Social intelligence: A legitimized explanation
Social intelligence is the key to a successful profession and goals of life. Intelligence quotient or IQ is the human brainchild. Genetics plays an important role. On the other hand, social intelligence (SI) is primarily taught at great length. SI progresses from people’s experience and learning from social environments’ success and failures. The term common sense, street smarts, or tact are more regularly deduced topics. Do people possess a high degree of social intelligence?
Most people are thinking of IQ-like book smarts. But social intelligence or SI is a major part of the achievement. This question is usually answered by referring to IQ, test results and school grades. Real intelligence refers to both smartbooks and street smarts. Dr. Daniel Goleman’s book on social Intelligence titled New Science of Human Relationships brings forth some fabulous social intelligence scientific reasoning.
The strength to build relationships and manage social situations is termed as social intelligence (SI). Society places immense importance on book smarts and Intelligence, but relationships have a much greater impact on human lives. The contents hereunder aptly justify that your social smarts are much more prominent than book smarts. Also, it is worth the time and effort to develop healthy social relationships. Positive relationships strengthen the immune system and also empower to fight physical deficiencies. One of the main sources of mental stress, health issues and depression is isolation and fragmented relationships. Human relationships affect every aspect of lives ranging from co-workers to partners to colleagues to kids.
People are wired to connect. Goleman suggests that in order to improve relationships, people have different frameworks in their brains. A spindle cell is a brain’s fastest-acting neuron that directs our social choices. Human brains carry in excess of any other species of these spindle cells. Mirror neurons help anticipate individual behavior around by emulating their movements subliminally. Behind individual words, there are so many activities buzzing around. When people chat, micro-expressions, speech gestures, intonations, and pheromones take place in brains. People with high SI are more aware of their discussions about protocols. Goleman points out two things viz., social awareness, and social facility.
Social awareness is the art of responding with primal empathy that accounts for visualizing the emotions, attunement is all about listening with full observance, empathic precision is acknowledging the thoughts and beliefs, and social cognition refers to the recognition of the social strata and managing a network of relationships.
Social facility relates to learning how to communicate comfortably and efficiently, and it consists of elements such as synchrony that denotes communicating seamlessly, self-presentation, which is knowing how to encounter the problems, influence is regarding the shaping the result of social relationships and concern that is meant to take care of the needs of others.
One may continue with the knowledge of society. Individuals and locations produce different feelings, and this influences the human ability to relate. One may also think about an encounter that has made people feel happy and energetic. People can Just recall a time when after an encounter they feel exhausted and defeated. Goleman offers a hypothesis about how the human brain is operating on social relationships.
The Low Road is the approach one treats relationships instinctively and emotionally. It’s how they understand language and actions, gestures, and then articulate people’s gut feelings. The High Road is a portion of an interaction that is the rational, critical human thinking. People use the high road to talk, narrate stories, and connect with each other.
Why do these things matter? Individual gut feelings and impulses are driven by the Low Road ingredient. To illustrate further, if people haven’t participated in birthday parties during adolescence, the host might feel a tinge of insecurity when thinking about anther birthday gathering as an adult, even if the individual has got more than enough friends attending. The High Road reveals that the individual has become an adult and things have improved, but the Low Road is still causing him social stress. These are the social issues to be specific. To assist one go for choices about relationships, he should be mindful of the implicit social triggers. Understanding the social triggers of the Low Road improves the role of High Road approach. These are the types of social interactions one is afraid of. Also, one might feel uncomfortable with someone’s company. There will be a possibility of a lack of self-assurance.
Everyone requires space and a spot to recover, whether he is a positive extrovert or a silent introvert. Goleman proposes a secure base. It’s a location, practice, or behavior that allows him to process emotions and events. For two main reasons, a stable foundation is essential. First, before communications, it provides people with a place to recover, so they don’t get burned out. Secondly, it allows them to process through social experience and learns from it. One can boost social intelligence if he makes it his priority.
A lack of empathy is one of the biggest traps in social intelligence. Goleman is pointing out these broken bonds. Philosopher Martin Buber struck the idea of the I-It relationship that occurs when one person another as an object rather than a human being. When somebody smiles at others it’s difficult not to smile back. The same is true of other facial expressions. If a friend gets upset and starts tearing up, one’s own eyes often get moist. What is the logic behind it? These are common mirror neurons in action and part of human reaction to the low road. That’s why Debbie Downer takes people down with all – the scowl and human subconscious unwittingly copies that make all feel sad alongside Debbie.
Would you like to read more about this topic? This book might interest you: Social Intelligence.