ERIC Number: EJ1297531
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2021-Jun
Pages: 12
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-2379-2981
EISSN: N/A
Using Improvisation to Develop Emotional Intelligence
Shivarajan, Sridevi; Andrews, Rick
Management Teaching Review, v6 n2 p152-163 Jun 2021
Emotional intelligence (EI) is emerging as critical to success in today's workplaces. Business schools must, therefore, equip students with techniques to develop their emotional intelligence. EI is learnable, and research indicates that active and experiential approaches are more effective in developing EI than lecture-based methods. We, therefore, suggest that the highly engaging style of improvisational theater can be used as an effective training technique to develop EI. Furthermore, improv's foundational "yes-and" principle requires participants to listen nonjudgmentally and actively support each other. We present six improvisational exercises that will enable students to identify and develop some of the social skills relevant to EI, namely, empathy, collaboration, and understanding the emotional cues of others. Our detailed instructions to run and debrief the exercises ensure that instructors with no prior experience with improvisational theater can also easily use them in their classes.
Descriptors: Creative Activities, Emotional Intelligence, Training Methods, Skill Development, Listening Skills, Interpersonal Competence, Empathy, Cooperation, Cues, Experiential Learning, Interpersonal Relationship, Educational Games, College Students, Business Administration Education
SAGE Publications. 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320. Tel: 800-818-7243; Tel: 805-499-9774; Fax: 800-583-2665; e-mail: journals@sagepub.com; Web site: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2814
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A