Emotional Well-Being Part 2

During a recent interview, this professor remained publicly neutral on his personal views regarding Donald J. Trump. He was reported as saying, “I hope I last long enough to write this one up.” Unfortunately, the professor died at 88 years of age on December 3 at his home in Princeton, New Jersey.

Addendum

Briefly, Emotional Intelligence, [E I] was coined in the 1960s and became more popular in the 1990s. An EI definition “the ability to monitor one’s own and other people’s emotions, to discriminate between different emotions and label them appropriately, and use emotional information to guide thinking and behavior.” Subsequent research found that EI was positively correlated with: “1. Better social relations for children. 2. Better social relations for adults. 3. Highly EI individuals are perceived more positively by others. 4. Better family and intimate relationships. 5. Better academic achievement. 6. Better social relations during work performance and in negotiations. 7. Better psychological well-being. 8. Allows for self-compassion.”

Other researchers have been critical of the term. Arguments against the term: “1. it cannot be recognized as a form of intelligence. 2. Confuses skills with moral qualities. 3. Has little predictive value.” 4. It measures a number of other psychological constructs like personality ,empathy and general intelligence. However, the idea that one can become more conscious, coupled with the ability to label their emotions or feelings is valuable. The idea that being able to understand emotions of others as in empathy is important. The idea that emotions interfere with rational thinking is also relevant, imploring examples related to politics, marriage and religion.

In essence, I found that in my professional and personal experience, most people have great difficulty labeling and mistaking their own emotions buy being unable to distinguish a thought from a feeling. Further, anxiety and anger easily surface and impede, like a barrier with rational thought. Socrates and Plato were cognizant of the importance and power `of “Know thyself” a long time ago. Let’s refer to it as emotional well-being.