Emotional intelligence equally important as IQ

Dr. Marc Brackett, associate research director of the Health, Emotions and Behavior Laboratory of Yale University, arrived in Manila last Tuesday to conduct a landmark symposium on "Life Skills for Your Child: IQ Gets Him Through School, EI Gets Him Through Life."

Presented by Dumex Philippines Inc., Brackett presented an in-depth understanding of "emotional intelligence" (EI), why it matters, its history, and the rationale for it to be considered a "must-develop factor" in every child.

If before, there was focus solely on IQ or intelligence quotient as the key determinant to success, the symposium stressed that emotional intelligence is equally important in generating high-performance levels and effectiveness as proven in numerous case studies worldwide.

Brackett has authored and co-authored numerous publications on the subject (i.e Exploring Personality: Student Activity Handbook, and Emotional Intelligence: Key Readings on the Mayer and Salovey Model).

He supervises and conducts research with a team of postdoctoral fellows, graduate students and research assistants at Yale.

He is a recipient of prestigious awards from various psychology associations in the United States.

His professional affiliations include the American Psychological Association, Society for Personality and Social Psychologists, Association for Research in Personality, International Society for Research and Emotions, and Society for the Teaching of Psychology and Preparing Future Faculty Program.

The core of Brackett’s study on emotional intelligence is that emotions and more importantly, their understanding and management are what lead to a well-rounded and successful individual.

Understanding emotions is the key to emotional intelligence. It is the ability to express a full array of emotions such as anger, joy, disgust, etc., know the causes and the consequences of these emotions and then use them to guide one’s actions.

This sounds easy enough but actually it is quite difficult given that people in general have not been trained to understand their own emotions nor read emotions in others.

This is why Brackett recommends that the best time to start building emotional intelligence is in childhood so that the skill can be carried on throughout life.

Another interesting thing is the different manifestations of people with lower or higher EI. Adults with higher EI show higher empathy and well-being, strong interpersonal relationships, higher satisfaction at work (or school), increased academic achievement and hold leadership positions at the workplace.

Children with higher EI possess strong social and leadership skills, better adjustment to school, increased academic achievement, and higher standardized test scores.

As a key sponsor of the symposium, Dumex Philippines said it is upholding its vision to build better people. Its Dugro milk brand has been in the ASEAN region for more than 50 years and has helped nourish over 25 million babies.

The symposium is part of its commitment to provide the latest innovation in child development.

The proceeds of the symposium will go to the supplemental milk-feeding program of 100 children of the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s KBF Day Care Center.