The Link Between Emotional Intelligence and Critical Thinking

Today’s society is becoming more complex and difficult. With this in mind, why not improve your critical thinking skills and begin making smarter decisions?

What comes to mind first when you hear the phrase critical thinking? This talent is most likely associated with observation, analysis, judgment, reflection, and questioning. Indeed, it is frequently associated with the more analytical and rational, rather than the emotive or emotional intelligence world.

However, applying critical thinking would be incredibly difficult if you didn’t also appropriately cope with your complex emotional universe. Having saying that, this could be your most difficult challenge. Furthermore, it explains some of today’s societal misery, as far too many individuals live frantic and hyperconnected lifestyles.

In truth, the constant pressure of the environment, as well as being surrounded by stimuli, means you have difficulties with emotional regulation. You are dominated by immediacy. However, in this difficult situation, your mind wanders, your focus scatters, and it’s nearly impossible to think critically when stress and anxiety are filtering everything around you.

For this reason, it’s important to work on the following two pillars of well-being and human potential: emotional intelligence and critical thinking.

The link between emotional intelligence and critical thinking

Critical thinking is a more structured method of reasoning. It emphasizes analysis, active evaluation, and reflection on the information received. It is, without a doubt, a very scientific approach. As a result, it’s customary to assume that this highly advanced cognitive process is devoid of emotional components.

When assessing your reality, it is unavoidable that you switch off your emotions. In fact, you can disable all of your cognitive biases. You must, however, be mindful of the influence of critical thinking and emotional intelligence on your way of thinking. You must also understand how to control them. That is critically crucial.

A study conducted by the University of Florida (USA) claims that critical thinking facilitates and promotes a more rational and balanced emotional life. Furthermore, these two dimensions orchestrate good leadership.

In effect, emotional intelligence and critical thinking feed each other. So much so that, by working on one, you lay the foundations for the development of the other. Let’s find out why.

1. Self-awareness: controlled emotions and thoughts

Emotional intelligence gives you a powerful tool: emotional self-awareness. This competency allows you to better comprehend and control your internal states. Individuals with impairments in this are think and behave impulsively, as a result of tough emotions that aren’t regulated.

As a result, someone who isn’t very excellent at understanding their own state of mind will struggle to apply productive thinking. It could be due to an underlying anxiety that entirely influences their decisions. For this reason, Daniel Goleman identified emotional self-awareness as the cornerstone of emotional intelligence.

2. Self-regulation in order to control impulsive thoughts

One of the biggest enemies of critical thinking is impulsiveness. Thinking fast, as Daniel Kahneman would put it, or on autopilot, prevents you from carrying out all those processes that simplify being able to execute a more critical and analytical approach. Indeed, it’s difficult to reflect, meditate, or compare information when your mind skips through the steps and you get carried away by haste and action-reaction.

Self-regulation ties emotional intelligence and critical thinking together directly. Making contact with your emotions beforehand to understand and control them is crucial if you want to avoid letting them control your actions.

After all, when you’re not frustrated, you think much better. When tension or fury aren’t clouding your judgment, you can examine information or a situation more effectively.

3. Critical thinking and social skills

Have you ever wondered how empathy and good emotional communication influence critical thinking? In reality, they’re extraordinarily useful for personal development. Emotional intelligence and critical thinking are linked via social skills.

You gain more knowledge for critical thinking if you listen to people in an open, compassionate manner and communicate well. It entails having more variables to consider. It entails cultivating an open and flexible mind that considers information that contradicts your ideas.

4. Motivation for solving problems

When making a rational decision, you will always feel a certain set of emotions. These are positive valence psychophysiological states. You also express them through another emotional intelligence standout: motivation.

Curiosity, drive, confidence, and inspiration fuel motivated activity. Excluding these incredibly intense states would utterly obstruct your ability to solve problems and make decisions. To think critically, you need a motivated mind that is capable of efficiently regulating your negative emotional states and thinking.

Emotional intelligence and critical thinking are like a two-way bridge and each process uses self-motivation as gear. Thanks to this dimension, you focus your attention on what’s most important, without distractions. In addition, it’s a decisive element that appeases frustration and facilitates agile and dynamic thinking.

Conclusion

We need to become considerably more literate in these two life and well-being skills as a society. In reality, emotional intelligence and critical thinking are two elements that should be included in every child’s and adolescent’s school curriculum.

Indeed, understanding our own emotions, managing them, and thinking critically helps our overall psychological well-being and psychosocial growth. After all, in an increasingly chaotic world controlled by social media, fake news, image tyranny, and oversupply, we need critical tools to navigate our daily lives.

Fortunately, it is never too late to develop these unique psychic abilities. Why not begin today?

Thanks for reading. I hope you like the article.

Source: https://exploringyourmind.com