Recent research suggests that emotional intelligence comes from three main sources. Your innate or inborn personality qualities play an important role in determining how well you relate to others and understand their emotions. Social experiences and lessons learned through social interactions are another key source of EI. And lastly, education and training can help you develop your empathy and other related skills.

Many believe that developing your EQ is a long-term process that requires repeated practice. You’ll probably need all these different strategies to improve your overall level of EI. However, no one method seems to have a significant effect alone!

This article will discuss why being smart about your relationships takes work and what things you can do to strengthen your relational skills. While there isn’t a single “fix” for low levels of EI, reading this may inspire you to put in some effort into improving yours.

Emotional quotient and relationship quality

Your EQ doesn’t just influence how people feel around you — it also plays a big part in how your relationships with them go. For example, someone who has high self-awareness might be able to recognize when something they say makes someone else angry or unhappy. They could try to avoid such comments, which would give off signals to those around them that something wasn’t quite right.

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The environment

There are several theories about what makes someone have high emotional intelligence (EI). Some say it is inherited from parents, while others suggest early experiences play an important role in developing EI. A growing body of research suggests that your childhood environment has a significant impact on how you develop as a person and how well you cope with life stressors and challenges.

Certain environments seem to be more likely to foster growth in emotional skills than other’s. These environments promote relationships that are supportive, respect individuals’ rights, value differences, and focus on helping people feel good about themselves and their place in the world.

It is possible to learn some basic tools for managing emotions, but building upon this skill requires opportunities to do so outside of the home. Programs designed to increase EI often talk about the importance of education and career development, which make sense because both of these things relate to socialization.

However, educational settings and work places can sometimes contribute to feelings of negative self-worth or discrimination due to race, gender, or socioeconomic status. This is particularly true if there are no established policies and practices that support marginalized groups.

There are many ways to reduce mental health risks by promoting healthy relationships, leadership, teamwork, and communication strategies, but ensuring that everyone’s needs are being met and that they feel valued at work will require changes to be made beyond the workplace.

Emotional awareness

A lot of people believe that emotional intelligence is learned through experiences, such as being raised in an environment where you’ve seen emotions displayed frequently.

This theory is sometimes referred to as social-emotional learning or attachment theory. According to this idea, kids who grow up with their parents showing love and affection will learn how to relate and understand emotion.

However, research does not back up this hypothesis. As adults, we all have the same amount of access to emotions – they are just concealed much more often. When we're talking about loved ones, most of us recognize emotions when we see them.

Managing your emotions

A key part of emotional intelligence is being able to manage your own emotions. This can be difficult when you’re experiencing strong emotions, but it's important to understand them so that you don't overreact.

Many people think that being smart means being a calm and collected person, but research shows this isn’t always the case.

In fact, some studies suggest that having more IQ doesn’t necessarily help you deal with stress or negative feelings in any effective way.

Instead, researchers say that it's understanding the role that emotion plays in relationships and in life overall that makes someone feel intelligent.

This may sound strange at first, but there are many things in our lives that require us to feel an intense level of empathy or concern for something before we make decisions about actions and behaviors.