What is Emotional Intelligence

Emotional Intelligence or commonly known as EQ is a relatively new field of psychology. Emotional intelligence means the ability for a person to access, influence and conclude our emotions and also the emotions of other people around us.

The term emotional intelligence was first made popular by Daniel Goldman with his book Emotional Intelligence and since then many researchers have began studies in this new field of psychology.

Emotional intelligence can be broken into 4 separate entities namely

1. Empathy : the ability for a person to be able to perceive the emotions of others around him/her and acknowledge those feelings.

2. Relationships : the ability for a person to be able to handle negotiations and mediations.

3. Self Awareness : the ability for a person to understand his/her own feelings, know what they means and acknowledging these feelings.

4. Handle Emotions : the ability for a person to manage and handle their own personal feelings responsibly and accurately depending on the situation.

Since everyone of us handle each emotion differently under different situations, it is also the reason why researchers are finding it difficult to measure emotional intelligence accurately.

Over the years, there are certain rules in emotional intelligence that seems to apply to the majority of us though. And we can train ourselves to be better equip to handle these emotions when it comes.

Unlike IQ where it is innate and some people are just born to be a genius. Emotional intelligence is a skill that can be developed. In fact, emotions were not even implanted on us when we were still a baby or in the mother’s womb. It is through the interactions with our environment and the people that we developed these emotions.


Ricky Lim is the online editor of an emotional intelligence site. Visit his site today for more info on emotional intelligence techniques and emotional intelligence workshops.