Reading
Emotional Intelligence
We often think of human intelligence as the mental ability to analyze and understand complex ideas. However, many psychologists believe that there is a different type of intelligence called emotional intelligence. People with emotional intelligence have the ability to recognize their true feelings and understand what is causing them. This ability to understand their own feelings enables them to better control their emotional responses, changing or correcting them when necessary. Emotional intelligence helps people to behave appropriately in social situations, which allow them to maintain good relationships with others.
Listening
Narrator: Now listen to part of a lecture in a Psychology class.
Professor: So here's an example.
My daughter had a friend over to our house recently,
and they decided to watch a movie together.
Only they got into an argument because they couldn't agree on what movie to watch.
My daughter started to get quite upset during the argument,
which wasn't like her at all.
But then, my daughter stopped and thought about why she was so upset.
She realized her reaction was inappropriate,
and she also realized she wasn't really upset with her friend.
There was something else bothering her.
You see, she'd just gotten this summer job as a camp counselor for children,
and she was feeling a lot of worry and stress about how well she would do since she'd never worked with children before.
So she figured out that she wasn't upset about what movie to watch with her friend,
but about starting her new job.
She really wanted it to go well.
She wanted the kids to like her.
And when she understood this, she stopped arguing with her friend and apologized to her.
She told her friend how anxious she felt about starting the job and how sorry she was about getting upset with her.
And her friend encouraged her, saying she'd do great at the job.
So my daughter felt better, and they relaxed and had fun together,
the same as always.
Question
Explain how the example from the lecture illustrates the concept of emotional intelligence.
