“The swiftest way to triple your success is to double your investment in personal development.” – Robin Sharma
Personality is the accumulation of thoughts, emotions and habits. What defines a human being is his personality traits- the way he acts, speaks and organises his/her emotional intelligence. The moments of anger, sadness, and being extroverted, introverted and neuroticism shape an individual’s personality.
Personality traits and emotional intelligence are the different dimensions of a human being, but they are deeply correlated with each other. Personality traits express how one acts whereas emotional intelligence is how one feels. Emotions are intrinsic, unseen, and puzzling yet clearly felt in one’s personality.
If we understand both, their significance we can be the maker of our life and tackle the problems with intelligence.
This article explores the relationship between personality traits and emotional intelligence; let’s walk along.
What are personality traits?
A personality consists of one’s behaviour, thought process patterns and habits. How one interacts socially and responds to situations determines his/her personality. Personality psychologists believe that it’s the personality traits that differentiate human beings from each other. Some are talkative, while others are quiet and calm. These traits are dynamic and keep changing as per the exposure of a person.
to understand personality traits, researchers have provided the 5-factor model of personality that determines the score of your personality traits or your personality type.
What is emotional intelligence?
In simpler terms, emotional intelligence is to understand and recognize the emotions of oneself and others. Emotional intelligence reflects what kind of relationship one has with others and themself. Only when they understand their emotions, empathise with others, motivate and self-regulate are determined an individual’s emotional intelligence.
Relationship between personality traits and emotional Intelligence
Openness to experience and emotional awareness
To welcome new ideas, engage in activities and thrive in challenging situations are the openness traits of a personality which depict that a particular person is emotionally strong and has the ability to understand others’ emotions as well. They may be more attuned to their feelings and have a greater capacity to understand and express them due to their openness traits that break their mental and physical barriers.
Agreeableness and empathy
Agreeableness is a personality trait that reflects that an individual is compassionate, kind and trustworthy. They enjoy serving others and ultimately have the understanding to feel others’ emotions. The quality of feeling and seeing things from other perceptions tell a person to possess higher emotional intelligence.
Conscientiousness and self-regulation
Conscientious people are disciplined, hardworking, aware and well-organised. This personality never misses deadlines and possesses the strong emotional intelligence to conduct themselves. Conscientious personality traits are well managed and get a tough mindset to complete their task.
As they are self-propelled, their personality often lacks understanding of other emotions. They have the tendency to neglect others feelings but they tend to exhibit better self-control and are more capable of managing their emotions effectively.
Neuroticism and Emotional Regulating
Frequently experiencing negative emotions, overthinking, anger and sadness are the characteristics of Neuroticism traits. Individuals who acquire these traits are emotionally weak and depressed and, stressed in challenging situations. High in neuroticism and find it difficult to regulate their emotions, and they have a tendency to blame others due to lower emotional intelligence.
Wrapping Up
Personality traits regulate our emotional intelligence and persist according to situation and time. We can make our personality traits balanced and emotionally stable with more awareness and intelligence.
What we think, we act. So emotional intelligence reflects our personality traits.
How we take criticism and face challenges determines our mental and emotional strength. As mentioned above, personality traits and emotional intelligence are the two sides of the same coin. Hence one affects the others. With our continuous efforts and practice, we can create positive personality traits and uplift emotional intelligence.
