The difference between having emotional awareness and emotional intelligence comes with age. At least, that’s the thought of 19-year-old Annalisa Rodriguez, a current University of Florida student. Emotional awareness is the ability to recognize our emotions, but emotional intelligence is the ability to respond appropriately to them, she said.
It’s a progression from one to the other, and Rodriguez thinks that millennials are mostly emotionally aware. She believes that most people are quick to have an emotional response to something they see or hear, but millennials are quicker to vocalize it either online or in person.
“When you’re emotionally intelligent, you know how to process (an emotional response) in the correct manner for that time and place for that setting, and that just comes with experience,” Rodriguez said.
A common belief is that older generations see millennials as lazy, entitled and inexperienced. When older generations use the term “millennials,” it usually has a negative connotation. However, when millennials use the word, it’s just a descriptor, said David Galindo, a 24-year-old supervisor at Florida Hospital.
“It just represents who we are,” he said. “It’s like ‘baby boomers.'”
The thing that really defines the millennial generation is the internet boom and growing up with a new age of technology. Because of the internet and social media apps, there is an idea among older generations that the internet has stunted the emotional intelligence of the younger ones.
But, that’s not the common belief of millennials, a generation that ranges from teenagers to people in their thirties.
Galindo said that social media is just an extension of his extroversion but not a substitute for social interactions. He believes he has a lot of emotional intelligence and that it’s one of his strongest traits. His ability to perceive and handle emotions allows him to resolve conflict, deal with team members and know how to engage others, he said. However, he realizes that it’s a skill not every millennial has. Admitting that some do use it as a substitute for face-to-face interactions, Galindo said, “I think it helps some socially inept people try to communicate.”
Shonglee Ho, a 19-year-old waitress at Pho Hanoi, said that millennials have just as much emotional intelligence as any other generation.
“Because we’re so tied to social media and technology, it’s often that people are eating dinner and they’re both on their phones,” she said.
But, she also mentioned that we’re in an age when you don’t just talk to people in your hometown. You can talk to people around the world, and that accessibility expands and enhances your experiences.
The open marketplace of ideas also adds to emotional intelligence because people get so offended so easily, and in turn, we are offended easily as well. For some, the internet makes them callous, but for others, it makes them more in tune with their emotions and those of others. It makes us more sensitive when we interact with people on and off the internet.
For some, this exposure to so many different people and ideas creates a more open mindset that is taken into the workplace.
I believe millennials are required to have more experience before going into the workforce. It’s not uncommon for students to graduate after completing many internships, jobs and volunteer opportunities. These are expectations that are new to the millennial generation, and because of these experiences, some millennials have more emotional intelligence than the average person and certainly more emotional intelligence in the workplace than previous generations had when they began their careers.
The problems that face millennials in the workplace are unique to this generation. Millennials work for less money, have more education and are required to have more experience.
But, they also spend more time behind screens and less time in face-to-face interactions. It follows then, that they should have more emotional intelligence.
CLAIRE CAMPBELL is a journalism student at the University of Florida who will graduate in December 2016. She plans to go into the public relations field once she graduates. Her ultimate goal is to make enough money to provide her future dogs.