Emotional Intelligence In Western Culture

Measuring intelligence has been a fascination for many cultures for a long time. Intelligence, once was only measured by what a person knew or how a person could adeptly understand abstract concepts. Some cultures, book knowledge as it were became one of the only areas that allowed people to gain access to certain jobs. The Chinese had tests that basically placed people in government positions solely based on the performance on the tests themselves. Previously in Chinese culture it was who you knew and how a person could ingratiate themselves into high positions. Western culture, it seems has been a mixture of both, the latter is what is now seen as emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence can be described in certain ways as how people …show more content…
Within school settings the scores on standardized tests are still seen as strong predictors of success yet just because someone scores highly in cognitive intelligence does not necessarily mean they will be successful later on. Although, another area that hampers emotional intelligence is when someone is unduly anxious, they can be cognitively capable yet present themselves as being less capable when in emotional situations showing a lack in coping strategies in maintaining emotional control (Fiori, 2015). School can be a highly stressful area for children and young adults since they require skills in cognitive areas, yet also skills in socialization and coping skills to effectively transmit the inherent cognitive abilities that they possess. The abilities to interact with peers and teachers assist those who may not compare cognitively and hamper those who have the ability yet lack emotional coping skills. Also negotiation skills tend to be an area that can predict better adaptation in social areas and further success in …show more content…
Negotiation has been marked as an emotion laden area and that if someone is able to show positive emotionality that they will be viewed more positively and those with whom the person is negotiating will view them more positively and be more willing to assist the individual again (Kim et al., 2014). From elementary school to secondary schools participation and group activities are used in many areas for learning. Teachers use group activities for young school aged children due to the number of students they are teaching as well as aiming towards cooperation, but they expect the children to be readily able to cooperate in a group format. Young children are still learning about social behaviors and some may have more difficulty due to a lack in social interactions prior to school and require more assistance which may be due to a low emotional intelligence. Schools still demand academic achievement above other areas, but some use social and emotional learning to see if it is able to assist those who may be low in emotional intelligence so that they can more easily work academically with peers and have fewer conduct problems (Raimundo et al., 2013). Research concerning schools that have used a social emotional program have seen a gender difference in the gains that the program instills in students showing that boys gained more