Psychology
IQ versus EQ
Emotional intelligence (EQ) can be defined as the ability to monitor own feelings and emotions and feelings of others. On the other hand, Intelligence Quotient (IQ) is the person's reasoning ability. It is important to understand that Emotional Quotient is made of non-intelligence factors such as self-awareness, social awareness, relationship management, and self-management (Bradberry, 23). On the other hand, people with IQ show abilities in quantitative reasoning, knowledge of the world and working memory.
Having understood the difference between EQ and IQ, as a college student, I think EQ is more important in getting through college and starting a career. This is because, identifying personal and other emotions, evaluating personal and others feelings, controlling personal emotions and relating with others is important not only in school but also in the business world. I prefer to enroll in social and emotional learning to boost my emotional intelligence and gain emotional intelligence skills. Even though both IQ and EQ are both important in shaping owns life and influencing success, EQ is more important in that one will strengthen the cognitive ability and be in a position to influence positive behaviors, develop social contacts, resolve conflicts and build human relations (Bradberry, 61). It is important to understand that one cannot survive with IQ only (knowledge and brilliant ideas) rather, one needs the ability to control emotions. Another point is that EQ is more important in that when students complete education, they enter the business world while they are socially and emotionally prepared. Note that in the business world, one will meet people from diverse backgrounds, hostile people, negativists, complainers, unresponsive, indecisive and all kind of people (Bradberry, 177). However, a person with Emotional Intelligence will have the ability to cope with both positive and negative situations by evaluating people's emotions, solving conflicts and building relationships.
In the business world, Emotional Intelligence is an important factor that helps someone not only in succeeding in life but also in helping the organization achieve a competitive advantage. This is because, with emotional intelligence, a person will possess leadership skills, show empathy, self-confidence, take personal responsibility, become independent, manage time and value teamwork (Bradberry, 179). All these are elements needed by today's businesses and students need to get a thorough training on emotional intelligence in order to have the ability to work in a competitive workforce.
Despite the importance of learning Emotional Intelligence, there are a number of drawbacks associated with it. First, despite the fact that one can create social effectiveness, avoid engaging in destructive behaviors, one has lower levels of creativity. Creativity is innovation are also important factors needed by today's business and research has found that people with EQ ability do not engage in complex dynamics. They only do better in self-awareness, empathy and interpersonal interaction but they lack a power dynamic to work in a complex situation. (Bradberry, 225). In other words, businesses need people who use logic in bringing innovations and solving problems. Another point is that people with EQ use emotions in all settings and an increase in emotions prevent the ability to use critical thinking in complex situations.
As a student, I think that EQ is better than IQ and while I am at school and in the business world, I am interested in understanding myself, understanding others, communicating effectively with people, collaborating, and sharing, motivating and promoting understanding. However, this does not mean that IQ has no benefits. IQ is associated with benefit in that one will possess Knowles of the world, increase the working memory, use abstract thoughts, solve problems and be creative. These elements are important in the business world since today's business need someone with a smarter brain. In the workplace, one is able to gain adaptability, be flexible and gain improvement (Goleman, 5). However, even though one is able to apply the knowledge and skills in making decisions and solving problems, it is difficult to apply the Knowledge without the ability to cooperate, build interpersonal relationships, and manage personality and mental health. In the business world, there are many challenges and the solution to these challenges is not only the knowledge and skills gained in the class but also the emotional intelligence (Goleman, 9). In other words, one need to be closely related with the society, manage stress, be flexible and mindfulness.
I also did an EQ test and the results showed that I have a higher level of emotional intelligence. This is because I have good relationships with other people, I am very good at improving working relationships, I have leadership potential and I can manage my emotions. I also understand my strengths and weaknesses, I embrace change and I cannot offend easily. However, I need to improve on areas such as controlling emotions in stressful situations and finding strengths when I feel frustrated.
Work cited
Bradberry, Travis. Emotional Intelligence 2.0. San Diego, Calif: TalentSmart, 2009. Print.
Goleman, Daniel. Emotional Intelligence. New York: Bantam Books, 1995. Internet resource.
