EQ vs IQ
23 January 2023
What is EQ?
The ability to understand, process and effectively express your feelings. Also being able to engage with the feelings of others.
There are five pillars:
- Self awareness- recognising your own emotions, understanding how they influence your actions
- Self regulation- managing your emotions in a healthy way.
- Empathy- understanding others emotions and offering comfort and support
- Social skills- effective communication and building and maintaining relationships
- Intrinsic motivation
Some characteristics of EQ:
Actively listening and providing comfort, breaking down tasks to alleviate stress, setting goals.
Emotional intelligence will help improve all areas of your life, help you be a better partner, leader, parent, friend. It allows you to mediate conflict, regulate your anxiety and reduce stress.
What is the difference between EQ and IQ?
IQ focuses more on academic ability/intellectual skills whereas EQ focuses on your emotional abilities and social skills. EQ is how you can communicate, and relate to others and their needs. IQ is just based on your own ability.
| EQ | IQ |
| Self awareness | Logic to solve problems |
| Self managment | Mathematical reasoning |
| Responsible decision making | Spatial reasoning |
| Relationship skills/empathy | Verbal reasoning |
| Social awareness/conflict resolution | Memory recall |
| Effective communication | Plan and strategise |
Why is EQ important?
It helps you build relationships, effectively communicate, reduces stress and helps you diffuse conflict.
Self awareness- By having self awareness you are able to identify your strengths and weaknesses, by knowing yourself you will be able to bring out the best in others as well. Being ok with not knowing everything and letting others shine and learning from them. Having the ability to know when to ask for help, knowing this doesn't mean you have failed, seeing this as a sign of strength to lean on others around you! Being able to learn from your mistakes and criticism, using this to help improve yourself and make new goals and focuses.
Self-management is important in not reacting or being impulsive. Noticing your feelings, decoding them and then responding to them. For example not exploding at others as you are stressed with work. Identifying you are feeling stressed, practicing mindfulness, approach the stress in a way that is effective i.e. breaking down the tasks, asking for help, stepping away for a break.
Social awareness- Allows you to work well with others, actively listening and being able to empathize with them and support them through their emotions builds for a more effective team environment. Knowing how they function and what they need to feel supported, being able to read their body language and respond effectively.