Emotional Intelligence Instruments

Reflect on what you learned about the concept of emotional intelligence based on what
you read in your textbook and online. Based on your results with the EI tools, what would
you consider to be your strengths and weaknesses with respect to emotional
intelligence? Discuss the concept with a loved one, friend, or trusted colleague. What are
their perceptions with respect to your self-appraisal?

Your Answer:

Emotional intelligence is such a complex and multi-faceted concept. Even though it boils
down to being aware of your own emotions and how those emotions affect others around
you, there is so much more to it than that. Being constantly cognizant of how you feel
and how you are displaying that to others is taxing and it’s not something you are going
to accomplish every second of every day. There are going to be moments where your
brain needs a moment of reprieve, and in those moments, that is when you lose sight of
how you are affecting those around you.

After taking the quiz on emotional intelligence, the result said that I had high emotional
intelligence. I have never tried to quantitatively evaluate my level of emotional
intelligence before, so this is a completely new measurement for me. Since having
finished high school almost ten years ago, I have noticed myself gradually gaining a
better understanding of my own emotions and how my resulting behaviors have affected
those around me. I have found myself in many situations that are uncomfortable
because I had moments when I wasn’t aware of my behavior and how my emotions were
affecting people in the same room, and this has forced me to become more aware of how
I behave in social situations.

In regards to the questions that the quiz asked of me, I would say that my two strongest
areas of emotional intelligence are having a sense of humor and listening without
jumping to judgment. I am always finding ways to make someone laugh or feel more at
ease because I think it means a lot to someone, especially those that I work with, to feel
comfortable around me. Making someone laugh is such a good way to build a
relationship with them and I use it to my advantage all the time. I also pride myself on
being able to listen to what someone has to say without immediately casting judgment.
Acting as a sounding board for others to freely discuss how they feel is such a crucial
part of being present for others and supporting them through their emotions, whether
good or bad. When I asked my roommate what she thought of my results, she said she
almost completely agreed. We utilize one another on a daily basis to get a good laugh at
the end of the day or to talk about anything that may be causing us stress. This strong
relationship with her has allowed me to become more emotionally intelligent and I
thought this activity was a perfect piece to share with her, as it is something we have
discussed in the past.

Radical Experiment in Empathy

What did you think of the "Radical Experiment in Empathy" video? Were you able to “step
outside of your thoughts and behavioral patterns” and reserve a part of your mental
capacity to “listen” to and monitor your internal reactions as a means of gaining a deeper
insight into the nature of yourself? What’s your perspective on this notion of “self-
awareness” in the present moment as a tool to learn more about yourself? Was this
“radical experiment” an effective one in terms of helping you understand the concept of
empathy?

Make some connections between the “Radical Experiment in Empathy” TED Talk and the
ideas you have been reading and learning about this week. Be sure to describe your
connections carefully and use in-text cites as applicable.

Your Answer:

The “Radical Experiment in Empathy” video is one of the more moving TED Talks I have
experienced. It isn’t easy for someone to be able to pull such raw emotion out of an
audience, but I think Sam Richards did an incredible job of being meaningful and concise
in his presentation that he succeeded in connecting with them and me. I think I was able
to do a moderate job of removing myself from my general thought process to allow
myself to reflect on the emotions I was experiencing. As someone that is constantly self-
managing my outward emotion, it was difficult for me to take a step back and just let my
emotions run their course while watching this video. However, that is essentially what
empathy is – being able to connect with someone else by allowing your emotions to flow
freely and attempt to feel what they are feeling to at least some degree. Empathy can be
incredibly powerful in this sense and is an especially strong motivator for me to support
those around me when I know that they are experiencing negative emotions.

Being self-aware is a crucial part of your own human experience. Self-awareness is

going to dictate how you view your own emotions and determine how you behave
accordingly. This was such a different experience for me since I normally try to
empathize with people I am physically interacting with, not people in a video. Trying to
emotionally connect with people by means of a video felt bizarre at first, but it resulted
in the same outcome, I felt their pain, their sorrow, their grief. When this happens with
someone I am physically interacting with, I do my best to manage the relationship by
not jumping to conclusions and keeping composure. In doing so, I build trust with that
person and work toward supporting them and in turn building our relationship. In this
case, there was no person to connect within the moment, and I was left to experience a
part of their emotions on my own. To me, this is so much more difficult because you
don’t have any way to connect with someone who is simultaneously feeling similar
emotions. It forced me to have to put myself at ease and remember that these feelings
are changing my perspective and giving me a small glimpse of someone else’s life. In
recognizing this, I would say that this experiment was a success for me, as I have at
least mildly connected with the emotions that the video was trying to project.