Following my recent foray into the study of Emotional Intelligence (EI), I have become acutely aware of circumstances when low EI is demonstrated. Earlier this week, a friend on Twitter shared an article highlighting a college student who was fired from an internship who reacted with verbal threats and by kicking in a glass door. The angry response demonstrated in this situation could be defined as a symptom of low Stress Management ability, one of the scales of EI.
Stress management, or the controlling of one's emotions and impulses and adapting to changing circumstances, is comprised of two sub-scales, stress tolerance and impulse control. In the situation of the intern, the violent and threatening response to a firing situation may demonstrate a lack of ability to cope with daily stressors and confrontation. Awareness of one's Stress Management ability, or lack thereof, is essential in understanding EI.
Regardless of the circumstance, my hope is that college students who find themselves fired from an internship can learn from this incident and find more positive methods of facing the situation.
No comments:
Post a Comment