Distinctions: EQ v. IQ
By Susan Dunn, MA
DEFINITIONS
EQ - is a measure of your emotional intelligence, or your ability to use both your emotions and cognitive skills in your life. Emotional intelligence competencies include but are not limited to empathy, intuition, creativity, flexibility, resilience, coping, stress management, leadership, integrity, authenticity, intrapersonal skills and interpersonal skills.
IQ - a number used to express the apparent relative intelligence of a person that is the ratio multiplied by 100 of the mental age as reported on a standardized test to the chronological age. IQ is the measure of cognitive abilities, such as the ability to learn or understand or to deal with new situations; the skilled use of reason; the ability to apply knowledge to manipulate one's environment or to think abstractly as measured by objective criteria (as tests); mental acuteness; logic and analytical skills.
COMPARISONS
EQ gets you through life vs. IQ gets you through school
Appealing to reason and emotions to convince someone vs. Trying to convince someone by facts alone
Using your emotions as well as your cognitive abilities to function more effectively vs. Relying solely on your cognitive skills
EXAMPLE
Samuel had a high IQ. He could reason, was analytical and logical, and had a steel-trap focus on tasks. He learned new things quickly. However, he ignored how he was feeling and how others were feeling. If things didn't do the way he expected them to, he would lose his temper and lash out at others. He was unable to relate to people who weren't as smart as he was and lacked empathy. This limited his ability to be effective in team situations even though his IQ was very high.
Jose had a high EQ. He got along well with people, and managed his own emotions well. This made him highly effective in his work, even though there were others in the firm with higher IQs. Jose was able to consider the emotional component of interactions, using both his cognitive abilities and his understanding of emotions. He was able to influence and motivate people because he understood what mattered to them and was an excellent communicator. His authenticity and integrity made him a natural leader. He was flexible and creative when faced with a challenge, and resilient in the face of temporary defeats. He was well-liked and well-respected.
KEY POINT
Your EQ has more to do with your success and happiness in life than your IQ and emotional intelligence can be learned.
RELATED DISTINCTIONS
Knowing how and why vs. Knowing what
Knowing how to motivate each person vs. Treating everying as if they operated the same way which they don't
Managing emotions and using them for good results vs. Being at the mercy of emotions because you don't understand them or know how to work with them.
BENEFITS
When you recognize the difference between EQ and IQ, you can work to develop your EQ. It can be learned but has often been neglected in our education both at home and at school.
Ah thank you tall Penguin! Being that I am not of the IQ class....I did not even know there was an EQ factor. lol
I like what this has to say. Now I guess I need to go and spend some time reading about EQ. Perhaps raise my IQ.
I have a brother who is amazingly smart....yet he shrinks from a hug. I have never seen him just cut loose and dance or be silly. Emotion escapes him and yet he is the fastest moving and money making person I have met due to his intelligence level. I have noticed when something is emotional it seems as if he feels it at a level that will break him. As if addressing emotions is out of his reach. I have often wondered why is it so hard for him to feel.
