Improving emotional intelligence in adolescents: an experiential learning approach

Abstract

The current study explored the effects of an experiential intervention on emotional intelligence in adolescents. A sample of 238 teenagers and adolescents aged 16 and 19 years went through an emotional intelligence (EI) development programme comprising eight exercises. The exercises were developed based on the Mayer and Salovey four-branch ability model. Participants were assessed pre- and post-intervention with the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test. Scores on emotional intelligence and three of its four related branches were significantly increased after the intervention. Additionally, findings revealed that the improvements in scores were stronger for participants with initially average scores on EI. Adolescents with low levels of EI can benefit from an experiential-oriented intervention to improve their abilities in perceiving and managing their emotions in relation with themselves and others. Further conclusions, limitations, and future research prospects are also discussed.

Appendices

Appendix A Summary of the Programme for the Development of Emotional Intelligence in Adolescents

EI Ability	Objectives	No. of meeting / duration	Activities	Materials
Perceiving and identifying emotions	Identifying their own and others’ emotions, focused on their nonverbal expression Discovering different ways of showing emotions	1 / 60 min	The puppet of emotions	- a wooden puppet (30 cm and 100 g) with mobile joints - 30 small sheets of paper (8/8 cm) - CD player & music
		2 / 60 min	The story of the three faces	- A4 paper & crayons - small sheets of paper (8/8 cm) - CD player & music
Emotional facilitation of thinking / using emotions	Identifying their own empathetic capacity Noticing specific personal notes Identifying others’ emotions when these emotions are expressed in writing Discovering the image that their colleagues have about them.	3 / 60 min	Palm reading	- red box (15/7/10 cm) - A4 sheets of paper - small sheets of paper (8/8 cm) - writing tools (pencils, pens, etc.) - CD player & music
	Identifying the way an emotion can influence a person’s reasoning or activity, the non-verbal expression of emotions, and the different ways of expressing them.	4 / 60 min	The theatre of emotions	- small sheets of paper (8/8 cm) - writing tools (pencils, pens, etc.) - CD player & music
Understanding emotions	Verbally expressing more subtle emotional information Discovering how different emotions may combine Developing emotional vocabulary	5 / 60 min	The Flower of Feelings	- A3 sheets of paper - flower petals (6/9 cm) of colored paper); paper circles (4 cm diameter) - glue; crayons - CD player & music
	Correctly identifying the others’ emotions, their verbal expression, Discovering how an emotion changes over time Developing the ability to understand the cause of various emotions	6 / 60 min	Messages to the other	- writing tools (pencils, pens, etc.) - small sheets of paper (8/8 cm) - A3 sheets of paper where incomplete sentences are written - CD player & music
Managing emotions	Developing the ability to work with an emotion in a thoughtful manner, Assessing objectively the personal resources, Recognizing one’s own vulnerabilities and taking responsibility for their own success in relation to others	7 / 60 min	The clover of success	- writing tools (pencils, pens, etc.) - A3 sheets of paper - CD player & music
	Identifying one’s own emotions, their verbal and / or non-verbal expression, Manifesting team spirit Analyzing the personal benefits arising from attending the group meetings	8 / 60 min	Farewell thoughts	- CD-player & 4 music tracks - A3 sheets of paper - writing tools (pencils, pens, etc.) - 4 numbered A3 sheets of paper

Appndix B Detailed Description of the Techniques used in the Programme for the Development of Emotional Intelligence in Adolescents

(1) “The Emotion Puppet”.

The participants were seated in a circle and were tasked to focus on themselves and identify the emotion they were experiencing while listening for 10 min to relaxing music in the background. After, they had to write the name of the emotion on one of the sheets of paper received, taking care not to let the others see what they wrote. In the next step, each of the participants had to shape their puppet to express the affective state identified until they considered that it accurately expressed the desired emotion. Then, taking turns, each participant showed his/her puppet to the group while the other participants had to identify the emotion expressed by the puppet and write it on a piece of paper. These pieces of paper were shuffled, handed to the focal participant, who read all the notes and commented on them. The exercise continued until all participants shaped their puppets and presented it to the group. At the end of the activity, participants had to answer the following questions:

- What helped you to identify your own emotion and then express it?

- What caused difficulties in identifying your own emotion and/or in expressing it?

- What did you like? What did you dislike?

- How did you feel to be in the shoes of the person who modeled the puppet?

- How did it feel when the other participants identified your emotions correctly (or not)?

The answers to these questions were discussed in a group.

(2) “The story of the three faces”.

Participants were placed in a circle and had to listen to relaxing music in the background. After, participants had been asked to connect to their emotional states and identify the emotion they were experiencing. Later on, they had to draw on a sheet of paper a face that best expressed their own emotions. After, they had to imagine themselves being in front of an audience of strangers to debate orally over a vital subject for them, capitalizing on their qualities and arguments. Next, they had to identify the emotion they experienced and draw on another sheet of paper a face that expressed that emotion. Upon completion of the drawing, the participants were invited to imagine that it was evening and they were in their bedroom preparing to go to sleep while recalling the events that took place on that day and that had influenced them. Then, they were asked to take a third sheet of paper and draw a face picturing the emotional state they were experiencing at that time of the evening. Participants were then invited to review their three drawings and create a story to include them. Each participant’s three drawings and stories were exhibited on the walls, and all participants had to take the tour of the gallery and note down the three emotions they identified in each of the groupings. Each artist received and read all the notes about their grouping and commented on them in a group discussion. Finally, participants were challenged to answer the following questions:

- What helped you identify your own emotions and then express them?

- What caused difficulties in identifying your own emotions and/or in expressing them?

- How did you feel when you read the emotions written by the other participants?

- What did you like? What did you dislike?

The answers to these questions were discussed in a group.

(3) “Palm reading”.

This activity started with teenagers being invited to place their left hand on a sheet of paper and draw its outline (left-handed participants had to outline their right hand). Each participant also wrote his/her name on a small piece of paper and placed it in a box on the table. Later, they were asked to walk through the room for 10 min listening to music and looking closely at the other colleagues: how were they dressed (heavy or light clothing)?, what colors did they observe (whether colors were predominant, diverse or if they matched), what was their body position and dynamics (did they walk calmly and quietly through the room or were they agitated, gesticulating, moving their arms without a particular purpose)? If they felt the need, they were allowed to touch their colleagues to see if they had a cold or warm hand, delicate or rough skin, and so on. Then, they randomly extracted a sheet of paper from the box on the table. Looking at the name of the participant on the extracted paper, they had to write down five emotions characteristic to that person, each on one of the fingers of the drawn hand, under which they would write the name of the participant thus characterized. The sheets were gathered by the facilitator (experimenter), who read aloud the five emotions written on each hand; the participants had to guess whose emotions belonged to whom. After all the palms were read and all participants identified, they were challenged to answer the following questions:

- What helped you identify your colleague’s emotion and then express it?

- What caused difficulties in identifying your colleague’s emotion and/or in expressing it?

- What did you like about this exercise? What did you dislike?

- How did you feel when you filled in your colleague’s palm? What about when the palm made for you by a colleague was being presented?

- How did it feel when the other participants identified you correctly or not?

The answers to these questions were discussed in a group.

(4) “The theatre of emotions”.

For this activity, small sheets of paper were prepared, with drawings of different parts of the body (eyes, hands, mouth, nose, face, arms, the whole body) and various adolescent life situations written on them, i.e.:

- “Imagine that you want very much to hold a surprise party for a friend, and you need to decorate your room. What kind of mood would be most useful for the decoration to be a success and for the friend to be happy?”;

- “Imagine that you want to prepare a surprise dinner for someone dear to you. You wish to prepare a new, complicated recipe that demands time and energy. What kind of mood would be most useful for the dinner to be a success and the person invited by you to be happy?”;

- “Imagine that you have been assigned to compose a song to represent you. What state of mind would be useful to you throughout the creative process?”;

- “Imagine needing to mediate a conflict between three younger students in your school. Each of them presents his own story that differs greatly from the others’. It is imperative to get all the details of the event and to analyze every action of those involved. What state of mind might help you identify what caused the conflict among the students?”;

- “Imagine taking part in a competition with other groups of teenagers; you have prepared for the competition for the past three months. A week before the contest day, one of your teammates, whom you rely on heavily, tells you that for reasons independent of him, he cannot participate in the contest. What state(s) could help choose the best strategy to win the contest?”;

Participants were asked to randomly extract two sheets of paper: one with a situation and one with a part of the body. After that, each participant was invited to mimic the emotion noted on the first note, using only the part of the body indicated on the second note. The rest of the participants were asked to identify the mimicked emotional state. The activity went on until all the situations were exhausted and all the participants were involved.

(5) “The Flower of Feelings”.

On a table, several paper circles of 4 cm in diameter, that had various feelings written (i.e., worry, love, wonder, anticipation, gratitude, acceptance, contempt, guilt, rage, shame, hate, disappointment, remorse, calm, jealousy, restlessness, nostalgia) were placed face down. Groups of 3–5 participants were formed and each received one A3 sheet of paper, flower petals made of colored paper, and glue. Each group chose a circle from the table. The chosen circle was glued to the A3 sheet as the center of a flower that had to be built by the team. The group members were asked to think of emotions that would be combined to create the feeling depicted on the flower center, to write these emotions on petals and to glue them around the center. They were then invited to identify a creative way of presenting their “flower of feelings” and to challenge their colleagues to experience the emotions they identified. Finally, they discussed how easy or hard it was to identify the component emotions of the target feeling and what was perceived as helpful or as difficult in this process.

(6) “Messages to the other”.

Small sheets of paper on which various emotions were written (shame, overwhelm, intimidation, surprise, confusion, disgust, humiliation, contentment, anger, annoyance, envy, jealousy, contempt, concern, happiness, restlessness, disappointment, remorse, insecurity, pride, admiration, love, evil, depression, happiness). In groups of four, each group had designated a representative who randomly extracted one sheet of paper that had emotions written. The representative read the emotion carefully, but without the other colleagues seeing it; he/she was then challenged to recall in as much detail as possible a situation when he/she had experienced the target emotion, and to describe the situation to the other 3 group members. The rest of the groups were asked to listen carefully to their colleague’s presentation and then, individually, to finish each of the following sentences: “Now when you tell me this story, I think you feel…”, “I think you need...”, “I think you need...and that makes me...”. The storyteller listened to all his/her colleagues’ messages and then offered feedback (to each of them) by completing and verbalizing the sentence: “I now need...“, “I now need...and that makes me...”, “I want you to...”, and “I do not want you to...”.

(7) “The clover of success”.

This activity started with the idea that the four-leaf clover brings good luck. Participants were grouped into groups of 4–5 people. They were asked to draw the outline of a four-leaf clover and one person in each group extracted a sheet of paper with an emotion written on it (happiness, fulfillment, anger, worry, dissatisfaction, joy, sadness, surprise, disgust, confusion, humility, regret, pride, admiration, envy, jealousy, contempt, annoyance). The participants were asked to recall (in as much detail as possible) a situation when they experienced that emotion and fill in their clover as follows:

- on the first petal, they wrote 2–3 of their qualities that helped them use that emotion in making a decision or solving a pressing problem;

- on the second petal, they wrote 2–3 personal weaknesses that may create difficulties in capitalizing on that emotion in making a decision or solving a problem;

- on the third petal, they wrote three goals (achievable on the short, medium and respectively long term) for developing their ability to work with the emotion logically and rationally and not to react under its influence without thinking about its results or consequences;

- on the fourth petal, the other group members wrote each 1–2 behaviors noticed in the clover’s owner, which would likely help him/her to achieve his/her goals.

Subsequently, participants read each their clovers and wrote under them the first idea that came to their minds (e.g., words, suggestions, proverbs). Finally, the participants discussed to what extent personal success was determined by chance and what other factors could have been involved, underlining the necessity to assume responsibility for one’s success or failure in their relationships with others.

(8) “Farewell thoughts”.

For the last activity, four musical pieces of different genres were prepared, as stimuli that challenged participants to reflect. Four numbered A3 sheets of paper were also provided. The participants were invited to walk through the room, listen to the musical piece that was playing and reflect on the past activities they had with the development group. The musical pieces were played one after the other. After the first song was over, each participant was invited to write on the respective sheet of paper the first word that came to mind. This was repeated with songs 2, 3, and 4. Four groups were then formed; each group received one of the four sheets of paper and was asked to create feedback for the activity in the form of a story, poetry, play or dialogue, using all the words, and then to present the feedback. Finally, each group was asked to choose an emotion that would be common and illustrative for the whole group, and to express it non-verbally, forming a statue from their bodies.