EQ actually stands for Emotional Intelligence Quotient.

Much like an intelligence quotient, or

IQ, an EQ is said to be a measure of a person’s emotional intelligence. However, there is much
debate surrounding the legitimacy of a definition of emotional intelligence quotient, primarily
because there is no standard against which it can be measured.

Research on EQ began with Yale psychologist Peter Salovey and John Mayer of the University
of New Hampshire in the late 1980s. EQ is a concept that was further popularized by Daniel
Goleman, another well-respected psychologist, who has written many books on the subject and is
co-chair of The Consortium for Research on Emotional Intelligence in Organizations. While
these and many other psychology experts view EQ as a scientific study of social behavior and
relationships, the actual science behind measuring EQ is often convoluted at best.

The root of the word emotion is the Latin motere, which means “to move”. Intelligence helps us
recognize a range of actions but doesn’t drive us to act; emotion does. Likewise you can get
stuck with your IQ forever, whereas feeling or believing, can get you out of the intellect. A
beautiful mind and a personality lie in feeling the right things at the right time. Unfelt feelings
make us do a say the wrong thing at the wrong time or do nothing at all. Without the self-
knowledge that emotion provides, we do things we later regret, we lack the passion to act quickly
and appropriately based on what’s important to us, and we have no idea how to interact
effectively with others. Our EQ is evident in everything we do and say. An EQ smart person can
easily win himself and win others with ease and this can be achieved by knowing, realizing and
implicating the ‘feel factor’ in our lives. So to live and love life fully, it’s smart to feel. If a fear
of negativity for the ‘feel’ comes in our minds, positive feeling controlling the sentiments can
only get us ahead in our lives. So feel freely with a positive attitude to attain liberation and to
make good things come to life.

Emotions matter and felling is the most powerful resource we have. Emotions are life lines to
self-awareness and self-preservation that deeply connect us to ourselves and others, to nature and
the cosmos. Emotion and intellect are two halves of a whole. The intelligence of the heart is EQ.
EQ is deliberately reminiscent of the standard measure of brainpower, IQ. IQ and EQ are
synergistic resources, without one the other is incomplete and ineffectual .IQ without EQ can get
you an A on a test but won’t get you ahead in life. The messages from our senses – our eyes, our
ears – are first registered by the brain structure most heavily involved in emotional memory-the
amygdala-before moving into the neocortex-the thinking part of the brain. When the parts of our
brains that enable us to feel emotions are damaged, our intellects remain intact. We can still talk,
analyze, perform excellently on IQ tests, and even predict how one should act in social
situations. But under these tragic circumstances we are unable to make decisions in the real
world, to interact successfully with other people and/or to act appropriately, to plan for the
immediate or long term future, to reason or finally to succeed. This suggests that the rational and
emotional parts of the brain depend on each other.

Regardless of the actual scientific basis of measuring EQ, the concept is used in many different
settings. One particularly popular setting that employs attempts at measuring EQ is the corporate
world. Many businesses utilize EQ tests to help their employees determine and measure their
emotional responses to various situations. While most corporate EQ tests are administered on the
basis that a person’s EQ can be modified or increased, there is dispute about whether emotional
intelligence is standard or can be changed.

Currently there are studies being conducted on possible ways that an EQ may affect a person’s
abilities to perform under pressure, resolve conflict, and generally cope with challenges. Of
course those who are not proponents of the concept believe these abilities are simply a matter of
personality, which cannot be measured or modified. Other studies have linked EQ measurements
to communication and other social skills that people either lack or possess.

A person’s EQ can be measured using any one of a number of assessments, including one
developed by the aforementioned Salovey and Mayer. Some assessments utilize self-given
responses while others are peer-given responses. An EQ test may give insight into a person’s
personality and psychological make up, but discovering the true meaning of EQ and its
relationship to and impact on a person’s life and social performance may be years and many
studies away from anything definitive.