The Intrapersonal intelligence is one of the types of intelligence described in the Theory of multiple intelligences, and has to do with the quality of the relationship with itself.
This concept is opposed to interpersonal intelligence, which has to do with the skills to relate to other people.
People with a large amount of intrapersonal intelligence are able to understand their own inner world and their emotions and thoughts.
In this way, they understand better than the rest why they feel a certain way, and are able to better regulate these feelings.
This intelligence is one of the least worked on a regular basis, since most people do not usually give too much importance.
However, working intrapersonal intelligence is essential to be able to achieve your own goals and feel better about yourself.
The 4 main characteristics of people with intrapersonal intelligence
Intrapersonal intelligence usually manifests itself in four distinct abilities: awareness of one's own emotions, introspection, self-regulation and metacognition.
The four are closely related to each other, so they tend to appear at the same time in the same person.
Although they can occur in an innate way, these characteristics are usually developed throughout life through effort and dedication.
1- Awareness of one's emotions
Being aware of one's own emotions involves knowing our feelings, attitudes and points of view, as well as the reasons why they are caused.
Specifically, intrapersonal intelligence has to do with the cognitive part of emotions.
All emotions are formed by three components: a bodily sensation, a tendency to act in a certain way and a cognitive part, which is related to the causes of emotions and what each person says to himself about them.
A person with low intrapersonal intelligence will feel the physical part of an emotion (such as anger) and act uncontrollably without thinking about what he really wants to do.
Once you have calmed down, you will find that you do not understand why you acted in that way.
On the contrary, someone with good intrapersonal intelligence will be able to realize the emotion he is feeling. In this way, you will be able to choose your way of acting more consciously.
2- Introspection
Closely related to the previous point is the ability of introspection. It consists of the ability to observe one's own emotions or thoughts, and understand why they occur.
In this way, an introspective person is able to discover the causes of what he is feeling at a certain moment, in such a way that he can get to the root of the matter.
For example, if an introspective person feels jealousy, he could examine this emotion and discover that behind it there are other emotions, such as insecurity or sadness.
Introspection is very useful to discover what kind of situations provoke certain emotions, so that you can work in the future to change them.
Also, by being more aware of the causes of a feeling, people are able to act more consciously and not get carried away by that feeling.
Introspection is at the basis of many ethical and moral systems. When a person discovers exactly what their emotions and thoughts are, they can decide a way of acting that is more in accordance with their own values and beliefs.
3- A Utregulation
Another of the outstanding features of people with a high intrapersonal intelligence is self-regulation.
This ability consists in being able to act in a certain way despite what we are feeling at a certain moment.
When we feel a very strong emotion, the most common response is to behave according to it without thinking about what is being done.
Going back to the previous example, a person who is experiencing a lot of jealousy will tend to get angry with his partner, accuse her or get away from her.
However, these first responses that come to mind when experiencing an emotion do not usually agree with our values or with the people we want to be.
Therefore, it is necessary to stop to reflect before acting uncontrollably. And regulation is responsible for this.
A person with a great ability to self-regulate is capable of experiencing a powerful emotion, but he can also calmly choose the way he wants to behave in that situation.
This does not mean that they feel emotions in a less powerful way than other people, but that they can accept them and still act in a way that is in accordance with their values and beliefs.
4- Metacognition
The last of the abilities related to intrapersonal intelligence is metacognition.
It consists of the ability to reflect on one's own emotions, thoughts and beliefs, in such a way that they can understand each other better.
In this way, a person with a great ability to metacognition is able to know their strengths and weaknesses, thus being able to make better choices in their life.
He is also able to communicate what he is feeling at a given moment more clearly, since he understands it better.
Finally, metacognition also allows us to know in which areas we need to develop more, as well as to understand what is the most effective way to achieve it.
How to develop intrapersonal intelligence?
Within the intelligences described within the Theory of multiple intelligences, intrapersonal intelligence is undoubtedly one of the most useful of all.
Therefore, working to develop it can be a great investment in yourself if you notice that it is not among your strengths.
Basically, the four skills of intrapersonal intelligence are closely related to the ability to know yourself and be aware of your own thoughts and emotions.
This means that, to improve the capacity in this area, you have to be able to understand yourself.
There are many ways to achieve greater awareness of one's mental processes; Below are some of the simplest to practice.
Even so, do not be fooled by its simplicity: practicing them will help enormously when it comes to developing your own intrapersonal intelligence.
Meditation / Mindfulness
In its most basic form, meditation consists of being able to observe one's thoughts without being carried away by them.
In this sense, creating a meditation routine can make intrapersonal intelligence develop very quickly.
One of the simplest ways to learn to meditate is to try to do it in everyday life. This is what is commonly known as mindfulness .
While you are doing a task, such as washing the dishes or taking a shower, you have to be able to focus totally on what you are doing, without getting lost in your own thoughts.
If it is possible to maintain the focus, at the moment in which a particularly strong emotion is felt, the person will be able to realize what is happening and choose how he wants to act, without being carried away by it.
Therefore, practicing meditation is one of the first things that should be tried to develop this type of intelligence.
However, many people who have ever tried to practice some kind of meditation have found it difficult, since it can be difficult not to let the mind take it.
Therefore, learning to meditate (both in the traditional way and in everyday life) requires great perseverance.
There are some techniques that can help you live in the present more easily:
- Sit in a quiet place, close your eyes, and focus on your own breathing. Go counting the number of inspirations and try to reach further and further away before becoming distracted by thoughts.
- When performing a routine task, it helps to focus on the sensations and emotions. If some thought distracts from what is being done, we must let it go and bring attention back to the present.
- At the moment when there is a very strong emotion, it helps to give it a name before acting. For example, if you feel a lot of anger, the person might say to himself something like:"I'm feeling angry." Just by doing this, the emotion will decrease in intensity.
Keep a personal diary
Another of the most effective ways to improve intrapersonal intelligence is to aim at the end of the day what has happened to you and how you have felt. In this way, there will be a written record of one's emotions and thoughts.
Writing is a very useful resource to improve this type of intelligence, because it allows us to realize what kind of thoughts and feelings are recurrently.
So, for example, someone may discover that he always feels very cheerful after talking to a certain person, or sad if he does not leave the house all day.
To increase the effectiveness of a journal in the improvement of intrapersonal intelligence, the most important thing is not to write but to carry out a later analysis of what has been captured on paper.
In this way there will be a greater awareness of one's mental processes, so that they can be detected at the moment when a very strong emotion prompts to act in a way that is not ideal.
References
- "Intrapersonal Intelligence"in: Udemy. Retrieved on: 05 February 2018 from Udemy: blog.udemy.com.
- "5 Ways to Nurture Kids' Intrapersonal Intelligence"in: Growing With Your Child. Retrieved on: 05 February 2018 from Growing With Your Child: growingwithyourchild.com.
- "An Introduction to the Theory of Multiple Intelligences"at: Thought Co. Retrieved: 05 February 2018 from Thought Co: thoughtco.com.
- "Theory of Multiple Intelligences"in: Wikipedia. Retrieved on: 05 February 2018 from Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org.
- "Intrapersonal Learning"in: Inspiring Breakthrough. Retrieved on: 05 February 2018 from Inspiring Breakthrough: inspiring-breakthrough.co.uk.