Final answer:
The statement is true; emotional intelligence is the ability to be aware of, control, and express one's emotions, which guides thinking and actions. It includes understanding emotions in oneself and others to manage interpersonal relationships effectively. Emotional intelligence plays a critical role in navigating social interactions and in the development of critical thinking.
Step-by-step explanation:
The statement that monitoring other people's emotions and using one's own emotions to guide one's thinking and actions is called emotional intelligence is true. Emotional intelligence (EI) is a concept that involves the ability to recognize, understand, and manage not only our own emotions but also those of others. Additionally, EI entails the capacity to use this emotional awareness to guide our thinking and actions, improve communication, alleviate stress, overcome challenges, and defuse conflict. It includes aspects such as self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy, and social skills.
Daniel Goleman's work has been imperative in bringing recognition to the importance of emotional intelligence over traditional measures of intelligence, such as IQ. This underscores the argument that success may rely more heavily on the ability to navigate social complexities and emotional landscapes. It is also important to employ metacognition as a tool to better understand and manage our responses to emotions, as strong emotions can sometimes distort our perception and critical thinking abilities.
Remembering to maintain a level of skepticism towards strong emotions can help retain objectivity. Cognitive empathy becomes particularly crucial in adolescence, marking a period in which individuals start to develop a greater capacity to understand and relate to the emotions of others. Moreover, emotions and critical thinking are intertwined, as emphasized by neuroscientist Antonio Damasio, who has observed that our most rational thoughts are influenced by emotions, suggesting that without them, our critical thinking processes might actually be less effective.