Women and Emotional Intelligence
Shobha Aralikatti, Sc'E' R&DE(E), Pune - 15
1. Introduction
Women, in India and elsewhere, continue to be largely responsible for the
running a home, bringing up children, cooking, cleaning. However even in
India the roles expected of a man as the bread-winner and a woman as the
home maker is being redefined and more opportunities are opening up for
women at the workplace. The sheer pressure of ability will propel more and
more women into management.
Well, have you ever tried handling work and home, the cleaning, washing,
cooking and to top it off meetings, presentations and targets at the
workplace? Once considered a problem of men, stress from high-powered jobs
is becoming second nature to women too. A 12-14 hour working day, inadequate
relaxation and travelling leave them little time for themselves.
De-stressing and proper management of priorities is important. We also know
the critical importance of developing trust in our relationships both at
work and at home if we are to achieve the best outcomes.
Training for taking up a management role is crucial for men and women.
Management is not just about intelligence or IQ. It is also about sociology
and behaviour, and team leadership, as well as being part of a team. If a
manager, man or woman, is not trained in the family, school or college to
seamlessly merge into a team, he or she might face a problem. The rules for
work are changing. We're being judged by a new yardstick: not just by how
smart we are, or by our training and expertise, but also by how well we
handle ourselves and others. For generations, it's been called 'women's
intuition - the ability to sense what's really going on in a situation, to
assess people's thoughts and feelings accurately, to express empathy and to
respond appropriately. Now, thanks to psychologist and best-selling author
Daniel Goleman(1)this talent has a name - Emotional Intelligence and also
has a scientific explanation.
2. What is Emotional Intelligence?
Emotional intelligence (EI) is the silent partner of rational intelligence
-- equal in importance, yet frequently overlooked and rarely schooled or
tested. Emotional intelligence is a very recently described intelligence
form. It is the ability to sense, understand, and effectively apply the
power and acumen of emotions as a source of human energy, information,
connection, and influence. The skills which belong to the highly developed
emotional intelligence include: to be independent from your own feelings,
ability to adjust yourself to them, ability to recognise, name and direct
your feelings, discern the nuances of feelings and use them in positive way,
and be able to derive actions from them. Emotional intelligence accompanies
our daily life and in many cases is as important as the 'common'
intelligence, especially in our modern society.
3. How it Works?
A small structure in the limbic region of the brain, the amygdala, is the
center of the emotional mind (2). All incoming sensory data -- sight, sound,
smell, sensation -- pass through the amygdala where they are instantly
analysed for their emotional value before going to the cerebral cortex for
processing. Every piece of data is infused by the amygdala with an emotional
charge. If powerful enough, that charge can override reasoned thinking and
logic. Far quicker than the rational mind, it charges into action without
regard for the consequences. In an emotional emergency, the amygdala
proclaims a crisis, recruiting the rest of the brain to its urgent agenda.
Goleman calls this an emotional hijacking, because it occurs so fast that
the thinking brain has no opportunity to grasp what is occurring and decide
on the best course of action. Emotional hijackings produce astonishing feats
of bravery, hideous acts of violence, and everything in between. Meanwhile
the neocortex, in the prefrontal lobes just behind the forehead, is working
to control feelings in order to reappraise situations and deal with them
more effectively. It functions like a master strategist, planning and
organising actions toward a goal. When an emotion triggers, within moments
the prefrontal lobes analyse possible actions and choose the best
alternative. When a person hears loud crash in the next room, it's the
amygdala that sends a paralyzing jolt of fear through his body. A moment
later, the neocortex starts ticking off the possibilities: cat, window,
intruder and what to do about them. The neocortex is capable of muffling
emergency signals, but it is slower, involving more circuitry.
The amygdala and neocortex may sound like perfect partners, the alert sentry
signaling danger and the cool strategist selecting prudent courses of
action, but the sentry can easily overreact and powerful emotions can
disrupt your ability to think and reason. Fear can render one mute; anger
can make one lash out violently. In such moments, the circuits from the
amygdala to the prefrontal lobes are creating neural static, sabotaging the
ability of the prefrontal lobe to maintain working memory. That's why one
complains that he 'can't think straight' when he is upset.
These emotional circuits, and the automatic reactions they convey, are
sculpted by experience throughout childhood. Emotionally-driven automatic
responses are usually learned very early -- as early as four years of age.
All it takes is for some feature of the present situation to resemble a
situation from the past. The instant that feature is recognised by the
emotional mind, the feelings that went with the past event are triggered.
The emotional mind reacts to the present as if it were the past. The
reaction is fast and automatic, but not necessarily accurate or appropriate
to the situation at hand. So while EI relies on the warp-speed reactions of
the amygdala, it relies even more on the management skills of the neocortex.
Having high EI doesn't mean that one never panics or loses his temper. It
does mean that a person brings his feelings under control and channel them
into productive behaviours. The ability to bring out-of-control emotions
back into line results in what earlier generations called emotional
maturity.
Now let's look at what emotional intelligence is not. Emotional intelligence
is not about being nice all the time. It's about being honest. Emotional
intelligence is not about being touchy-feely. It's about being aware of
one's feelings, yours and other peoples' feelings. And EI is not about being
emotional. It's about being smart with one's own emotions. It's knowing how
to use his own emotions to motivate himself and others. And it's knowing how
to keep his distressing emotions under control.
4. Components of Emotional Intelligence
These are "personal competence" - how we manage ourselves, and "social
competence " - how we manage relationships (table1)
Self-awareness is defined as the ability to recognize and understand your
moods, emotions and drives as well as their effects on others.
Self-regulation is defined as the ability to control or re-direct disrupting
impulses or moods. It is the propensity to suspend judgment, to think before
acting.
Motivation is a passion to work for reasons beyond status or money; a
propensity to pursue goals with energy and persistence.
Table 1. Components of Emotional Intelligence
|
Personal competence |
Social competence |
|
Self awareness (of internal
states, preferences, resources, and intuitions)
Self regulation (of
internal states, impulses, and resources)
Motivation (tendencies that
facilitate reaching goals) |
Empathy (awareness of
others feelings, needs, and concerns)
Social skills (adept at
inducing desirable responses in others)
|
Empathy is the ability to understand the emotional makeup of other
people and the skill of treating people according to their emotional
reactions.
Social skill is the proficiency in managing relationships and
building networks. It is an ability to find common ground and build rapport.
5. Importantance of Emotional Intelligence to Performance?
Across various job levels: Emotional intelligence matters twice as much as
technical and analytic skill combined. For better performance and the higher
people move up in the organisation, the more crucial emotional intelligence
becomes.
For managers and 1st 1line supervisors
Supervisors in a manufacturing plant receive training in emotional
competencies like how to listen better, help employees resolve problems on
their own, how to empower and inspire others, and how to become more
effective personal leaders. After training:
Formal grievances were reduced from an average of 15/ year to 3/ year
Plant exceeded productivity goals by $250,000 (Pesuric & Byham,1996).
Lost time accidents were reduced by 50 percent.
For leaders:
The table 2 depicts the number of times those individuals who became
president /CEO displayed emotionally intelligent competencies.
|
EQ competencies |
Frequency shown |
Cognitive competencies |
Frequency shown |
|
Self-control |
7X |
Analytical thinking |
1.2X |
|
Empathy |
3X |
Conceptual thinking |
1.5X |
|
Teamwork |
2.5X |
|
|
|
Self-confidence |
2X |
|
|
|
Achievement orientation |
2X |
|
|
Level of Profitability
Attributable to E I
Not only does EI greatly contribute to job performance and leadership, it
has also been found to increase profits. The following chart shows the
relationship between emotional competencies high enough to positively affect
performance and the amount of profit generated at a multinational services
firm per year per partner. As the chart shows, self-regulation appears to
have the greatest impact on profit generation.
6. Women and Emotional Intelligence
Emotionally intelligent women
tend to be assertive and express their feelings directly, and to feel
positive about themselves; life holds meaning for them. They are outgoing
and gregarious and express their feelings appropriately. They adapt well to
stress. Their social poise lets them easily reach out to new people; they
are comfortable enough with themselves. They exhibit qualities like impulse
control, self-esteem, self-motivation, mood management and people skills.
Unlike the women purely high in IQ, they rarely feel anxious or guilty, or
sink into rumination.
Men and women have different kinds and levels of Emotional Intelligence.
While the average EQ (Bar iOn EQ-i) scores for women (98) and men (100) were
on par(4), the following sub-component scores demonstrate where
the genders differ the most.
|
Sub-component |
Female EQ |
Male EQ |
|
Self
regard |
97 |
(+5) 102 |
|
Interpersonal relationship |
(+4) 101 |
97 |
|
Social
responsibility |
(+6) 102 |
96 |
|
Empathy |
(+9) 103 |
94 |
|
Stress
tolerance |
97 |
(+7) 103 |
Human are born with a certain IQ
and can expand it upto some extent, but it is largely fixed. However, one
can increase EQ indefinitely. This is possible by deepening self-awareness
and insight into other people, by developing discipline and focus, and
through expanding the store of wisdom and good judgment. This will help both
at work and home.
References :
1 Daniel Goleman Emotional Intelligence: Why it can matter more than
IQ.Bantam Books, 1995
2. Dianne Schilling Emotional Intelligence -You can help how you feel!
3. Institute for Health and Human potential What is EQ?.
4. Dr. Reuven Bar On Emotional Quotient Inventory
