Emotionally intelligent people recognize, understand, and manage their emotions.
At the same time, they understand the emotions of those around them — giving them both the upper hand and a unique set of issues.
Here are 4 distinct problems emotionally intelligent people have in life that others will never understand:
1. They feel responsibility for other people’s emotions
Those with high emotional intelligence or EQ are incredibly aware of other people’s emotions. They tend to feel a sense of obligation to ensure that everyone around them feels content when, in reality, it’s not their responsibility to mediate others’ feelings.
This same care is rarely given to the emotionally intelligent person because most others are incapable of this level of understanding.
According to Scientific Americanwhile emotional intelligence can be useful, it can also be damaging. Don’t fall into the trap of assuming responsibility for how others feel. Don’t confuse other people’s stress, anger, or sadness as your own.
2. They often strive for perfectionism
Several traits of those with high emotional intelligence — setting high standards for oneself, high levels of motivation, and extreme self-control — overlap with those of perfectionists.
The Harvard Business Review also noted that people with high emotional intelligence tend to struggle with negative feedback and are so risk-averse that they engage in counterproductive perfectionism.
3. They tend to be underappreciated in the workplace
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Often, corporate jobs focus solely on productivity and numbers. Although emotional intelligence is an important skill, it tends to be underrated on the job.
In fact, in 2018, one in four employers felt that emotional intelligence was undervalued during the recruiting and hiring process.
The truth is that emotional intelligence is incredibly beneficial in the workplace. The self-awareness, social skills, motivation, empathy, and ability to self-regulate that those with high EQ possess make for a superb employee and leader. They are primed to excel in conflict management and decision-making.
4. They may be tempted to manipulate others.
Their high levels of empathy, social awareness, and ability to read others can be used for good or evil.
The Harvard Business Review explained that those with high EQ can deliver a message perfectly tailored to their audience. However, they can easily take this too far and veer into manipulation territory.
“It can slide from influencing others to engaging in tactics of manipulation,” they wrote. “We tend to regard EQ as a positive trait, but it can be used to achieve unethical goals as well as ethical ones.”
Sahlah Syeda is a writer for YourTango who covers entertainment, news, and human interest topics.
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