotional Intelligence. Annual Review Psychology. Salovey, P., & Grewal, D. (2005). The science of emotional intelligence. 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