By Siobhan Hicks, MPH
Over the years, researchers have suggested that higher emotional intelligence (EI) is linked to improved psychological and physical health.
The definition and explanation of EI have varied over time but can be broadly defined as the ability to perceive, control, and evaluate emotions (Johnson et al., 2009). Individuals who have higher EI are skilled both in understanding and regulating their own emotions, and in reading and managing the emotions of others. (Matthews et al., 2017).
Psychologist Daniel Goleman broke EI down into 5 key components…
- Self-Awareness: Being aware of what emotions you are feeling and being able to put words to your feelings. This also means understanding the consequences of your emotions and how they may change and shift over time.
- Self-Regulation: After being aware of your own emotions, you can better manage them and the behaviors that come along with them; including observing a difficult emotion and slowing down or resisting any impulsive action that may follow.
- Motivation: This allows you to remain true to your goals and persevere, even during challenging times. Having high motivation allows you to realize that the reward of your personal goals is worth the time and effort spent getting there, even when facing difficulties.
- Empathy: Empathy refers to how well you are tuned to the emotions of others. Someone with high EI can accurately identify which emotions another person is feeling and can tell the difference between genuine and false emotions.
- Social Skills: EI can help you build relationships, communicate with others, and maintain friendships.
Higher EI and healthier behaviors
Being able to develop higher EI is important because it can lead to better health outcomes. Higher EI has been linked to greater wellness and happiness, better job performance, more prosocial behavior, and less aggressive behavior. For physical health, high levels of EI have been linked to the development of healthier behaviors, such as not smoking or drinking alcohol, healthier eating, and more exercise (Acebes-Sanchez et al., 2019).
Those high in EI may be generally better at taking good care of themselves by managing illnesses more effectively and complying with treatments. Conversely, lower EI may be associated with damaging behaviors such as self-harm, reckless driving, and abuse of alcohol and other substances (Matthews et al., 2017).
As it relates to psychological health, EI has been associated with lower levels of stress symptoms, higher well-being, and lower job stress. Stress might impair emotional competency; for example, fatigue is associated with impairments in perceptions and judgment (Matthews et al., 2017).
There are ways for you to begin developing higher EI.
Counseling and Psychological Services at Wayne State University suggests doing more of:
- Practicing gratitude improves mood, energy, and physical well-being.
- Listening to your body for signs of stress
- Limiting caffeine and increasing sleep
- Observing your feelings without editing or judging them too quickly.
- Respond thoughtfully to your feelings and decide how to behave.
- Self-reflecting to recognize your own faults and learn and grow from them.
They also suggest doing less of:
- Reacting simply relieves yourself of emotion without consideration of how others feel.
- Focusing on negativity and cynical thoughts.
- Criticizing self or others; recognize the change you want and effectively plan or communicate it.
Let's practice more of listening to our bodies and responding thoughtfully to our feelings so that we can achieve higher levels of emotional intelligence and improved health and well-being.
**Note: Siobhan Hicks, MPH, (Guest Contributing Writer), Assistant Director, McNair Scholars Program, Kent State University, Kent, OH
Article’s Sources
Acebes-Sanchez, J., Diez-Vega, I., Esteban-Gonzalo, S., and Rodriguez-Romo, G. (2019). Physical activity and emotional intelligence among undergraduate students: a correlational study. Retrieved from https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12889-019-7576-5
Matthews, G., Zeidner, M., and Roberts, R.D. (2017). Emotional intelligence, health, and stress. Retrieved from https://www.doi.org/10.1002/9781118993811
Wayne State University Counseling and Psychological Services. (2023). Cultivating emotional intelligence. Retrieved from https://health.wayne.edu/cultivating-emotional-intelligence/
Williams, F. (2022). What to know about emotional intelligence. Retrieved from https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/components-of-emotional-intelligence
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