How old comes the peak of emotional intelligence

There are many approaches that are based on various studies to improve the human emotional qualities, and science says those who believe that the need of improving them, that it's real. Recently, American psychologists have confirmed experimentally that the emotional qualities are not at the same level throughout a person's life, and improve with experience.

In this increasingly complex and technology-saturated world, where solutions to complex problems often requires the cooperation and chores take the car, emotional intelligence has become increasingly important quality. What do those who are concerned about his emotional intelligence is not high enough?

There are many approaches that are based on various studies to improve the human emotional qualities, and science says those who believe that the need of improvement of these qualities that it's real. But if you feel the decline of emotional forces, there is another way to increase your EQ - just wait for some time.

Of course, this is not the fastest method to be more receptive and responsive in relation to the emotions of other people, but, according to recent studies, it is possible, it is quite a reasonable choice.

The study, conducted by a team of scientists from the University of California, Berkeley, suggests that the level of emotional intelligence, as a rule, has grown steadily over the whole of human life, peaking in middle age, about 60 years old.

The bones become more fragile and emotional qualities are gaining maximum strength

Do not need no scientific studies to prove that many of the qualities of our body become worse as we age: his knees begin to creak, sight loses its former sharpness, memory sometimes fails. However, according to the psychologist from the University of California at Berkeley, Robert Levenson at least one ability with age only gaining strength - emotional intelligence EQ.

To determine the age of peak emotional intelligence, a group of researchers led by Levenson conducted an experiment with 144 participants aged 20 to 60 years who were asked to see a series of videos designed to evoke different emotions, such as disgust and sadness. Then these volunteers were asked to manipulate their emotional state in response to the demonstration heinous or harrowing video, that is, either to remain indifferent, or try to see the positive side is that they have seen on the screen.

So, what age group could better than others to rethink the image and to change its attitude to the scanned materials? Of course, you guessed it, that it was not the most emotionally unstable 20-year-old. In fact, the researchers found that the older participants were, the better they tend to be owned by your perception. At the same time, members of the young and middle age showed a better ability to ignore their own emotions. Although increased sensitivity to sad or rude scenes may not seem the most useful quality for a person Levenson argues that it is the tendency to experience and actively make sense of the emotions experienced, not ignore them, it gives people a mature real benefits.

"Increasingly, it seems that the meaning of life in adulthood is reduced to social relations, to the care of relatives and loved ones perception of caring about yourself, - said the scientist. - Evolution seems to have tuned our nervous system in such a way that as an adult it is optimal for these kinds of interpersonal relationships and compassion.

Emotional intelligence - it's just another name for wisdom?

In some aspects, the survey results were surprising. Many people worry that they do not develop their IQ and EQ froze in place at birth, and the elderly are sometimes prone to fads, such as swinging a cane, shouting "Get off my lawn!" And other stereotypes.

However, if you look through another lens, the results are not shocking. What other word can be called the ability to take different perspectives on complex subjects and put different problems in the same context? Of course, one of the possible answers is wisdom. And no matter what opinion people are uninformed about the elderly, most of us realize that the wisdom and old age tend to come together (although there are ways to speed up the process of wisdom offensive). Therefore, those of us who sometimes gets upset and worried due to the fact that emotional intelligence does not come to him naturally, can be comforted with age the situation is likely to mend itself. At the same time, probably a good idea is to look at their older colleagues and acquaintances in the light of this study. Science has recently confirmed once again that we all know for a long time, but sometimes forget: life itself teaches us valuable emotional skills, so all of us should take an example from the elders and respect them.