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Emotional Intelligence and Treating Anxiety Among Girls

What Is The Space Age? - Universe Today

Re-published with permission from Dr. Akira Olsen

The “space age” was a memorable time in the human history. It was the first time man was able to go outside the planet and literarily not only think outside the box; but “go outside the sphere”.

Right now even though the space rush has passed, much of the excitement about space has dwindled, but one question still remains. Is there life outside? Man has not only been looking for signs of life, but also for signs of intelligence.

Two important things, life and intelligence. So, how is life different from intelligence, you may ask. Hear this out.

Life vs Intelligence

A definition of intelligence taken from a combination of dictionaries is the ability to learn, understand and adapt to situations. There is a logical, emotional, cognitive and a host of other aspects to intelligence.

The major thing is that intelligence entails the ability to understand, learn and adapt (apply the knowledge gained accordingly). Intelligence is not necessarily a characteristic of a living thing. As we know the major characteristics of living things are movement, respiration, nutrition, irritability, growth, excretion, reproduction and death.

However, intelligence is not among these characteristics. It can be seen that simple organisms like bacteria and plants don’t show intelligence. At least it is not complex. Some may argue that bacteria may be intelligent because they can adapt to antibiotics. But, they adopt as a result of biochemical reactions and not because of reason.

For example, you don’t need to think about it before you develop immunity to common cold. Intelligence is not just about simply adapting but adapting due to logical reasoning.

The higher the class of living organisms, the more intelligent the organism.

Intelligence cuts across various aspects of our lives. In 1983 a book was written by Howard Gardner. It was called Frames of Mind. This book constitutes what is now called the Theory of Multiple Intelligences. It is now widely accepted in educational contexts.

Gardner first described intelligence as the ability to solve problems or fashion products as a result of cultural settings or community settings.

He defined at least eight distinct but interconnected types of intelligence:

  1. Visual-spatial
  2. Linguistic
  3. Logical-mathematical
  4. Interpersonal
  5. Intrapersonal
  6. Musical
  7. Bodily-kinesthetic
  8. Naturalist intelligence

Although, it met with initial resistance, it is now one of the most widely accepted theories on intelligence.

Most of us should be able to relate with these. I will try not to bore you with the details of all the types of intelligence but we will talk more on the ones relevant for this topic, which is emotional intelligence.

IQ vs EI

We all know about the term “intelligence quotient” also known as IQ. Young girls, especially college students, take an intelligence quotient test from time to time to (test their intelligence). They are asked tricky questions that will require them to apply their knowledge of mathematics and logic to solve those problems. Then their “intelligence” is measured by their ability to solve these mathematical or logical problems.

What Gardner was trying to say is that this concept is flawed. Some people may be intelligent in one area but completely deficient in another.

Our educational system, parents, school teachers and adults in the community majorly recognizes and rewards those teenagers who have logical-mathematical intelligence (academic or scholarly intelligence), but does not recognize other forms of intelligence in millennial and Gen Z girls like visual-spatial (artistic), emotional (interpersonal and intrapersonal), musical intelligence and so on.

The current systems of measuring intelligence is not holistic. An IQ test only measures one aspect of intelligence out of at least 8 aspects which is Logical-Mathematical intelligence. In fact, going with the multiple intelligences theory, what we call IQ test should actually be called Logical-mathematical quotient test (LMQ test), because it only deals with one aspect of intelligence.

I want us to focus more on emotional intelligence which is probably one of the most important forms of intelligence but unfortunately, one of the least recognized.

What is Emotional Intelligence?

The concept of emotional intelligence became popular somewhere around 1995 with the publication of Goleman’s best-seller book titled Emotional Intelligence.

Also known as emotional leadership, emotional intelligence quotient or emotional quotient; is the ability to recognize and understand both your emotions and the emotions of others and use that information to adjust your thinking and behavior.

There are four dimensions to emotional intelligence. They are:

  1. The ability to detect emotions in themselves (intrapersonal intelligence) and others (interpersonal intelligence)
  2. Think about the emotion they detect
  3. Understand the emotions
  4. Use the information to control their own emotions or behaviors

An emotionally intelligent person behaves in a way that improves her/his interpersonal relationships while achieving her/his goals.

It combines at least two of the different types of intelligence — Interpersonal and intrapersonal intelligence. Intrapersonal intelligence has to do with the way you relate to yourself, while interpersonal intelligence has to do with the way you relate to others.

Emotional (interpersonal and intrapersonal) intelligence is regarded to be more important than academic (logical-mathematical) intelligence if you want to be more successful in life.

There is a popular saying that “your attitude determines your altitude”. This does not in any way justify being lazy because in this modern world of technology advancement, millennial girls have to keep in trend.

We also need to be academically intelligent and have to be able to solve logical as well as emotional problems in order to be successful. But, that aside, you have to understand why it is more important to be emotionally intelligent.

Anxiety in Teenage Girls

Teenage girls face a lot of pressure from parents, school teachers, friends and peers. Maybe its more of puberty hormones or cultural differences, but millennial girls sometimes feel the people around them don’t understand them.

Maybe that is why more teenagers are having issues with anxiety, depression and other mental issues. They often try to cope with them using harmful practices which may lead them to phone addiction, substance abuse, or even crime. Some of these things can lower both academic and emotional intelligence.

A study has shown that internet addiction lowers emotional intelligence because excessively introverted people become addicted to the internet as a way to avoid social interactions.

This actually lowers emotional intelligence, academic intelligence and has been linked to increased chance of getting depression, obsessive compulsive disorders, mood disorders, and a host of other mental issues that can lead to marital, financial, academic and social problems.

Studies have also shown that people with high emotional intelligence have lesser tendency to develop mental issues like depression and anxiety. An effective treatment regimen for borderline personality disorder based on improving emotional intelligence was seen to be effective.

There are many other factors that must be considered for the treatment of mental disorders but emotional intelligence development may be of very great help in treating many mental health issues.

The more adults and teachers can pay attention to the emotionally intelligence of Gen Z and college students, the more they help them build more resilience to mental health problems such as anxiety disorders.

Improve your own personal effectiveness by learning the basics of emotional intelligence.

Webinar Recording: Learn the Basics of Emotional Intelligence (How to Manage Your Emotions)

References

Astrid Schultz, PhD and Sophia Nizielski, Dipl Psych. Emotional intelligence as a factor in mental health. Dept. of Psycology, Chemnitz University of Technology, Germany, 2012.

Batool, Syeda Shaluda. “Emotional Intelligence based treatment in Mental illness: a prospective analysis.” Pakistan journal of social sciences, 2011: 251–259.

Hanafin, Joan. “Multiple Intelligences Theory, Action Research, and Teacher Professional Development: The Irish MI Project.” Australian Journal of Teacher Education 39, no. 4 (2014): 126–142.

Hasan Khoshakhlagh and Salar Faramarzi, PhD. “The Relationship of Emotional Intelligence and Mental disorders with Internet Addiction in Internet Users University Students.” Addict Health 4 (2012): 133–141.

Martin-Diaz, Enrique G. Fernandez-Abascal and Maria Dolores. “Dimensions of emotional intelligence related to physical and mental health and to health behaviors.” Front. Psychol.,, March 2015.

Serani, Deborah, The emotional blindness of Alexithymia, SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, April 2014.

The post Emotional Intelligence and Treating Anxiety Among Girls first appeared on Humintell.

YOUR Microexpression Questions Answered

Dr. David Matsumoto, Director of Humintell answers questions from his free microexpressions webinar on February 3, 2022. To watch the replay of the webinar in its entirety, go here.

Please find below a complete list of questions and their timestamps corresponding to the above video:

0:00 Introduction by Dr. Matsumoto

0:31 How do you get better at seeing microexpressions? I know I miss SO much

View all of Humintell’s Microexpression Training here

1:43 What is the role of different cultures on micro-facial expression recognition?

2:55 What would be the most necessary jobs that need this type of training?

4:19 What’s better about reading faces than reading the whole body?

6:34 Sometimes the connection btwn microexpressions and emotions is under discussion. I believe you see a clear connection, is this correct? What is your scientific view on this?

Learn more on emotion appraisals here

9:17 Does the ability to achieve high level of focus play a role in the ability of recognizing microexpressions?

11:52 Why don’t we develop videos as a tool to detect microexpressions? If it’s difficult to detect expressions in videos, why don’t we use artificial intelligence or machine learning techniques to detect facial muscles?

15:48 What do you think about using videos in the training process? Is there any reason why you didn’t want to use videos but used photos instead?

16:40 When I go microexpression training, should I treat it like an athlete training who need to exercise on a regular basis to keep up in shape or will I get to the point where I will be able to recognize microexpressions without the need for training?

17:59 Normally I want a candidate to feel comfortable during a recruitment interview but microexpressions show best during high stakes interactions. Is there a specific technique you recommend when asking behavioral based interview questions to keep the candidate comfortable, but also nervous enough to show a true emotion through microexpressions?

20:23 Are there any competencies (ex. teamwork, conflict, leadership, handling stress) that you recommend targeting during a recruitment interview that may reveal microexpressions more so than others?

22:00 Would you prefer virtual video recording to observe full expressions over interviewing in person while wearing a mask?

23:22 Are there any famous incidents of crimes being prevented through microexpression training reading? I remember Lie to Me talked about the murderer’s face.

24:07 Can you recommend any recent publications on microexpressions?

  1. Background factors predicting accuracy and improvement in micro expression recognition
  2. Scientific Evidence for Training the Ability to Read Microexpressions of Emotion
  3. Judgments of Subtle Facial Expressions of Emotion
  4. Microexpressions Differentiate Truths From Lies About Future Malicious Intent

24:23 Are there any degrees or programs where I can study facial expressions or microexpressions in a university? I haven’t been able to find any.

For more information on how you can earn a certificate in nonverbal communication, go here

26:22 What do you think about the face reading techniques? Like those face readers who read the physiognomy and not muscle movement. 28:16 I have a question regarding CONTEMPT. Some younger people say that they do not see contempt in this way (PFE). In faces of older people they see that expression, in faces of younger people they don’t see contempt in this way. My first thought is that they don’t see the mircroexpressions. Or is it possible that contempt changed a little by generation?

See The Relationship Among Expressions, Labels, and Descriptions of Contempt

The post YOUR Microexpression Questions Answered first appeared on Humintell.

Babies use ‘Saliva Sharing’ to Infer Close Relationships

Baby, Baby With Mom, Mother Kiss

Any parent of young children know that raising kids can be a bit messy, especially when they’re infants. In addition to plenty of kisses, there’s always drool to be wiped, and slobbery feedings.

Recent research has shown that exposure to family members’ saliva, what is known in the academic world as “saliva sharing”, plays a crucial role in how we make sense of the world around us. It helps shape our discernment of social relationships, starting from our first months of life.

The study entitled “Early concepts of intimacy: young humans use saliva sharing to infer close relationships” was led by Ashley Thomas and recently published in the journal Science.

At MIT, Thomas studies how infants recognize different types of social relationships and how they learn about their specific social worlds, how they place themselves into relationships and into larger social groups.

 

Saliva Sharing

As reported in MIT News, In human societies, people typically distinguish between “thick” and “thin” relationships.

Thick relationships, usually found between family members, feature strong levels of attachment, obligation, and mutual responsiveness. Anthropologists have also observed that people in thick relationships are more willing to share bodily fluids such as saliva.

“That inspired both the question of whether infants distinguish between those types of relationships, and whether saliva sharing might be a really good cue they could use to recognize them,” Thomas says.

To study those questions, the researchers observed toddlers (16.5 to 18.5 months) and babies (8.5 to 10

months) as they watched interactions between human actors and puppets. In the first set of experiments, a puppet shared an orange with one actor, then tossed a ball back and forth with a different actor.

After the children watched these initial interactions, the researchers observed the children’s reactions when the puppet showed distress while sitting between the two actors. Based on an earlier study of nonhuman primates, the researchers hypothesized that babies would look first at the person whom they expected to help. That study showed that when baby monkeys cry, other members of the troop look to the baby’s parents, as if expecting them to step in.

The MIT team found that the children were more likely to look toward the actor who had shared food with the puppet, not the one who had shared a toy, when the puppet was in distress.

In future work, the researchers hope to perform similar studies with infants in cultures that have different types of family structures. In adult subjects, they plan to use functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to study what parts of the brain are involved in making saliva-based assessments about social relationships.

Related to Disgust

In a commentary published alongside this new study reported by BT Times, Christine Fawcett of Uppsala University in Sweden notes that the findings not only bring to light what young children understand about the social structures around them, but also raise further questions about how children acquire these expectations and how universal they may be.

She points out that exchanging saliva with a stranger might make individuals feel disgusted, possibly as a method to protect themselves from contamination or disease, but that people will willingly do so with those close to them, even their pets.

According to Fawcett, there may be an evolutionary pressure to suppress disgust with body substances in order to aid in the care of babies, and infants’ experience with this type of caretaking may then lead to a learned expectation that such behavior is connected with closeness.

Various volunteers took part in the series of experiments, but as the study progressed, the researchers recruited a more geographically, ethnically, and economically diverse population. However, all of the participants were from the U.S.

While saliva sharing may be an universal cue, Thomas pointed out that saliva norms and who is considered family vary around the world – and so may what seeing a saliva sharing connection imply.

The post Babies use ‘Saliva Sharing’ to Infer Close Relationships first appeared on Humintell.