Emotional intelligence, commonly abbreviated as EQ, refers to the ability of an individual to recognize, comprehend and manage their own emotions and those of others. also, it includes the ability to understand the effect that their own emotions have towards others. Emotional Intelligence can be understood through tests and undertaking peer assessments. In this regard, this journal seeks to reflect, analyze and discuss the situations and events where I am emotionally involved and the significance reaction bears on those affected. The LPS Scores will be used to critically analyse and understand these behaviours and behaviour that drives these reactions during the play. The competency scores analyse proficiency in analyzing and problem-solving skills, working well with others that translate to teamwork, achieving set objectives, learning and self-development and lastly, adaptation to change.
Situations That Create Pressure
The play involved game heads up, whereby the timer was set for two minutes and one of the group members had to hold up a card to their forehead without looking at it. The other group members had to yell out clues to the player holding up the card. The member holding the card kept on guessing who/what is on their card until correct or till they decide to pass. The guessing process results in pressure to the participating individual. Reasons for this could be associated with the uncertainty of the results. Such pressure creates sadness and desperation that affects how I relate to others, whether peers, friends or family. Handling such a situation requires that I am calm, relaxed and thoughtful of the environment around me (Mayer, Caruso " Salovey, 2016).
However, disappointments from people create situations of pressure on how to deal with the situation, which resulted from missing the side of the card (Atkinson, Smith " Singh, 2016). Disappointments also include broken promises that break trust and delay my plans. Additionally, disappointments could arise when I receive suggestions from members that are not correct. As a result, my reaction towards the game may be challenged and create a situation where I am unfriendly and rude to other members. Additionally, emotions such as anger, bitterness, and revenge tend to build. To deal with such situations, I tried to discern the situation and understand reasons for the happenings. Also, I took deep breathes to stay calm and avoid being rude to members. There are several approaches that can be undertaken to solve problems that bring about disappointments.
Communication ought to be a priority, for example, when a wrong delivery is made from online shopping, instead of being abusive and rude to the delivery man, I choose to be calm and understand the reasons for the wrong delivery. I inquire about the order that has been sent to me, or write an email and wait for a response from the online store. Reviews on the response from the store can also be sought on social media. As a result, a broader perspective on the service delivery of the store can be understood (Ruvalcaba-Romero et al., 2017). The concept was reflected in my response when the members misguided me during the play, I could calm and keep in mind that it is a game.
Moreover, the game also demonstrated that situation such as involvement in fights that are not necessarily physical, lead to feelings such as tension and anger. Handling such incidents requires relaxation just like in most situations in the game. Mostly, mitigation of such situation should be the first step to avoiding these fights. However, after they occur, mediators can be used to solve these issues. For example, arguing over the ownership of a property, there are various documents that can be used to ascertain right ownership (Murphy, 2014). Additionally, a mediator can come between whenever I am involved in an argument to help solve the issues. The mediator can help us understand the root cause of the problem and how to solve the problem at hand. Emotionally, I need to be calm so as to respond positively to the solutions that are offered. Also, accepting when the mistake is mine is a tool that enables one to learn to avoid future disagreements.
Nevertheless, anxiety over a play or lateness may build pressure that impairs how one relates to the involved party. Anxiety can result in pressure and impaired relations with people. For example, I was detached, inattentive and inconsiderate towards the game. To solve this, I ensure preparedness before when playing any role. Additionally, for lateness, I encourage communication prior to meeting someone (Serat, 2017). However, noting ones weaknesses largely contributes to helping me deal with difficult situations and handle them diligently. Moreover, comprehension of other peoples' reactions and emotions during the play contributed greatly to improving my emotional intelligence.
Negative Thoughts
From the game, it is evident that human nature experience negative thoughts. However, repeated negative thoughts that one will fail in the game impair judgement and human behaviour resulting in psychological disorders are not normal. Negative thoughts are caused by several factors including fear, trauma, bad experiences, anxiety and events that occur on a day to day basis. Personally, from the play, I learned that fear and anxiety are my main causes of negative thoughts.
A second negative thought that I have is fear of failure. My fear of failure has affected my approach to doing things. For instance, it affects how I contribute to team projects or joint activities. For instance, when I am required to participate in team activities, I delay my contribution or fail to get involved all the same. As a result, the results of the team are affected (Collins " Cooper, 2014). Again, my interactions with the other team members are affected beyond the activities that brought us together. On the other hand, interacting with people older than me or those that appear rude, presents a difficult situation. For example, I have to thoroughly think of the gains that I can gain from taking up a job that could possibly end up in bullying.
The Heads-up game helped me overcome the fear and stay inspired to work. Negative thoughts are not necessarily a true depiction of reality. However, they significantly affect how I perceive incidents. For example, the fear of accidents affects how I handle the occurrence of an accident when I travel, despite not being involved. Hardly do I think of it as a minor thing, rather, as a major thing that was bound to happen. Henceforth, I fidget and worry a lot that I am also going to be involved in similar accidents.
Situations of negative thoughts can be dealt with to help improve one's perception of reality and influence their behaviour and reaction towards the occurrence of the situations that they fear happening. For example, participating in a game can help an individual peak out their worries and help them deal with their fears wisely and in a way that does not affect other people (Ang " Van, 2015).
Additionally, confronting the main cause of bad thoughts and getting closure from them helps in dealing with traumatic experiences. The game facilitated meditation among members that help relieve one of the negative thoughts and assist in improving the living and relations with others.
Default Behaviours When Emotionally Triggered
The heads-up game was a cornerstone of showing how emotional triggers are physiological or physical objects or factual material that has the capacity to influence the emotional balance of an individual. As a result, this might lead to an individual behaving in a particular way that suggests an abnormal code of conduct. For example, fidgeting that expresses anxiety is behaviour that results in fear of excess worry (Gill, Ramsey" Leberman, 2015). Cursing, however unconventional, is a behaviour arising from anxiety and fear. Also, tension to fail in identifying the correct side of the card resulted in disappointments. Despite this being an unconventional and rude to other people, it is a way of relieving emotions that affect behaviour. Venting is commonly used as an avenue to relieve one of pressure and stress. Talking out of situations that lead to pressure has been notably helpful and effective in dealing with stress.
Team Building Activity for Emotional Intelligence (EQ)
Team building is an avenue that presents an effective opportunity to skilfully air grievances and deeply understands oneself (Jin et al., 2015). The game presented an opportunity for peer assessment that broadens understanding of oneself and behaviours that we associate with. In this regard, I found the game as a very effective means of learning, discovering and understanding one's level of emotional intelligence.
However,
I maintained calmness throughout as I tried to come up with the correct answer picking on the clues that were given. Again, Building relationships are necessary as to be able to deal with other team members as I participate in the game too. Relationship building entails cooperation, empathy, and self-awareness. Additionally, using the clues given, I am able to think strategically and critically to make the right choice of the card game. One had to maintain positivity despite giving the wrong answers from the clues (Miners, Cote " Lievens, 2018). Moreover, patience and self-regulation are important skills that I learned through the game and fellow members of the team.
Conclusion
In summary, teamwork and relationship building are skills that an individual ought to learn so as to enhance their interactions with others. However, an individual's social skills are a direct reflection of the person's emotional intelligence. To have high EQ, one has to develop the social skills and use them practically to ensure harmonious socialization.
References
Ang, S., " Van Dyne, L. (2015). Conceptualization of cultural intelligence: Definition, distinctiveness, and nomological network. In Handbook of cultural intelligence (pp. 21-33). Routledge.
Atkinson, G., Smith, B., " Singh, D. K. (2016). Emotional Intelligence: What is Your EQ?.
Carson, K. D., Carson, P. P., " Birkenmeier, B. J. (2016). Measuring emotional intelligence: Development and validation of an instrument. Journal of Behavioral and applied Management, 2(1).
Collins, C. S., " Cooper, J. E. (2014). Emotional intelligence and the qualitative researcher. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 13(1), 88-103.
Gill, L. J., Ramsey, P. L., " Leberman, S. I. (2015). A systems approach to developing emotional intelligence using the self-awareness engine of growth model. Systemic Practice and Action Research, 28(6), 575-594.
Joseph, D. L., Jin, J., Newman, D. A., " O'boyle, E. H. (2015). Why does self-reported emotional intelligence predict job performance? A meta-analytic investigation of mixed EI. Journal of Applied Psychology, 100(2), 298.
Mayer, J. D., Caruso, D. R., " Salovey, P. (2016). Measuring Emotional Intelligence: Responses to Schlegel and to Legree, Mullins and Psotka. Emotion Review, 8(4), 304-304.
Miners, C. T., C?t¨¦, S., " Lievens, F. (2018). Assessing the validity of emotional intelligence measures. Emotion Review, 10(1), 87-95.
Murphy, K. R. (2014). A critique of emotional intelligence: what are the problems and how can they be fixed?. Psychology Press.
Ruvalcaba-Romero, N. A., Fern¨¢ndez-Berrocal, P., Salazar-Estrada, J. G., " Gallegos-Guajardo, J. (2017). Positive emotions, self-esteem, interpersonal relationships and social support as mediators between emotional intelligence and life satisfaction. Journal of Behavior, Health " Social Issues, 9(1), 1-6.
Serrat, O. (2017). Understanding and developing emotional intelligence. In Knowledge Solutions (pp. 329-339). Springer, Singapore.
