Emotional intelligence is recognizing one’s own emotions and their consequences, as well as understanding how to communicate and cope with the emotions and behaviors of others. It goes beyond mere empathy and teaches people to establish accountability by observing and critically analyzing their own actions.
Emotional intelligence wasn’t always a known—or acknowledged—component of success until 1990 when psychologists John D. Mayer and Peter Salovey published their paper on what would later become a new way of defining intelligence. Not only did the paper introduce the term ‘emotional intelligence’ or EQ to the world, it also led to a new understanding of how our emotional make-up impacts our lives.
According to many experts, having an enhanced capacity to understand one’s own emotions as well as those of others, is a pivotal determinant of success, even arguably more so than a high IQ. This skill is referred to as emotional intelligence (EQ).
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EQuip Our Kids! is a national nonprofit campaign raising awareness about EQ life skills, especially among parents and businesses. Our goal is comprehensive EQ life skills instruction in every preK -12 classroom in the US by 2030.
