Emotional intelligence (also referred to as EQ-emotional quotient) is an essential skill linked to success in life, both in close relationships and in workplace settings that require interpersonal interactions. Now more than ever, the effective teaching of emotional intelligence requires intentional engagement from parents.
5 Components of Emotional Intelligence
There are 5 often-cited elements of emotional intelligence. As these skills grow and develop, emotional intelligence will increase.
- Self-Awareness-The ability to recognize what your emotions are and why you feel them.
- Self-Regulation-The ability to manage emotions effectively and remain in control of them, rather than allowing them to control you.
- Motivation-The drive and desire to improve skills (in this case, emotional intelligence and the capacity to respond effectively to emotions), as well as resilience when it doesn’t always come easily.
- Empathy– Empathy is the ability to understand what others are feeling and respond appropriately.
- Social Skills-High emotional intelligence and strong social skills go hand in hand. Social skills involve the ability to interact and deal with others in a positive and effective manner, an awareness of the emotions and needs of others, and an understanding of how to effectively communicate with them.
The Role of Emotion Coaching
Emotion coaching is a great way to encourage emotional intelligence in children. Emotion coaching centers on effectively supporting and working through emotions and developing coping and problem-solving skills. That said, emotion coaching is not permissible of all behaviours; all emotions are accepted and worked through, but harmful or negative behaviours can be clearly communicated as unacceptable.
As with many things, starting emotion coaching at a young age (even before the age of 1) will have the best results, but starting at any point (even with adult children) is also beneficial!
Teaching emotional intelligence to children first requires that the parent model feeling and working through emotions in positive and constructive ways. Children will see and notice this, which can benefit their development of these skills.
Other Resources
To learn more about emotion coaching, check out this blog post from Parenting Place.
If you are looking for more information on emotional intelligence, these articles by VeryWell Mind and ICAEW are both helpful in breaking down this concept.
For more on the link between emotional intelligence and parenting, take a read of this article by the Gottman Institute.