Social intelligence involves the ability to successfully build relationships and navigate social environments. Strong relationships improve health while loneliness causes stress and health problems. Social intelligence was first defined by Edward Thorndike as understanding and managing people. It involves skills learned over time rather than being innate. The brain has structures like spindle cells and mirror neurons that help guide social decisions and predict others' behavior. Signs of social intelligence include effective listening, conversation skills, and lack of arguing. Developing it involves paying attention to others, increasing emotional intelligence, and practicing active listening.

1. Social Intelligence
M. Vijayalakshmi
M.Sc., M.Phil. (Life Sciences), M.Ed., M.Phil. (Education),
NET (Education), PGDBI
Assistant Professor (Former),
Sri Ramakrishna Mission Vidyalaya College of Education
(Autonomous),
Coimbatore – 641020.

2. Social Intelligence
• Social Intelligence (SI) is the ability to successfully build relationships
and navigate social environments.
• Strong relationships improve our immune system and help combat disease.
• Loneliness and weak relationships are one of the major sources of stress,
health problems and depression.
• Our relationships affect every area of our lives–from colleagues to spouses
to friends to kids.

3. • The theory of social intelligence was first brought to
the forefront by American psychologist Edward
Thorndike in 1920.
• He defined it as, “The ability to understand and
manage men and women and boys and girls, to act
wisely in human relations.”
• No one is born socially intelligent. Instead, it involves
a set of skills that an individual learns over time.

4. Social Brain
• Goleman argues that we have specific structures in our brain built to
optimize relationships
• A spindle cell is the fastest acting neuron in our brain that guides our social
decisions. Human brains contain more of these spindle cells than any other
species.
• Mirror neurons help us predict the behavior of people around us by
subconsciously mimicking their movements. This helps us feel as they feel,
move as they move.
• When a man gets a look from a woman he finds attractive, his brain secretes
dopamine–a chemical that makes us feel pleasure.

5. Signs of Social Intelligence
 Effective Listening
 Conversational Skills
 Reputation Management
 Lack of Arguing

6. Strategies to Develop Social Intelligence
 Pay close attention to what (and who) is around you.
 Work on increasing your emotional intelligence.
 Respect cultural differences.
 Practice active listening.
 Appreciate the important people in your life.

7. Emotional Intelligence
• Emotional intelligence (EI) refers to the ability to perceive, control, and evaluate
emotions.
• Some researchers suggest that emotional intelligence can be learned and
strengthened, while others claim it's an inborn characteristic.
• The subset of social intelligence that involves the ability to monitor one’s own and
others feelings and emotions, to discriminate among them and to use this
information to guide one’s thinking and actions
• Jack Mayor and Peter Salovey
• The innate potential to feel, use, communicate, recognise, remember, learn from,
mange and understand emotions
• S. Hein

8. Components of Emotional Intelligence
• Emotional Appraisal and Expression of Emotion
• Emotional Facilitation of Thinking
• Understanding and Analysing Emotions employing Emotional
Knowledge
• Regulation of Emotion to Promote Emotional and Intellectual
Growth

9. Components/Skills of Emotional Intelligence
•The ability to perceive emotions.
•The ability to reason with emotions.
•The ability to understand emotions.
•The ability to manage emotions.

10. Components of Emotional Intelligence
• Perceiving emotions: The first step in understanding emotions is to perceive them accurately. In many cases, this might
involve understanding nonverbal signals such as body language and facial expressions.
• Reasoning with emotions: The next step involves using emotions to promote thinking and cognitive activity. Emotions
help prioritize what we pay attention and react to; we respond emotionally to things that garner our attention.
• Understanding emotions: The emotions that we perceive can carry a wide variety of meanings. If someone is
expressing angry emotions, the observer must interpret the cause of the person's anger and what it could mean. For
example, if your boss is acting angry, it might mean that they are dissatisfied with your work, or it could be because they
got a speeding ticket on their way to work that morning or that they've been fighting with their partner.
• Managing emotions: The ability to manage emotions effectively is a crucial part of emotional intelligence and the
highest level. Regulating emotions and responding appropriately as well as responding to the emotions of others are all
important aspects of emotional management.

11. Habits of Emotionally Intelligent
People
1. Emotionally intelligent people pay attention to what
they are feeling.
2. They understand how other people feel.
3. They are able to regulate their emotions.
4. They are motivated.
5. They have great social skills.
6. They are willing and able to discuss feelings with
others.
7. They are able to correctly identify the underlying
causes of their emotions.

12. Being low on emotional intelligence can have a number of
drawbacks, but having a very high level of emotional skills can
also come with challenges.
Research suggests that people with high emotional intelligence may actually be
less creative and innovative.
Highly emotionally intelligent people may have a hard time delivering negative
feedback for fear of hurting other people's feelings.
Research has found that high EQ can sometimes be used for manipulative and
deceptive purposes.

13. How Emotional Intelligence Is Measured
• A number of different assessments have emerged to measure levels of emotional
intelligence.
• The two types are: self-report tests and ability tests.
• Self-report tests are the most common because they are the easiest to administer and
score. On such tests, respondents respond to questions or statements by rating their own
behaviors.
• Ability tests involve having people respond to situations and then assessing their skills.
Such tests often require people to demonstrate their abilities, which are then rated by a
third party.

14.  Emotional and Social Competence Inventory (ESCI) is based on an older
instrument known as the Self-Assessment Questionnaire and involves having
people who know the individual offer ratings of that person’s abilities in several
different emotional competencies. The test is designed to evaluate the social
and emotional abilities that help distinguish people as strong leaders.
 Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT) is an ability-
based test that measures the four branches of Mayer and Salovey's EI model.
Test-takers perform tasks designed to assess their ability to perceive, identify,
understand, and manage emotions.

15. • Emotional intelligence can be used in many different ways in your daily life. Some different ways
to practice emotional intelligence include:
 Being able to accept criticism and responsibility
 Being able to move on after making a mistake
 Being able to say no when you need to
 Being able to share your feelings with others
 Being able to solve problems in ways that work for everyone
 Having empathy for other people
 Having great listening skills
 Knowing why you do the things you do
 Not being judgemental of others

16. Impact of Emotional Intelligence
• Thinking Before Reacting
• Greater Self-Awareness
• Empathy for Others

17. Low Emotional Intelligence
• Low emotional intelligence refers to the inability to accurately perceive emotions (in both yourself
and others) and to use that information to guide your thinking and actions.
• They always have to be 'right'
• They are oblivious to other people's feelings
• They behave insensitively
• They blame others for their problems
• They have poor coping skills
• They have emotional outbursts
• They struggle with relationships
• They turn conversations toward themselves