Emotional Intelligence Cheat Sheet
The core ideas of Emotional Intelligence distilled into a single, scannable reference — perfect for review or quick lookup.
Quick Reference
Self-Awareness
The foundational EQ competency involving the ability to recognize and understand your own emotions, strengths, weaknesses, values, and motivations, and to understand how they affect others.
Self-Regulation
The ability to control or redirect disruptive impulses and moods, and the propensity to suspend judgment and think before acting. It includes managing emotional reactions to maintain composure under pressure.
Empathy
The ability to understand and share the feelings of another person by recognizing their emotional state, taking their perspective, and responding with appropriate care and concern.
Social Skills
The proficiency in managing relationships and building networks. It includes the ability to find common ground, build rapport, communicate clearly, inspire and influence others, and manage conflict.
Intrinsic Motivation
A passion to work for internal reasons beyond money or status, characterized by a strong drive to achieve, optimism even in the face of failure, and organizational commitment driven by purpose.
Emotional Hijacking (Amygdala Hijack)
A term coined by Daniel Goleman describing when the amygdala triggers an intense emotional response before the rational prefrontal cortex can process the situation, leading to impulsive reactions disproportionate to the stimulus.
Emotional Literacy
The ability to identify, name, and articulate specific emotions with precision and nuance, moving beyond basic labels like 'good' or 'bad' to distinguish between emotions like frustration, disappointment, and resentment.
Social-Emotional Learning (SEL)
An educational framework through which children and adults acquire and apply knowledge, skills, and attitudes to develop healthy identities, manage emotions, achieve goals, feel and show empathy, maintain relationships, and make responsible decisions.
Psychological Safety
A shared belief held by members of a team that the group is safe for interpersonal risk-taking, such as speaking up with ideas, questions, concerns, or mistakes without fear of punishment or humiliation.
Emotional Contagion
The phenomenon in which one person's emotions and related behaviors directly trigger similar emotions and behaviors in others, spreading through groups in a process that is often unconscious and automatic.
Key Terms at a Glance
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