Emotional intelligence is the ability to perceive, use, understand, manage, and handle emotions. It goes beyond just knowing your own emotions, but also involves having a higher awareness of the emotions of those around you and your ability to empathize with someone else’s situation. Emotional intelligence has been defined as "the ability to monitor ones own and other peoples emotions, to discriminate between different emotions and label them appropriately, and to use emotional information to guide thinking and behavior". This definition was later broken down and refined into four proposed abilities: perceiving, using, understanding, and managing emotions. The four recognized elements of emotional intelligence are self-awareness, self-regulation, social awareness, and relationship management.
Being emotionally intelligent means having the ability to manage both your own emotions and understand the emotions of people around you. It involves having a higher awareness of the emotions of those around you and your ability to empathize with someone else’s situation. High emotional intelligence overlaps with strong interpersonal skills, especially in the areas of conflict management and communication - crucial skills in the workplace. Emotionally intelligent people are more likely to have a better understanding of themselves and to make conscious decisions based on emotion and rationale combined, leading to better well-being, higher life satisfaction, and self-esteem, and lower levels of insecurity or depression.
