Emotional Intelligence and Psychological Research Methods

Flashcards covering the definitions, characteristics, and skills associated with emotional intelligence, along with the foundational concepts of the scientific method and descriptive research in psychology.

Emotional Intelligence (EI)

A term coined by psychologists John Mayer and Peter Salovey in $1990$, defined as the practice of self-control and the ability to accurately perceive the emotions of self and others.

Self-Awareness

The ability to accurately perceive your feelings and moods in the moment, understanding your strengths, weaknesses, and values.

Self-Regulation

The ability to manage behaviors to meet goals, manage stress, and control impulses, using emotions to stay motivated.

Ethical Judgment

Making decisions based on how potential consequences affect self and others, preferring a thoughtful response over an immediate reaction.

Empathy

The foundation of emotional intelligence that involves recognizing and understanding other people's emotions and why they are feeling them.

Social Awareness

A skill combining empathy and self-regulation to understand how others are feeling and to recognize they have different challenges and concerns.

Conflict Resolution

A practice that balances assertiveness (satisfying your own needs) and cooperativeness (satisfying the needs of others).

Conflict Styles (Thomas & Kilmann, $1974$)

The five styles for dealing with conflict are avoiding, accommodating, competing, compromising, and collaborating.

Collaborating

Considered the most emotionally intelligent conflict style because it works toward a mutually satisfying outcome through respect and social awareness.

Soft Skills

A term used by companies to refer to highly valued interpersonal skills like emotional intelligence, collaboration, persuasion, and adaptability.

LinkedIn $2020$ Analysis Data

An analysis of over $600 \text{ million}$ profiles and $20 \text{ million}$ jobs that identified emotional intelligence as a critical workplace skill.

Scientific Method

An objective process for testing ideas that functions more as a guideline than a set of rigid instructions.

Research Literature Databases

Searchable professional databases used by researchers to review published reports, including PsycInfo, PubMed, and Google Scholar.

Hypothesis

A prediction about what a researcher expects the answer to their research question will be; it must be testable and valid.

Operational Definition

A statement that spells out exactly how variables in a research study will be defined or measured.

Sample

A smaller group of participants selected from a larger population that researchers want to draw conclusions about.

Descriptive Statistics

A type of analysis used by researchers to summarize collected data.

Inferential Statistics

A type of analysis used to mathematically measure differences or relationships within research data.

Peer Review

A scientific process where professionals in the field scrutinize a study's procedures and results before its publication in a journal.

Descriptive Methods

Research methods used to describe behavior objectively and systematically without attempting to manipulate or change variables.

Naturalistic Observation

A method where researchers record behavior as it naturally happens, such as observing chimpanzees in the wild or teachers in a classroom.

Longitudinal Observations

Observations meant to reveal patterns or changes in behavior over weeks, years, or generations.

Observer Bias

Occurs when a researcher's own expectations or beliefs influence which behaviors they pay attention to or how they interpret them.

Hawthorne Effect (Reactivity)

A phenomenon where study participants change their behavior because they know they are being observed, identified at the Western Electric Company in the $1920\text{s}$ and $30\text{s}$.

Case Study

A research method involving the collection of a variety of detailed information about one or more people to uncover variables for further study.

Jean Piaget

A researcher who used case studies of children in different developmental phases to achieve breakthroughs in cognitive development theories.

Self-Report Bias

Occurs when participants are apprehensive about giving truthful answers regarding sensitive topics, instead providing responses that paint them in a positive light.