Unless you choose the life of a hermit, you will have to be in the company of other people every day - familiar and not so familiar. A lot depends on the ability to find a common language with them. For example, you may not have outstanding professional abilities, but finding an approach to people can help you earn solid money. Thus, someone whose social intelligence is high achieves more when it comes to interacting with society.

Social intelligence- this is the ability to successfully build relationships with others and navigate the social environment. Includes the ability to understand another person's behavior, one's own behavior, and to act appropriately in a situation.

World-renowned psychologist Daniel Goleman claims that social intelligence can be increased with the help of certain techniques.

Proto-dialogue

When we have a conversation, our brain picks up facial microexpressions, vocal intonations, gestures and pheromones. People with greater social intelligence are more aware of such things than others.

Goleman defines two aspects:

Social awareness: The way you react to others.

• Primal: sensing other people's feelings
• Consonance: Listening with Full Receptivity
• Empathic Accuracy: Understanding others' thoughts and intentions
• Social cognition: understanding the social world and the workings of the entire network of relationships

Social Fund: Know how to conduct yourself smoothly and efficiently.

• Sync: Seamless Interaction
• Self-Presentation: Knowing How to Present Yourself
• Influence: shaping the outcome of social interactions
• Caring: caring about the needs of others

Social triggers

Let's start with social awareness. People and situations trigger certain emotions that affect our ability to . Think about the last time you were happy and charged with positive energy from an interaction with another person. Now remember a time when, after communicating with a person, you were morally exhausted and de-energized. Goleman presents his theory about how our brain processes social interactions:

• A roundabout way: This is our instinctive, emotion-based way we process interactions. This is how we read body language, facial expressions and then form our sixth sense.
• The right way: This is our logical, critically thinking part of the interaction. We are on the right track when we have conversations, tell stories, and build connections.

Both ways are equally necessary. For example, if your friends did not come to your birthday party, then you may feel that something is wrong, despite the fact that each of them justified this and apologized. Some vague feeling of deception just grows inside you. The same thing happens when communicating with a manipulator.

The right path helps you weigh the pros and cons, having facts in hand, which is very useful.

Safe place

Whether you're an introvert or an extrovert, everyone needs a place to recharge their batteries. Goleman calls it a safe place. It can be not only a physical place, but also a ritual or activity that helps process emotions and what happened.

Possible safe places:

• Diary
• Favorite cafe
• Trip to nature

Possible questions to ask yourself in a safe place:

• What was good?
• What went wrong?
• What would I do differently?
• What have I learned?

Positive infection

When someone smiles at us, it's hard not to smile back. This is also true for other facial expressions. When our friend is upset and sad, we feel sad too. Why? In action, our mirror neurons are part of our "Detour" response.

Two conclusions can be drawn:

1. Always try to lift people's spirits and they will appreciate you.
2. Surround yourself with people who frequently express the emotions you like.

Adaptation for adoption

Our "Detour" automatically mirrors the people around us. This is how empathy works. The brain copies the people around us, so we feel the same way as they do. This helps us understand them better: what they think, what actions they will take.

Beware of the Black Triad

This is a group that includes three personality traits:

1. Narcissism.
2. Machiavellianism.
3. Psychopathy.

Goleman summarizes the Black Triad motto as:

"Everyone exists to adore me"

He urges you to avoid such people at all costs: they suck your social intelligence.

Blind Brain

Is it possible to guess what the other person wants to say? Are you good at guessing the behavior of your interlocutor? Do you consider yourself an intuitive person?

If all three answers are positive, then you have a high level of social intelligence. If you answered “no” to all three questions, then you are most likely “brain blind.”

Brain blind is the inability of a person to understand what is on the mind of his interlocutor. Goleman advises to develop: this way you will begin to notice what you didn’t usually notice.

We wish you good luck!

Our whole life passes in the company of other people, familiar and not so familiar. If you know how to carry on a conversation well, that’s very good, but, for example, if you don’t have any outstanding ability, but you have a good tongue, you get along well with strangers - all this quite often helps you earn money not bad money. It turns out that when a person has above average social intelligence, he can achieve great success in his life because interaction with society is very important in this day and age.

To begin with, I will tell you why I have the right to write my story. Can I be called a successful person? I'll say yes! Even though I don’t personally have a plane or a villa in the south of France, and my house is located far from Rublevskoye Highway, I still consider myself successful. A person’s success is not determined by the amount of money he has, his place of residence, or his means of transportation. For me to think so is wild! Mortgages for life. Insane loans for household appliances, under every line of this far from simple equation hides a not very reliable support for life and it is not for me. Now let's figure out a little what the essence of a successful person is.

The first and most important step on the path to success is to be financially independent; this step is also the hardest. I remember very well those times when I worked for my boss and was heavily dependent on my customers and various kinds of regulatory authorities. I didn’t have enough money for everything; even, for example, buying clothes was not easy. When I wanted to take a vacation at the height of the summer season, they didn’t let me go, because there were a lot of orders, and no one cared that I worked all year like a slave. Even if my salary was above 20 thousand, I wouldn’t want to spend my whole life like this, listening to a constantly dissatisfied boss and clients. Therefore, one very fine day I wanted to get out of this terrible life regime and live normally, become independent, depend only on myself.

How to become a successful person? My first step was very stupid and wrong: I quit my previous job and got a new one, although I still don’t understand why. Of course, I was probably chasing a good salary, but in addition to the big salary, this job gave me frequent overwork, family problems due to the fact that I spent all my time at work. And after that, I immediately began to understand that no matter where I work and how much I will never get complete independence in my work.

I decided to quit this enterprise and try myself as a businessman, and quite a successful one at that. But what is most surprising is that running your own company means even greater dependence on your employees. In general, trying to somehow promote my business, I became interested in investments and the stock market. My social intelligence helped me with this, because without it I would not have been able to establish contact with the people who helped me enter the trading exchange.

What is social intelligence and its main levels?

Social intelligence is special knowledge that helps determine a person’s success; we can say that it is a gift that helps one easily find a common language with people and rarely get into bad situations.

Social or interpersonal intelligence is often confused with emotional intelligence, but these are two completely different concepts.

Almost immediately after scientists gave a scientific description of social intelligence, they decided to create a scale on which it would be possible to determine its level from low to high. For this purpose, Professor D. Guilford created a popular scientific and psychological testing of people from different walks of life. Thanks to this test, it was possible to measure the originality and speed of thinking in solving a certain problem. All these components will help give the correct answer to how savvy the subject is in the social sphere. Based on the results of the study, it was possible to identify three main levels of social intelligence.

Low IQ

People who have a fairly low level face great difficulties. As a rule, this is strongly visible in the behavior of a person in a certain society. Such people have a lazy character and always rely on their instincts, and many of their actions are caused by emotional impulses. They often cannot communicate normally with strangers, even at work, because even with good friendships or love relationships, at some points problems arise related to their character, which ultimately leads to misunderstandings and quarrels. You cannot solve such problems alone; you need to turn to psychologists.

Average level of social intelligence

People with an average level, as a rule, solve all their problems according to patterns. In ordinary daily affairs, for example, at work, they always get what they need and go towards their goal. Communication with people does not cause problems for them - they make contact well. But such people cannot cope with something new or unusual, which is why they often give it up and continue to lead the usual, patterned rhythm of life.

High level of social intelligence

A person with a high level quite easily copes with all the problems and goals he sets for himself. He will find the optimal way out of any unpleasant situation that arises and in any case will emerge victorious. He easily makes new friends and communicates with people easily. In addition, such people can manipulate other people at a lower level, change their thoughts and desires.

What does well-developed social intelligence give us?

A well-developed intellect allows one to obtain a lot of benefits for life; moreover, with its development, a person gains new opportunities.

Nonverbal interaction

When communicating with people, you must always pay attention to their actions, how they behave during a conversation, especially with regard to non-verbal signals (movements of the hands or head). After all, any movement can carry great meaning. But in order to learn to understand his movements when communicating with a person, you need to read a certain book. And after reading, you can watch the movie you like, but without sound, in order to understand by example the meaning of the characters’ movements. In addition, thanks to this book, you can well develop your social intelligence and learn to manage your personal nonverbals (the signal of your movements), and to more accurately convey your own emotional state.

Confidence in yourself and your actions

Improving your social skills largely depends on how confident you are in yourself and your actions. To become more confident, you need to forget about all the negativity, improve your posture and feel your own strength. And to do this, you can just start playing sports, buy branded clothes. In addition, you need to communicate with people as often as possible, because the ability to start a conversation is quite important, otherwise a person will feel discomfort when meeting strangers. Therefore, you should try to communicate with a large number of people, as well as regularly make new acquaintances. At the same time, you need to learn to listen, speak correctly, and observe your interlocutors.

Developed thinking

A high level of thinking is also an equally important point on the path to the development of social intelligence. Just try not to focus on problems and personal mistakes for at least a while. If you can solve the problem now, then you shouldn’t put it off until later. And in other situations, you shouldn’t pay too much attention to minor problems, because they only bring negativity and cause a negative impact on communication skills, and the quality of life in general.

Self-control

A high level allows you to instill control over your emotions. In the evening of each day, you should analyze what happened to you throughout the day, assessing your behavior and emotions. Exercise will help control impulses of rage, anger and anger. Regular work on yourself and a sense of the world around you helps you consider yourself a small part of it. This is what gives full interaction with the world.

Daily exercise helps you relax, so to speak, throw off a huge burden of constant problems from your shoulders. By isolating ourselves from routine, we develop “social” skills, which gives us strength, makes us better and more complete.

Exercises to develop social intelligence

Scientists have proven that social thinking is not an innate component. This is a skill that is acquired throughout life, so it not only can be developed, but is very necessary. You need to get into the habit of doing simple exercises throughout the day, when you are at work or even just walking in the park. Here are some of them:

1. “Make yourself feel good.” When communicating with a stranger, try to create a pleasant impression of yourself. If possible, use this method daily.
2. "Restoring Communication." For this simple exercise, you need to take a piece of paper with a pen and write the full name of the person with whom you stopped communicating for some reason. Think about how you can establish a connection with him and write everything down on a piece of paper. Try talking to him. Do this exercise as needed.
3. Exercise “Watch people.” Observe people for a week (or longer) for 15 minutes a day. Pay attention to their body language, mood, emotions, imitation, touch, facial expressions, eye contact, communication distance and more. The results of such a study can be written down in a notebook so as not to be lost or forgotten.
4. Exercise “Who's new” - within one day or week, start a conversation with those people with whom you have not talked before - it can be a completely random person, but the main thing is with new people every time. Ask questions that are interesting to you, spend more time learning about the needs of this or that person. The main thing is to remember to introduce yourself. Record your communications in a notebook to keep a record of your results.

Everyone who performs these exercises has been able to experience real joy and happiness in life. Only during classes can you rejoice in the fact that you are simply alive, that today is a beautiful day and life goes on.  After all, nothing can replace real communication with people, and I’m only talking about “live communication”, communicate less on social networks, it’s better to go out for a walk along the street once again, where you can really meet interesting people. And only then will you begin to feel that in each of us there lives something more than just a personality accessible to the ordinary eye - a unique diamond shining behind a thick layer of different emotions, criticism and statements.

Conclusion

People with high “social” intelligence always take leading positions in any matter and often become big bosses. At the same time, they know how to communicate with people and understand those around them. Being such a person is beneficial both for yourself and for those around you. Therefore, you should regularly devote some time to its development, regardless of age.

Social intelligence

Social intelligence is a professionally important quality for human-to-human professions. The term “social intelligence” was introduced into psychology by E. Thorndike in 1920 to mean “foresight in interpersonal relationships.” Many famous psychologists have contributed their understanding to the interpretation of this concept. In 1937, G. Allport associated social intelligence with the ability to make quick, almost automatic judgments about people and predict the most likely human reactions. Social intelligence, according to G. Allport, is a special “social gift” that ensures smoothness in relationships with people, the product of which is social adaptation, and not depth of understanding.

The creator of the first reliable test for measuring social intelligence was J. Guilford. According to J. Guilford, social intelligence is a system of intellectual abilities associated with the knowledge of behavioral information. ability to foresee the consequences of behavior

According to J. Guilford, social intelligence represents a system of intellectual abilities that is independent of factors of general intelligence. These abilities, as well as general intellectual ones, can be described in the space of three variables: content, operations, results. J. Guilford singled out one operation - cognition and focused his research on the cognition of behavior. This ability includes six factors:

1. Cognition of elements of behavior - the ability to isolate verbal and non-verbal expression of behavior from the context (an ability close to identifying a “figure from the background” in gestalt - psychology).

2. Cognition of classes of behavior - the ability to recognize general properties in a certain stream of expressive or situational information about behavior.

3. Cognition of behavioral relationships - the ability to understand the relationships that exist between units of information about behavior.

4. Knowledge of behavioral systems - the ability to understand the logic of the development of entire situations of interaction between people, the meaning of their behavior in these situations.

5. Cognition of behavior transformations - the ability to understand the original meaning of similar behavior (verbal and non-verbal) in different situational contexts.

6. Cognition of the results of behavior - the ability to foresee the consequences of behavior based on available information.

Emotional Intelligence

In recent years, the attention of specialists in the field of psychology of giftedness and creativity has attracted problems that were previously developed far beyond the boundaries of this field. The new direction is called “research on emotional intelligence.” These studies also revived very old reasoning and research into the problems of social intelligence, begun by Edward Lee Thorndike at the beginning of the 20th century.

From the point of view of colloquial language and the Russian version of the use of psychological terms, the phrase “emotional intelligence” is extremely unfortunate. The word “intelligence” is firmly associated in the minds of psychologists with the cognitive sphere, and the term “emotional” refers to the affective sphere and characterizes slightly different facets of human development.

The emergence of these seemingly strange phrases is due to the fact that the discussion of the problems of emotional and social intelligence was initiated by specialists in the field of giftedness and creativity, who saw a high predictive value in these indicators. The question would be closed if it were only a matter of terms. It is noteworthy that specialists, whose attention was traditionally drawn to the cognitive sphere, suddenly turned sharply to the study of the affective sphere of personality. The reason lies in the fact that the functions of the psychology of giftedness include the tasks of predicting personal development and the possibility of high achievements, “life success.”

For the successful implementation of personality in life and activity, the ability to effectively interact with other people becomes important. Such as, for example, the ability to act effectively in the system of interpersonal relationships, the ability to navigate social situations, correctly determine the personal characteristics and emotional states of other people, choose adequate ways of communicating with them and implement all this in the process of interaction. These ideas have generated interest in special research in the areas of emotional and social intelligence.

95% of those who are intellectually gifted, according to B.C. Yurkevich, referring to his own research and the work of other authors, notes a lack of emotional intelligence. B.C. Yurkevich especially emphasizes that these children exhibit “pronounced emotional immaturity,” decreased interest in activities not related to acquiring knowledge, “difficulties in communicating with peers,” etc. [Yurkevich B.C. The problem of emotional intelligence // Bulletin of practical psychology of education. 2005.№ 3 (4). July - September. P. 4-10.].

D. Golman first attracted the attention of researchers and practitioners to the problem of emotional intelligence in the early 90s. By this unusual phrase, he proposes to understand self-motivation, resistance to disappointment, control over emotional outbursts, the ability to refuse pleasures, mood regulation and the ability to not let experiences drown out the ability to think, empathize and hope. Followers have developed relatively simple and accessible procedures for measuring and assessing them.

This issue was studied in more detail and effectively by R. Bar-On. He proposes to define emotional intelligence as all non-cognitive abilities, knowledge and competence that give a person the opportunity to successfully cope with various life situations. He identifies five areas, in each of which he highlights the most specific skills that lead to success. They include:

* knowledge of one’s own personality (awareness of one’s own emotions, self-confidence, self-esteem, self-realization, independence);

* interpersonal communication skills (interpersonal relationships, social responsibility, empathy);

* ability to adapt (problem solving, reality assessment, adaptability);

* management of stressful situations (resistance to stress, impulsivity, control);

* prevailing mood (happiness, optimism).

Russian psychologist D.V. suggests looking at this phenomenon somewhat differently. Lyusin. In his interpretation, emotional intelligence is “...the ability to understand one’s own and others’ emotions and manage them” [Lyusin D.V. Modern ideas about emotional intelligence // Social intelligence. Theory, measurement, research / Ed. D.V. Ushakova, D.V. Lyusina.M., 2004. pp. 29-39]. It is emphasized that the ability to understand and the ability to manage emotions can be directed both at one’s own emotions and at the emotions of other people. Thus, the author proposes to consider two options for emotional intelligence - “intrapersonal” and “interpersonal”. Both options, according to his fair assertion, involve the updating of different cognitive processes and skills.

The model of emotional intelligence proposed by D.V. Lyusin, includes three elements:

* cognitive abilities (speed and accuracy of processing emotional information);

* ideas about emotions (as values, as an important source of information about oneself and about other people, etc.);

* features of emotionality (emotional stability, emotional sensitivity, etc.) [Lyusin D.V. Modern ideas about emotional intelligence // Social intelligence. Theory, measurement, research / Ed. D.V. Ushakova, D.V. Lyusina.M., 2004. pp. 29-39].

Those who demonstrate higher scores on the parameters of emotional intelligence are more successful in learning. This fact is easily explained; everyone knows that a person who is able to regulate his own desires, control his own emotional reactions, and understand the emotional states of other people has a lot of advantages over those who are unable to do this. [ Savenkov A.I. Social intelligence concept link to internet resource]

In addition, the very ability to verbally express and evaluate emotions indicates not only high emotional, but also good general cognitive development of the child. It is equally clear that emotions and mental abilities are closely related. It has long been proven that certain emotions can increase the productivity of the thinking process and direct attention to certain tasks. The ability to adequately express emotions is the key to success in interpersonal communication and any joint activity. And effectively regulating one's emotions correlates with skills that are important for interpersonal interaction, such as empathy and candor.

Some modern researchers, sharing the need to study the problem of emotional intelligence, propose to pose the problem more broadly and discuss this issue in a broader context. We are talking about considering emotional intelligence through the prism of general social abilities as their integral part. Consequently, we should talk about a phenomenon that can more accurately be called “social intelligence,” and emotional intelligence should be considered as part of it.

Unlike emotional intelligence, the study of social intelligence has a long, eventful history of discoveries. According to most experts, the concept of “social intelligence” was introduced by E. Thorndike back in 1920. He viewed social intelligence as “the ability to understand other people and to act or act wisely towards others.” Subsequently, these ideas were refined and developed by many researchers.

At different times, supporters of various psychological schools interpreted the concept in their own way. "social intelligence": as the ability to get along with other people (Moss F. & Hunt T., 1927); as the ability to deal with others (Hunt T., 1928); knowledge about people (Strang R., 1930); the ability to easily get along with others, the ability to enter into their position, to put oneself in the place of another (VernonP.E., 1933); the ability to critically and correctly evaluate the feelings, mood and motivation of other people’s actions (Wedeck J., 1947).

Summarizing these ideas, the famous American psychologist David Wexler proposed defining social intelligence as an individual’s adaptability to human existence(Vechsler D., 1958). Many psychologists were actively interested in this phenomenon in the middle of the 20th century. J. Guilford, who created his famous multifactor model of intelligence, gives a special place to social intelligence in it. He predicts that there are at least 30 abilities related to social intelligence in his model of intelligence. Some of them relate to understanding behavior, some to thinking productively about behavior, and some to evaluating it. It is also important that J. Guilford especially emphasizes that understanding the behavior of other people and oneself is largely non-verbal. Researchers have always been faced with the task of determining the boundaries of social intelligence. Her solution required separating social intelligence from abstract intelligence (IQ) and academic intelligence.

Work to create methodological tools for measuring social intelligence did not lead to the desired results. As a rule, these attempts failed. The main reason, apparently, lies in the fact that the main one in surveys of social intelligence was its verbal assessment. During diagnostic examinations, specialists paid primary attention to cognitive characteristics, such as the perception of other people, understanding the motives of their behavior, etc. Moreover, all this was revealed only as a result of verbal measurements, and even the assessment of the behavioral aspects of social intelligence was also carried out using verbal methods (self-report, introspection, etc.).

Meanwhile, it is well known that a verbal assessment of one’s own emotional or social sphere and real behavioral characteristics do not always coincide. Therefore, gradually, studies based on behavioral, nonverbal methods of assessing social intelligence began to occupy an increasing place in the study of social intelligence. S. Kosmitsky and O.P. were among the first to combine these two approaches to the consideration and diagnosis of social intelligence. John (Kosmitzki S. & John O.R., 1993), proposing the concept of social intelligence, which includes seven components. They grouped these components into two relatively independent groups: “cognitive” and “behavioral.”

They included perspective assessment, understanding of people, knowledge of special rules, and openness in relationships with others as cognitive elements of social intelligence. Behavioral elements: ability to deal with people, social adaptability, warmth in interpersonal relationships. This emphasized the idea that social intelligence is an area where the cognitive and affective closely interact. As is easy to see, this model quite fully reflects the essence of the phenomenon and definitely indicates what is subject to diagnosis and development. Using it, you can develop a diagnostic program and formulate the goals of pedagogical work on the development of social intelligence. This model is quite capable of serving as a basis for solving applied issues.

The arguments of supporters of the opposite approach deserve special attention. Thus, in the work of the Russian psychologist D.V. Ushakov notes that the definition of social intelligence should be limited. “Social intelligence, if we understand it as intelligence,” notes D.V. Ushakov, “is the ability to understand social phenomena, which is only one of the components of social skills and competence, and does not exhaust them” [Ushakov D.V. . Social intelligence as a type of intelligence // Social intelligence: Theory, measurement, research / Ed. D.V. Ushakova, D.V. Lucina. M., 2004. P. 11.]. Only under these conditions does social intelligence, according to D.V. Ushakov, becomes on a par with other types of intelligence, “... forming together with them the ability for a higher type of cognitive activity - generalized and indirect” [Ushakov D.V. Social intelligence as a type of intelligence // Social intelligence: Theory, measurement, research / Ed. D.V. Ushakova, D.V. Lucina. M., 2004. P. 18]. We can agree with this statement if we set ourselves the task of purity of use of the term “intelligence”.

One of the first special measuring instruments aimed at solving this problem should be considered the George Washington Test - GWSIT. It included a number of subtests assessing critical decisions in social situations. The tasks included in the test determine a person’s mental state after completing tasks, evaluate memory for names and faces, and determine human behavior and sense of humor. This test has not been used in our country.

In the studies of R.I. Riggio (Riggio R.E., 1991) when testing social intelligence, it was proposed to evaluate it using the following social skills: emotional expressiveness, emotional sensitivity, emotional control, social expressiveness, social sensitivity and social control. This author also used a test for hidden ethical skills (when knowledge of correct behavior in social situations is assessed). It is easy to see that R.I. Riggio suggests calling what many call “emotional intelligence” social intelligence.

American researcher F.S. Chapin (Chapin F.S., 1967) proposed using the term “social intuition.” What is especially valuable is that he proposed a test to evaluate it. Subjects were asked to read about problem situations and choose, in their opinion, the best description of each situation from four alternative ones.

R. Rosenthal (1979) and his colleagues developed a test they called the “Profile of Nonverbal Sensitivity (PONS).” The subjects were asked to decipher the hidden information that they saw in the presented picture, and from two alternative descriptions of the situation, choose the one that, in their opinion, better characterizes what they saw or heard.

The development of the alternative PONS test was carried out by D. Archer and P.M. Akert (Archer D. & Akert R.M., 1980). They called their technique the Social Interpretation Test (SIT). When testing using the SIT, attention was paid to the inferences made by subjects based on verbal versions of nonverbal information.

Using this test (SIT), R. Sternberg and J. Smith developed a technique they called the “method of determining deciphered knowledge.” Researchers have concluded that the ability to accurately decipher nonverbal information is an important indicator of social intelligence.

Of particular interest is the idea of ​​K. Jones and J.D. Day (Jones K. & Day J.D. 1997). They suggested focusing on another important issue. Their work presents the relationship between two characteristic factors of social intelligence: “crystallized social knowledge” (declarative and experiential knowledge about well-known social events) and “social-cognitive flexibility” (the ability to apply social knowledge to solve unknown problems). It is obvious that the integration of the solutions presented above can provide a general idea of ​​what should be considered social intelligence. From this point of view, the characteristics of the structural features of social intelligence given by D.V. deserve special attention. Ushakov. Social intelligence, according to D.V. Ushakov, has a number of the following characteristic structural features:

* "continuous character;

* using non-verbal representation;

* loss of accurate social assessment during verbalization;

* formation in the process of social learning;

*using “internal” experience"

As A.I. Savenkov states, the separation of emotional intelligence and social intelligence is unproductive. Emotional intelligence can be considered as an element of social intelligence. He identifies two factors of social intelligence. The first is “crystallized social knowledge.” This refers to declarative and experiential knowledge about well-known social events. In this case, declarative knowledge should be understood as knowledge obtained as a result of social learning, and experimental knowledge should be understood as knowledge obtained in the course of one’s own research practice. The second is social-cognitive flexibility, which is the ability to apply social knowledge to solve unknown problems. Characterizing the concept of social intelligence, A.I. Savenkov identifies three groups that describe its criteria: cognitive, emotional and behavioral. Each of these groups can be presented as follows:

1. Cognitive:

* social knowledge - knowledge about people, knowledge of special rules, understanding of other people;

* social memory - memory for names, faces;

* social intuition - assessment of feelings, determination of mood, understanding of the motives of other people's actions, the ability to adequately perceive observed behavior within the social context;

* social forecasting - formulating plans for one’s own actions, tracking one’s development, reflecting on one’s own development and assessing unused alternative opportunities.

2. Emotional:

*social expressiveness - emotional expressiveness, emotional sensitivity, emotional control;

* empathy - the ability to enter into the position of other people, to put oneself in the place of another (to overcome communicative and moral egocentrism);

* ability for self-regulation - the ability to regulate one's own emotions and one's own mood.

3. Behavioral:

* social perception - the ability to listen to your interlocutor, understanding of humor;

* social interaction - the ability and willingness to work together, the ability for collective interaction and, as the highest type of this interaction - collective creativity;

* social adaptation - the ability to explain and convince others, the ability to get along with other people, openness in relationships with others.

A.I. Savenkov proposes, using the selected criteria, to develop procedures for identifying and quantitatively assessing each of the designated parameters of social intelligence. It is especially important that this concept of social intelligence, fully reflecting its components, can serve as a general program for its development in educational activities. The effectiveness of this model is currently being tested in his empirical studies.

Sometimes a person's ability to understand the people around him helps him a lot in life. He can predict the behavior of others and his own in various circumstances and recognize emotions and intentions based on verbal and nonverbal communication. All these talents determine the so-called social intelligence of a person.

What is social intelligence?

Social intelligence is the knowledge and skills that determine the success of interaction, a kind of gift that helps you easily get along with people and avoid getting into awkward situations. The concept is often identified with the emotional mind, but more often researchers see them as running in parallel. The concept of social intelligence has three components:

1. Some sociologists distinguish it as a separate type of mind, cognitive ability, and put it on a par with cognition, verbal and mathematical intelligence, etc.
2. The other side of the phenomenon is specific knowledge and talents acquired in the process of socialization.
3. The third definition is a special personal trait that guarantees successful contact in a team.

Social intelligence in psychology

In 1920, Edward Lee Thorndike introduced the concept of social intelligence into psychology. He regarded it as wisdom in interpersonal relationships, the so-called “foresight.” In further works, such authors as G. Allport, F. Vernon, O. Comte, M. Bobneva and V. Kunitsyna and others contributed to the interpretation of the term SI. He acquired the following characteristics:

• ability to get along with individuals and understand the mood of a group;
• independence from intellect. factor;
• formation of skills during socialization;
• the ability to see oneself through the eyes of others;
• global abilities developed against the background of communicative traits.

Levels of social intelligence

Having defined the role of social intelligence in professional development, scientists began to think about what is necessary for social intelligence and what kind of people possess it. In the mid-twentieth century, J. Guilford developed the first test capable of measuring SI. By considering parameters such as the complexity of the task, speed and originality of the solution, we can say whether a person is socially savvy. The presence of a good level of social intelligence is indicated by the effectiveness of actions in various states. Efficiency is determined by several SI levels:

• average– actions in patterns, effectiveness in everyday life situations;
• short– destructive behavior that can ruin even the most favorable circumstances;
• high– mastery of communication, managing people, the ability to take control of any problem.

High social intelligence

The mathematics of life is such that people regularly face difficult tasks. Those who can solve them are the winners. Social and emotional intelligence is high if an individual has the desire and ability to think. A socially erudite person is always a leader. He forces opponents to change thoughts, beliefs, ideas; quickly digests the information received and manages the problem, finding the right solutions in a short time.

Low social intelligence

If a person has a low level of social intelligence, his existence is full of difficulties that appear by themselves and especially through his fault. People who do not know how to choose a vector of behavior act on instincts and impulses. They find it difficult to get along with others, as they are capable of nipping at the root of emerging sympathy and ruining relationships with important people. And the difficulties that arise in communication can be overcome by unerudite individuals only with someone else’s help and advice.

How to develop social intelligence?

Many people are concerned about the development of social intelligence as an opportunity to increase their status in society. To do this, it is necessary to understand what the model of this phenomenon includes. The structure of social intelligence is multidimensional and contains such components as:

• – contact, compatibility with other people;
• self-awareness, absence of barriers and neglected complexes;
• social modeling phenomena;
• understanding people's motives and behavior.

Among other aspects related to the formation of social and emotional intelligence, we highlight ability to refuse requests and delegate tasks, and also the ability not to focus on problems and try to perceive failure as feedback, space for improvement and new opportunities.

For example, remember often that you you can't change the past, which means, instead of thinking over and over again about what should be done in a given situation, think about what to do now and how you can improve the future. Also remember that, in principle, you do not owe anything to anyone, which means you are not obliged to agree with everyone, even if this causes some inconvenience to someone. How paradoxical it may sound, but the ability to refuse is also a skill, and it can be learned. After a couple of rejections, you will realize that the world doesn't turn upside down when you say, “No, I can't.” If you feel guilt or remorse, then remember that after some time this too will pass. Thus, after several “exercises” you will understand that it is normal to refuse.

As we said, a person with a developed EQ is characterized by empathy, but such individuals are more likely manipulate themselves, which allows them to be manipulated. The main thing is that they accurately identify manipulators and decide for themselves whether to succumb to their tricks or not. If you feel that someone is trying to manipulate you, use an old but effective technique: imagine the person with a trash can on his head. This will change your attitude towards your interlocutor, and therefore your reaction to his words and requests. This technique is useful in other situations.

5. Emotions

Another direction - working on your own emotions. To learn how to control them, it is important to know what exactly you control. Observe yourself - what events cause what feelings; which emotions prevent you from concentrating and which ones make you more productive; which ones are easy to manage and which ones are not.
Don't be angry at your reactions, don't deny them, don't suppress them, don't judge yourself and, most importantly, don't lie to yourself: If you do all of the above, you will not be able to control them. You feel what you feel, but all feelings have a reason. It is important to understand it - and then you will be able to correct your emotions.

And in conclusion, one more useful tip. Increasing and developing social and emotional intelligence, it is very important to remain who you are, and don't try to become someone else. The goal of increasing the level of EQ and SQ is self-improvement, that is, improving oneself, and not trying to put on someone else’s mask and walk around in it.