The purpose of this study is to characterize Emotional Intelligence through perceptions of others. When a person can know his or her emotions, they have skills to help build better relationship with others and are less likely to behave aggressively. When there is less awareness on one’s own personal emotions, he or she may have difficulty displaying empathy and are more likely to act out aggression. The present theory shows aggression and empathy as two sides of the same coin by displaying how they interact with emotional intelligence to influence behavior. The final goal of this theory is to show that emotional intelligence can be built on through empathy.
Emotional Intelligence (EI) is described in two contexts: Trait Emotional Intelligence (TEI) which characterizes emotion-related self-perceptions and Ability Emotional Intelligence (AEI) which characterizes measurable abilities related to processing emotion. Individuals with high emotional intelligence have a better perception and regulation of their emotions (García‐Sancho, Dhont, Salguero, & Fernández‐Berrocal, 2017). I see emotional intelligence as a personal buffer of which emotions to expressed based on the concepts of perception and regulation of emotion. The regulation of emotion allows an individual to behave in an appropriate manner according to their own emotions. This means that one can set their emotions aside and behave in a healthy, acceptable manner.
In truth, EI allows the ability to set emotions aside allow a person to set aside their negative emotions and act in a nonaggressive manner. It also describes the ability to define and explain emotions and allows objectivity when looking at one’s own behavior. This awareness allows for true empathy to be expressed because no judgement is passed when interpreting another individual’s behavior. The interaction of perception and regulation allows for individual with high emotional intelligence to act out in a more empathetic manner rather than an aggressive one.
Aggression has been divided into three types: physical aggression, verbal aggression, and indirect aggression. AEI demonstrates a negative association between both physical and indirect aggression (García‐Sancho, Dhont, Salguero & Fernández‐Berrocal, 2017). Aggression is unregulated negative emotions controlling the behavior of a person. Those with a high AEI are better able to regulate their emotions and find nonaggressive ways to express themselves. This is because individuals with high AEI can manipulate their own emotions in a way that better suites the situation and rational thought.
However, those who have lower AEI do not have the ability to manipulate their emotions, and their emotions filter a situation to be read in an aggressive manner. High neuroticism and low agreeableness are both associated with high levels of aggression. Those with high AEI are less likely to express aggressive behaviors. (García‐Sancho, Dhont, Salguero, & Fernández‐Berrocal, 2017). These individuals typically have a negative worldview and overall mindset. This allows assess to negative emotions but offers no regulation of them. Those with lower EI would choose to express in a more aggressive manner, and those with higher EI would choose to express in a more empathetic manner. Individuals with higher EI are less likely to have a negative affect which would put a negative bias on their perceptions of other individuals. (Megías, Gómez-Leal, Gutiérrez-Cobo, Cabello & Fernández-Berrocal, 2018). I believe it is this emotional management that allows for control over aggression. EI allows for regulation through perception. Individuals with high EI have a better perception of their own emotion and can better identify where their negative emotions are coming from. It is due to this it allows them to see through their own negative emotions and express in a nonaggressive way.
Negative emotions influence aggression. High neuroticism is characterized by anxiety, frustration, and other negative emotions. This allows for a stronger accessibly to anger which would lead to aggressive expressions. Anger has demonstrated a stronger significant relationship with physical aggression in individuals with lower AEI than those individuals with high AEI. It has also shown a significant, but weaker, relationship with verbal and indirection aggression. Anger has also demonstrated indirect associations between neuroticism and all types of aggression. Meaning those with high neuroticism are more likely to act aggressively rather than those with lower scores in neuroticism. Anger also had a negative indirect effect on agreeableness in relation to aggressiveness meaning those with lower agreeableness were more likely to act aggressively. High AEI acts as a filter diluting the effects of anger on aggression (García‐Sancho, Dhont, Salguero, & Fernández‐Berrocal, 2017). These negative emotions lead to anger. It is the inability to regulate these negative emotions that allows anger to control behavior and leads to an aggressive act. High AEI allows an objective view of anger and allows individuals to choose a nonaggressive behavior rather than and aggressive act.
Empathy is the main factor in emotional intelligence. Empathy is the ability to relate to others on a variety of emotional levels. Empathy is based on an individual’s own self-awareness (Ioannidou & Konstantikaki, 2008). Empathy can be described as the comprehension of other individual’s emotional state. Individuals who lack empathy typically show stunted emotional responses. Higher empathy also leads to a higher rate of guilt expressed about an aggressive act. Due to this guilt those individuals are less likely to display aggressive behavior (Stanger, Kavussanu & Ring, 2012). Empathy is truly the use of emotional intelligence in action. The ability to set your own perceptions aside and to have control over your own emotions is how true empathy can be reached.
Emotional intelligence allows a person to identify and regulate their own negative emotions. When able to set the negative perception given by their own emotions aside, individuals can choose not to act out in aggression, but rather in an empathetic manner. Guilt is internal aggression stemming from the unwillingness to harm someone. When empathy is high, a greater understanding of other’s is reached, the less likely one will want to act out aggressively.
So, when and individual acts aggressively guilt comes as a pain from harming someone. Individuals with high EI can perceive what they are feeling as guilt, interpret that it came from harming someone, and act in a nonaggressive manner. Individuals with low EI have difficulty defining guilt only to interpret it as a negative emotion because they have lower empathy and cannot perceive them harm done to others. Because of this negative emotion that cannot be defined, those with low EI are more likely to act aggressively in a continuous cycle.
EI allows a person to look past themselves and see from other’s perspectives. I propose EI can be view on a construct between aggression and empathy. When looking at aggression through the theoretical lens of a constellation of negative emotions.
