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2025_SOCIAL INTELLIGENCE 1
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Ms. LINDI MANDA
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LEARNING UNIT 1: INTRODUCTION TO SOCIAL INTELLIGENCE
People cannot, not connect
Introduction
The Social intelligence (SI) study is geared towards equipping learners to acquire the ability to cope well with others and sharpen their interpersonal practical skills (situational awareness, presence, authenticity, clarity and empathy [S.P.A.C.E.]) in order to succeed effectively in various settings (Albrecht 1930). The holistic model - S.P.A.C.E. used in this study is for outlining, determining, and advancing SI at personal level, and it‘s shared to offer guidelines on using it as an effective diagnostic formula and developmental tool for professional and personal success. This is customized from Karl Albrecht‘s work on Social Intelligence.
S.P.A.C.E. – As a different kind of smart refers to:
S – Situational awareness: knowledge of, attentive to and wise about various contexts and the stimuli they exert and the reactions that arise from such stimuli
P - Presence: the manner in which a person affects individuals or groups through physical appearance, mood and demeanour, and body language and how he/she occupies space in an environment
A – Authenticity: honesty and sincerity
C – Clarity: ability to express one‘s thoughts, opinions, ideas, and intentions clearly; comprehension of the power of languages as a medium of thought and expression; and to use language in ways that meet their needs
E – Empathy: ability to be truly aware and considerate of other peoples by tuning their feelings to those of the affected persons.
Some questions that arise out of all this are:
1. Where does the concept of social intelligence fit into the field of engineering?
2. How does it apply in an engineer‘s job?
3. How does it apply to the way people work together?
4. Does it apply to the way teams accomplish their missions, to the way employees serve clients, and/or the ways in which bosses and employees interact?
5. Does it apply more broadly across the ―society‖ that exists in every established organization?
This module consists of the two parts:
Topic 1: Introduction to Social Intelligence
It offers a theoretical background to social intelligence in general
Topic 2: Social Intelligence and Engineering
A discussion of social intelligence broadly built around interactive activities for students to develop the relevant 21st century graduate‘s skills.
Introduction to Social Intelligence
While you‘re born with your own intelligence or IQ, Social Intelligence is mostly learned. It is considered as the capacity to know oneself, others and things around them. SI develops from experience with others and learning from occurrences, mishaps and successes in social settings. Simply, social intelligence can be regarded as what‘s known as ―tact‖ or ―common sense‖ or even
―street marts.‖ While societies put a huge focus on book smarts and IQ, what‘s often overlooked is that, people‘s lives are largely influenced by their relationships with one another. Mistakenly, many still believe that a measurement of one‘s smartness is through books. Contrary, research has revealed that true intelligence isn‘t only about books smart but also about street smarts. Along with this; it has also been determined that building strong social relationships is worth the effort because of various benefits including the following:
· Good relationships are effective for a person because they help to boost their immune system and therefore, assist in combating diseases.
· Whenever one has healthy relationships, they will always have to talk to and so, help them deal with major sources of stress, health problems and depression which can be associated to loneliness and poor relationships.
· Individuals‘ daily lives are affected by the relationships they have with their significant others, such as boyfriends, spouse, children, parents, colleagues and friends.
There are various perspectives on social intelligence and two dominant views are of psychometric and personality, of which are contrary on many crucial points, such as comparative assessment of individuals, but they later agree in recent work on the development of social intelligence (for reviews, see Greenspan, 1979; Greenspan, 1997). Nevertheless, that is beyond the scope of this module. Here, the concentration is on helping students develop as possible as they can, rather than turning them into SI‘s experts.
1.1 The Nature of Social Intelligence
The origin of its definition is traced back in 1920 to the psychologist, Edward Thorndike who claimed that it is ―the ability to understand and manage men and women and girls, to act wisely in human relations.‖ Later in the 1930s Moss and Hunt argued that social intelligence is ―the ability to get along with others.‖ Along with this, Vernon in 1930s also described it as being ―reflected in the general ability to get along with people in general, social technique or ease in society, knowledge of social matters and susceptibility to stimuli from other members of a group, as well as insight into the temporary moods or underlying personality traits of strangers.‖ Thus, according to these authors, social intelligence bears both the cognitive features (the ability to understand people) and practical features (ability to deal with and respond towards them).
However, social intelligence is often confused with various intelligences such as emotional intelligence, collective intelligence or group intelligence. Perhaps, this influenced the follow up work by Gardner in the 1980s which looked at the model of multiple intelligences with intrapersonal and interpersonal as part of them. Accordingly, he argued that ―social intelligence allows people to take advantage of the resources of others. We are finding that much of people‘s effective intelligence is, in a sense, outside the brain. This means, you can use intelligence for other people, if you know how to reach it and how to use it. Therefore, the best strategy is to mobilize other people around you.‖ Gardner purported that interpersonal intelligence covers the ability to read other people‘s moods, motives and other mental states; and intrapersonal includes the ability to access and assess one‘s own feelings and to draw on them to guide behaviour. He also viewed as the basis of emotional intelligence (EI) with a greater focus on cognition and understanding than feeling.
According to Ford and Tisak, social intelligence (SI) has both convergent and divergent validity, as a better predictor of behavioural measure of social effectiveness than academic intelligence. A glaring common agreement is that SI is the ability to effectively plan and direct complicated social relationships and social realities in various environments. Honeywill suggests that it can also be regarded as is ―an aggregated measure of self and social-awareness, evolved social beliefs and attitudes and a capacity and appetite to manage complex social change.‖ Along this, Nicholas Humphrey claimed that SI defines human beings more than quantitative intelligence. In support, Gerdner indicated that SI is equivalent to interpersonal intelligence and also closely related to theory of mind. Combined proponents of SI agreed that it is distinct from general intelligence and may serve as a better predictor of behaviour.
According to Zaccaro et al (1990) socially-intelligent individuals are aware of the social situation, including the problems and needs of others (social perceptiveness). They are also able to behave appropriately for different social situations (behavioral flexibility). Thus, these aspects can be seen through
a) Social understanding and
b) Situational-appropriate behaviour.
Along with this, Kosmitzki and John described a socially intelligent person as the one who:
· Understands people‘s thoughts, feelings and intentions well;
· Is good at dealing with people;
· Has extensive knowledge of the rules and norms in human relations;
· Is good at taking the perspective of other people;
· Adapts well in social situations;
· Is warm and caring; and
· Is open to new experiences, ideas and values.
While embracing social intelligence, Salovey and Mayer in their work considered emotional intelligence as a part of social intelligence. According to them, it includes the ability to monitor feelings and emotions of themselves and others. It is the ability to distinguish between signals and use this information to manage thoughts and actions of others. Social intelligence is the ability to use emotional intelligence in social situations. It incorporates interaction with others and readiness to estimate the social situation around.
However, Boyatzis and Sala purported that the problem in calling Social Intelligence as ‗intelligence‘ was to test it on the criteria of ‗intelligence‘. These researchers highlighted that, it had to be classified as an ‗intelligence‘, a concept should be:
1. Behaviourally observable
2. Related to biological and in particular neural-endocrine functioning. That is, each cluster should be differentiated as to the type of neural circuitry and endocrine system involved
3. Related to life and job outcomes
4. Sufficiently different from other personality constructs so that the concept adds value to understanding the human personality and behaviour
5. The measures of the concept, as a psychological construct, should satisfy the basic criteria for a sound measure, that is show convergent and discriminant validity.
Accordingly, Goleman addressed this call by looking through biological research and focused on the neural endocrine functioning regards social intelligence. As a result, in his work he highlights that social intelligence is explains in terms of neurology and this fulfils Boyatsi‘s and Sala‘s need for social intelligence to qualify as an intelligence. Additionally, Albrecht expanded the research on multiple intelligences and identified that human beings have six basic dimension of intelligence. Among these, social intelligence is one of them, defined as ―Interacting successfully with others in various contexts‖, with a close term Emotional Intelligence defined as ―Self-insight and the ability to regulate or manage one‘s reactions to experience‖. In addition, Seal et al claimed that the term was defined as the behavioural manifestations of the interpersonal awareness of others‘ emotions, needs, thoughts, and perceptions as well as navigate the larger social environment and working with others. Goleman (2006) and Boyatzis and Goleman (2006) reclassified their array of competencies and clusters into two distinct aspects. The interpersonal clusters (social awareness and relationship management) were relabeled social intelligence (SI) competencies; and the intrapersonal clusters (self-awareness and self- management) were relabeled emotional intelligence(EI) competencies.
The new term, emotional and social intelligence (ESI) helps to differentiate the behavioral manifestations of the intrapersonal awareness and management of emotions within the self (EI) from the behavioral manifestations of the interpersonal awareness of others’ emotions, needs, thoughts, and perceptions as well as navigate the larger social environment and working with others (SI). This integrated concept of ESI offers more than a convenient framework for describing human dispositions—it offers a theoretical structure for the organization of personality and linking it to a theory of action and job performance. This helped it get positioned as a competency as well. As, according to Boyatzis, a competency is an ―underlying characteristic of the person that leads to or causes effective or superior performance‖ therefore, an ESI competency got defined as an ability to recognize, understand, and use emotional information about oneself (EI) or others(SI) that leads to or causes effective or superior performance.
The correlation of social and emotional intelligence approach is clearly reflected by Bar-On, who uses the concept of emotional and social intelligence. This model includes set of interrelated emotional and social competencies that determine how effectively we understand and express ourselves, how we understand and get along with other people and how we handle daily activities.
In practice, they can complement each other as they complement to the abstract intelligence. Human being is a solid personality whose career is hardly separable from personal or family life. Emotional intelligence is essential for human life, because it helps to perceive, understand and manage emotions. It represents a personal, natural wisdom that allows him to live life joyfully, to overcome and solve everyday problems and achieve success. Social intelligence is the ability to relate to people, perceive social situations and properly interpret them and react accordingly. It is the ability to create harmonious interpersonal relationships and the ability to solve conflicts. One component cannot exist without the other.
This definition can be elaborated to ―how people handle themselves and their relationships‖, according to Goleman, Boyatzis, & McKee. So, ESI is a set of competencies, or abilities, organized along two distinct aspect (emotional and social) in how a person: (a) is aware of himself/herself; (b) manages him/herself; (c) is aware of others; and (d) manages his/her relationships with others. Building upon and integrating the competency research, Goleman, Boyatzis, and McKee presented a model of ESI with 18 competencies arrayed in four clusters and two aspects.
Researcher Shaun identified socially intelligent people as:
· They have confidence in social circumstances.
· They have and demonstrate a genuine interest in their fellow beings.
· They are capable of adapting, understanding and responding effectively.
· They express their emotions and feelings clearly and appropriately with assertiveness.
· They have an awareness of the internal and external locus of control.
Karl Albrecht, around 2009, elaborated the five major dimensions of social intelligence as situational radar, presence/bearing, authenticity, clarity and empathy (can be seen as an acronym SPACE).
1. Situational Radar (Awareness): the ability to read situations, understand the social context and choose behavioral strategies that are most likely to be successful
2. Presence: the external sense of one‘s self that others perceive: confidence, bearing self- respect, and self-worth.
3. Authenticity: the opposite of being phony. Authenticity is a way of behaving which engenders a perception that one is honest with one‘s self as well as others.
4. Clarity: the ability to express one‘s self clearly, use language effectively, explain concepts clearly, and persuade with ideas.
5. Empathy: the ability to create a sense of connectedness with others; to get them on your wavelength and invite them to move with and toward you.
In that decade, the consistent aspects of social intelligence among all researches were: the knowledge of the social situations, accurate interpretation of the social situation and the skills to behave appropriately in that social situation. Hopkins and Bilimoria opined that to be considered socially intelligent one has to be good at human relationships. Crowne defined it as the ability to interact effectively with others in any social situation. Emmerling and Boyatzis describe social intelligence competency as the ability to be aware of, understand and act on emotional information about others that leads to effective performance.
Thus, what was proposed by Thorndike during the first half of the 1900s was initially perceived similarly as a single concept by fellow researchers. However, later others began to see social intelligence as a set of two personal intelligences, divided into interpersonal and intrapersonal intelligences that include knowledge about oneself and others.
Many scholars proposed a number of different ways to be socially intelligent. It has been thought of as the ability to accomplish interpersonal tasks and to act wisely in relationships. It has been seen as a capability that allows one to produce adequate behaviour for the purpose of achieving a desired goal. It is thought that SI involves being intelligent in relationships.
Some researchers even believed that the social facets of intelligence may be as important as the cognitive aspects. However, most of them agreed that the Social Intelligence includes knowledge of the social situations and the skill to perceive and interpret the situations accurately, for leading one to successfully behave in the situation. In other words, it has always been seen as an ability to interact effectively with others.
In an important research, Süd, Weis, & Seidel focused on more of a potential-based concept of SI, rather than behavior-based approaches and the broader concept of social competence (i.e., including both cognitive and non-cognitive abilities and skills).
In the potential-based approach, SI encompasses only the cognitive abilities as necessary prerequisites for social competent behavior. Consequently, social competent behavior is part of the external criterion, not the construct. Social competent behavior, on the other hand, depends on cognitive (i.e., SI) and non-cognitive prerequisites (e.g., intentions, motivation, personality traits, values, norms, etc.).
Thus, SI has been specified as a multidimensional cognitive ability construct that relies on an integrative model derived from a literature review. This model integrates both theoretical and operational definitions of SI. In its current version, the model distinguishes between the following cognitive ability domains and has been in part supported by data in a multitrait-multimethod (MTMM) study by Weis and Süd in 2007. So SI is about five qualities:
Social understanding (SU) also social inference, social interpretation, or social judgment)represents the ability to understand social stimuli against the background of the given social situation. It also includes diversely labeled requirements such as the recognition of the mental states behind words, the comprehension of observed behaviors in the social context in which they occur, and the decoding of social cues.
Social memory (SM) represents the ability to store and recall objectively given social information that can vary in complexity. The concept of SM was originally introduced by Moss and also appeared in works of Sternberg, Conway, Ketron, and Bernstein as memory for names and faces.
Social perception (SP) represents the ability to perceive socially relevant information quickly in more or less complex situations. SP is distinguished from SU by only relying on objectively present information in order to exclude interpretative requirements.
Social flexibility (SF) is the ability to produce as many and as diverse solutions or explanations as possible for a social situation or a social problem. The concept was originally introduced in Guilford‘s (1967) structure of human intellect model in the domain of divergent production of behavioural contents.
Social knowledge (SK) includes knowledge of social matters, the individuals‘ fund of knowledge about the social world, or knowledge of the rules of etiquette. Unlike the remaining dimensions, SK highly depends on the social values of the environment and is not considered as a pure cognitive dimension.
1.2 Social Brain
Goleman reveals that human beings have specific structures in their brains 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 behaviour of people around us by sub-consciously mimicking their movements. This helps us feel as they feel, move as they move, etc.
· When a man gets a look from a woman he finds attractive, his brain secretes dopamine–a chemical that makes us feel pleasure.
1.3 Key elements of social intelligence:
· Verbal fluency
· Conversational skills
· Knowledge of social roles and rules, as well as scripts
· Effective listening skills
· Understanding of how to cope well with others
· Role playing
· Social self-efficacy
· Management skills
· Intercultural and multicultural skills
There‘s a lot going on behind one‘s words. While one speaks, the brain takes in micro- expressions, voice intonations, gestures and pheromones.
1.3.1 Micro-expressions: - are brief, involuntary facial expressions shown on the face of humans according to emotions experienced:
· Usually occur in high-stakes situations, where people have something to lose or gain.
· Occur when a person is consciously trying to conceal all signs of how they are feeling, or
· When a person does not consciously know how they are feeling.
· Unlike regular facial expressions, it is difficult/impossible to hide micro expression reactions.
Micro-expressions cannot be controlled as they happen in a fraction of a second, but it is possible to capture someone's expressions with a high speed camera and replay them at much slower speeds.
Micro-expressions express the seven universal emotions: disgust, anger, fear, sadness, happiness, contempt, and surprise.
1.3.2Voice intonations:
· is the variation of pitch when one speaks (variation of levels we speak with is crucial in how we express ourselves)
· one of the elements of linguistic prosody
· the most important element of accent
· helps to craft music of the language
· it also helps the listener to follow the nature of communication
Gestures and pheromones: - Pheromones give you the edge with attraction. People perceive all sorts of interesting things about one another through olfaction. It feels pretty normal – when we want something we take it, right? I‘m feeling thirsty; I‘ll grab a drink. I‘m hungry; I‘ll pick-up a snack. But you know what? This isn‘t what you should do when you desire a partner. The foundation of pick-up or game is ACQUISITION—the NEED to ACQUIRE a girl or man. This is the absolute, unquestioned and accepted law of game. The whole pick-up framework is built upon this. Simply, they are stimuli that elicit a reaction. Accordingly, people who have high SI have a greater awareness of their proto- conversations.
1.3.3 The Proto-conversation
Goleman identifies two aspects of proto-conversations:
Social Awareness: Your response to others (the manner in which you do so is crucial)
Primal Empathy: Sensing other other‘s feelings and putting yourself in theirshoes
Attunement: Listening with full receptivity
Empathic Accuracy: Understanding others‘ thoughts and intentions
Social Cognition: Understanding the social world and the working of a webof relationships
Social Facility: Knowing how to have smooth, effective interactions
Synchrony: Interacting smoothly
Self-presentation: Knowing how you come across
Influence: Shaping the outcome of social interactions
Concern: Caring about others‘ needs
1.3.4 Your Social Triggers
Social awareness is the capability to reckon that people and places trigger different emotions and this affects our ability to connect. Think about a time you felt excited and energized by an interaction.
Now think of a time when you felt drained and defeated after an interaction. Along this, Goleman presents a theory on how our brain processes social interactions:
The Low Road is our instinctual, emotion-based way we process interactions. It‘s how we read body-language, facial expressions and then formulate gut feelings about people.
The High Road is our logical, critical thinking part of an interaction. We use the high road to communicate, tell stories and make connections.
Why are these important?
The Low Road guides our gut feelings and instincts. For example, if people didn‘t come to your birthday parties as a kid, you might feel a pang of anxiety when thinking about your own birthday as an adult–even if you have plenty of friends who would attend.
Your High Road tells you that you are a grown up and things have changed, but your Low Road still gives you social anxiety. I call these social triggers. You should be aware of your unconscious social triggers to help you make relationship decisions. Knowing your Low Road social triggers helps your High Road function. Here‘s how you can identify yours:
What kinds of social interactions do you dread?
Who do you feel anxious hanging out with?
When do you feel you can‘t be yourself?
1.3.5 Your Secure Base
Whether you are a cheerful extrovert or a quiet introvert, everyone needs space and a place to recharge. Goleman suggests that‘s a ―secure base.‖ This is a ritual place or an activity that helps one process emotions and occurrences. A secure base is helpful for two main reasons.
1. It gives one a place to recharge before interactions so they don‘t get burnt out.
2. It helps one process and learn from each social encounter.
3. You can improve your Social Intelligence, you just need to prioritize it.
Broken Bonds
One of the biggest pitfalls in social intelligence is a lack of empathy. Goleman calls these Broken person treats Bonds. Philosopher Martin Buber coined the idea of the ―I-It‖ connection which happens when one another like an object as opposed to a human being.
Imagine you have just lost a family member. You get a phone call from a friend offering condolences. Immediately you sense the obligation of the caller. They are distracted, you can hear the typing of keys in the background. Their wishes are cold, memorized and insincere. The call
Case study:
Cynthia receives an email from her friend, Joyce, every 60 days to grab lunch. Joyce‘s emails are always similar. When Cynthia realized the similarity in the emails, she started to think of herself as Joyce‘s ―calendar alert‖ that Joyce had set-up. Cynthia went low thinking as merely an item on Joyce‘s to do list. Cynthia analyzed that Joyce felt she ‗should‘ do lunch to keep in touch. But this led to their lunches to be perfunctory, predictable and boring to Cynthia. So, Cynthia stopped saying yes to grabbing lunch with her friend.
· Don‘t interact because you feel that you ‗should.‘
· Say no to obligations if you can.
· Interact with empathy or don‘t interact at all.
2. Positively Infectious
When someone smiles at you, it‘s hard not to smile back. The same goes for other facial expressions. When your friend is sad and begins to tear up, your own eyes will often get moist. Why? These are your mirror neurons in action–part of your Low Road response to people.
―Hang out with people whose moods you want to catch.
―If moods are catching, gravitate towards people who will infect you with the good ones‖
3. Adopt to Adapt
Empathy works in such a way that one‘s Low Road automatically mirrors the people around them. Our brain copies the people around us, so we feel as they feel. This in turn helps us understand them, where they are coming from and even be better at predicting their reactions.
―Many paths of the low road run through mirror neurons. The neurons activate in a person based on something that is experienced by another person in the same way is experienced by the person himself. Whether pain (or pleasure) is anticipated or seen in another, the same neuron is activated.‖ makes you feel worse, not better.-Goleman, 41
4. Beware the Dark Triad
Goleman shares the dark triad of people:
· The narcissistic personality is when someone has an inflated view of themselves, a huge ego and a sense of entitlement.
· The Machiavellian personality is when someone is manipulative and consistently exploits the people around them.
· The psychopath personality is someone who is impulsive, remorselessness and extremely selfish.
Goleman summarizes the dark triad motto as: Others exist to adore me.
5. Mindblind
Mindblind is the inability to sense what is happening in the mind of someone else. The key to mindsight is compassion.
―In short, self-absorption in all its forms kills empathy, let alone compassion. When we focus on ourselves, our world contracts as our problems and preoccupations loom large. But when we focus on others, our world expands. Our own problems drift to the periphery of the mind and so seem smaller, and we increase our capacity for connection – or compassionate action.‖ – Goleman, 54
Goleman claims that people are wired for altruism. People are inherently good. However, sometimes they forget how good it makes them feel to be good. Dr. Baron-Cohen devised something called the Empathy Quotient. This is a quiz to test your empathy levels. While he devised the test for adults on the Aspergers or Autism Spectrum, but this quiz has been found to be very helpful.
6. A People Prescription
―The most striking finding on relationships and physical health is that socially integrated people, those who are married, have close family and friends, belong to social and religious groups, and participate widely in these networks, recover more quickly from disease and live longer. Roughly eighteen studies show a strong connection between social connectivity and mortality.‖ – Goleman, 247.
1.3.6 Synthesis of ways to develop your social intelligence: How to develop social intelligence?
According to Goleman ―friends make you healthy;‖ healthy happy life is positive relationships. Your partner, friends, colleagues and children, support your soul as well as our immune system. This has been realized through studies that have found that kinds words, physical touch, a song from childhood improve the vital signs of the sick and even fatally ill. Therefore, investing in your relationships is worth the effort. Simply put, following are ways in which you can develop your social intelligence:
· Willingness and dedication to learn
· Paying more attention to social happenings around you
· Develop yourself to be a better speaker
· Networking
· Try to listen more to others (active listening)
· Inquisitiveness to know more about social situations
· Learn more about your own behaviour
· Acquire knowledge on social successes and failures
1.3.7 Let’s look at the kinds of smart for you to be to figure that out and answer:
Gardner, a developmental psychologist and Harvard professor name, developed in the 80s and 90s. In his book Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences, Gardner developed the approach that intelligence is spectrum composed of different kinds of minds and therefore people learn, remember, and understand in different ways. He initially listed 7 types of intelligences, and later added the 8th (naturalist). This is what it looks like:
1. Visual-Spatial Intelligence
People who are strong in visual-spatial intelligence are good at visualizing things. These individuals are often good with directions as well as maps, charts, videos, and pictures.
Strengths
Visual and spatial judgment Characteristics
People with visual-spatial intelligence:
· Read and write for enjoyment
· Are good at putting puzzles together
· Interpret pictures, graphs, and charts well
· Enjoy drawing, painting, and the visual arts
· Recognize patterns easily
Potential Career Choices
If you're strong in visual-spatial intelligence, good career choices for you are:
· Architect
· Artist
· Engineer
2. Linguistic-Verbal Intelligence
People who are strong in linguistic-verbal intelligence are able to use words well, both when writing and speaking. These individuals are typically very good at writing stories, memorizing information, and reading.1
Strengths
Words, language, and writing Characteristics
People with linguistic-verbal intelligence:
· Remember written and spoken information
· Enjoy reading and writing
· Debate or give persuasive speeches
· Are able to explain things well
· Use humour when telling stories
Potential Career Choices
If you're strong in linguistic-verbal intelligence, good career choices for you are:
· Writer/journalist
· Lawyer
· Teacher
3. Logical-Mathematical Intelligence
People who are strong in logical-mathematical intelligence are good at reasoning, recognizing patterns, and logically analyzing problems. These individuals tend to think conceptually about numbers, relationships, and patterns.4
Strengths
Analyzing problems and mathematical operations Characteristics
People with logical-mathematical intelligence:
· Have excellent problem-solving skills
· Enjoy thinking about abstract ideas
· Like conducting scientific experiments
· Can solve complex computations
Potential Career Choices
If you're strong in logical-mathematical intelligence, good career choices for you are:
· Scientist
· Mathematician
· Computer programmer
· Engineer
· Accountant
4. Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence
Those who have high bodily-kinesthetic intelligence are said to be good at body movement, performing actions, and physical control. People who are strong in this area tend to have excellent hand-eye coordination and dexterity.
Strengths
Physical movement, motor control Characteristics
People with bodily-kinesthetic intelligence:
· Are skilled at dancing and sports
· Enjoy creating things with his or her hands
· Have excellent physical coordination
· Remember by doing, rather than hearing or seeing Potential Career Choices
If you're strong in bodily-kinesthetic intelligence, good career choices for you are:
· Dancer
· Builder
· Sculptor
· Actor
5. Musical Intelligence
People who have strong musical intelligence are good at thinking in patterns, rhythms, and sounds. They have a strong appreciation for music and are often good at musical composition and performance.
Strengths
Rhythm and music Characteristics
People with musical intelligence:
· Enjoy singing and playing musical instruments
· Recognize musical patterns and tones easily
· Remember songs and melodies
· Have a rich understanding of musical structure, rhythm, and notes Potential Career Choices
If you're strong in musical intelligence, good career choices for you are:
· Musician
· Composer
· Singer
· Music teacher
· Conductor
6. Interpersonal Intelligence
Those who have strong interpersonal intelligence are good at understanding and interacting with other people. These individuals are skilled at assessing the emotions, motivations, desires, and intentions of those around them.
Strengths
Understanding and relating to other people Characteristics
People with interpersonal intelligence:
· Communicate well verbally
· Are skilled at nonverbal communication
· See situations from different perspectives
· Create positive relationships with others
· Resolve conflicts in group settings Potential Career Choices
If you're strong in interpersonal intelligence, good career choices for you are:
· Psychologist
· Philosopher
· Counselor
· Salesperson
· Politician
7. Intrapersonal Intelligence
Individuals who are strong in intrapersonal intelligence are good at being aware of their own emotional states, feelings, and motivations. They tend to enjoy self-reflection and analysis, including daydreaming, exploring relationships with others, and assessing their personal strengths.
Strengths
Introspection and self-reflection Characteristics
People with intrapersonal intelligence:
· Analyze their strengths and weaknesses well
· Enjoy analyzing theories and ideas
· Have excellent self-awareness
· Understand the basis for his or her own motivations and feelings Potential Career Choices
If you're strong in intrapersonal intelligence, good career choices for you are:
· Philosopher
· Writer
· Theorist
· Scientist
8. Naturalistic Intelligence
Naturalistic is the most recent addition to Gardner‘s theory and has been met with more resistance than his original seven intelligences. According to Gardner, individuals who are high in this type of intelligence are more in tune with nature and are often interested in nurturing, exploring the environment, and learning about other species. These individuals are said to be highly aware of even subtle changes to their environments.
Strengths
Finding patterns and relationships to nature Characteristics
People with naturalistic intelligence:
· Are interested in subjects such as botany, biology, and zoology
· Categorize and catalog information easily
· Enjoy camping, gardening, hiking, and exploring the outdoors
· Dislikes learning unfamiliar topics that have no connection to nature Potential Career Choices
If you're strong in naturalistic intelligence, good career choices for you are:
· Biologist
· Conservationist
· Gardener
· Farmer
Some questions to address on your own are:
What are you smart on?
What evidence do you have that made you reach that decision?
What do others say aboutyour smart/s?
Topic 2: Social Intelligence in relation to Engineering
Introduction
Internationally it has been witnessed that engineering students need more skills than engineering education. Competitive graduates require relevant skills that has honed them to be dynamic and function effectively in the workplace and society. Lack of Social Intelligence skills, also known as Social Intelligence quotient (SI) skills in students affect their performance and has been regarded to be leading to higher drop-out rates and poor quality of the engineering. Recent literature emphasizes a need for engineering to integrate necessary non-engineering skills such as SI and emotional intelligence (EI) skills. These two are closely related and tend to be confused. However, there’s a thin line between them.
Research, professional bodies and experts have identified that the graduate engineer requires many skills and a great deal of knowledge when entering the workforce. Crucial elements such as interpersonal skills, as well as teamwork and a strong sense of motivation are regarded to be particularly relevant in this era of globalization, occurring in a dynamic speed and dictates environment in which the modern engineer must interact.
Real Engineering and RealLife
The heavy traditionalism of many courses have the perspective of teaching only real engineering especially, defining and isolating problems and achieving technical solutions. Exposure to this culture of traditionalist engineering education not only discourages reflection, but also generates future engineers who both lack and do not appreciate the value of the skills of reflection. Along with that, do engineering studies actively discourage the ESI factor by the very nature of the traditionalist style of teaching in this field? Such traditionalist teaching imparts engineering as a discipline rather than as a career.
The Evolution of EngineeringEducation
Overtime, engineering has progressively become less and less of a stand-alone subject. Other disciplines have influenced and became increasingly integrated in engineering curricula in order to increase the sharpness of a university‘s graduates, thereby responding to industry demands, e.g. management, business strategy, marketing, philosophy, communication, ethics, environmentalism, sustainability, etc. Engineers‘ attitudes to the soft skills area, incorporating people, ideas and self- reflection, have to be tackled at a fundamental level. Universities along employers have identified necessary skills that need to be integrated into the curricula. These are complemented with abilities that are valued by both universities and particularly employers, and they include some of the following:
· Self- and context-awareness.
· Decision-making and action planning.
· Research and analysis.
· Communication skills.
· Critical reflection.
· Problem solving
· Creativity
Cognisant of the fact that, the above-mentioned soft skills are part of engineering profession (engineering skills necessary in the fields of engineering) these characteristics can be effectively incorporated as parts of the elements of SI/ESI. These are subjects in humanities that have been regarded to play an active role in the education of future engineers who can reflect and display sensitivity to both individuals and society.
Create the Future
Socially intelligent engineers have the opportunity to manifest future changes and actively create the future. Indeed, Cooper and Sawaf state that:
... successfully intelligent leaders and managers continually question many of the assumptions that others accept ... [and] they challenge it perceiving the deeper risks and limitations, and in many cases find ways to transcend it ... They know the future is not something we wait for; it is something we must actively help create. And emotional intelligence plays a vital role.
Social intelligence Unit 1