Emotional Intelligence

The Impact of Social-Emotional Intelligence on Adult Relationships

Relationships are not easy.  As people, we learn how to navigate relationships using skills we gathered from our own lived experiences and childhood examples. Which can be part of the problem. 

Making and keeping friends, being in healthy romantic relationships and being able to work well with a wide range of people are all skills that we need in adulthood. However many adults have never been actively taught any of these skills. 

Luckily there are options for helping adults improve the quality of their interpersonal skills. This is where social-emotional learning (SEL) comes in. 

Why Social-emotional learning should be at the Heart of Your School Curriculum

School classrooms have become very complex environments. And that’s without referring to challenges like funding, curriculum changes and managing different learning styles.

Screen time, social media, and long hours of gaming are eroding things like basic social skills, the ability to make eye contact and build and maintain friendships. Anxiety levels are high, self-esteem levels are low and those are just the ones that make it to class.

Leaving educators trying to balance many complicated levels of sensitive and diverse needs. 

The bottom line is, that in terms of essential social intelligence skills, students just don’t have what they need.

So how can we help them?

Do women inherently possess higher emotional intelligence than men?

I spend a lot of time around people, whether it’s on a plane, in a cafe, in a staffroom, or just general life admin. Sometimes, I can’t help overhearing pieces of conversations (honestly I’m not eavesdropping!). Some of the conversations centre around discussing partners or workmates. Often, these conversations include references to either a lack of or over-inflated emotional intelligence competencies.

Emotional intelligence is more than recognising, labelling, and responding to our own emotions

Building our emotional intelligence is wider and deeper than a lot of people consider.

While acknowledging and navigating our internal emotional landscape is essential, true emotional intelligence goes beyond self-awareness. It encompasses critical skills such as engaging in crucial conversations, demonstrating empathy, fostering relationships, setting and achieving personal goals, maintaining optimism during challenges, being flexible and agile, and approaching the world with a sense of curiosity. These skills are underpinned by self-awareness, but it is not the only element of emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence is a more comprehensive and inclusive concept than commonly believed.