The 5 things people with high emotional intelligence are likely to do

Good communication is a high sign of emotional intelligence (REX Features)

If you have high emotional intelligence, it suggest that you are good at recognising your emotions and the emotions of those around you.

You use this intelligence to influence your behaviour - if someone around you is upset, you’ll be comforting, or if someone is angry you’ll try and be a calming influence.

There are however some characteristics and actions that those with high emotional intelligence won’t do, which may differ from those who have an average level of EQ.

In a thread on Quora, some users discussed the various behaviours of those with high emotional understanding, and which were less common for those without.

1. Listening and speaking

Brian Bain wrote that people with high EQ were "quick to listen and slow to speak", showing an awareness of the other person in a conversation.

2. Stepping back

Another user, Paul Denlinger, explained that sometimes exhibiting good emotional intelligence means taking a step back: "The best example of emotional intelligence is keeping quiet when one is unsure of the situation, and just watching, observing and listening to others."

3. Managing emotions

Akanksha Ujjawal argues that self-control is a good indicator of a person with high EI. She says: "They are good at managing their emotions before they burst up like a volcano. They understand human emotions are very strong and cannot be neglected, and they handle them swiftly."

4. A sense of humour

A controlled sense of humour was something that Venkatesh Rao thought was an important aspect of EI. He argued that "people who turn everything into a joke and people who never laugh are seriously low on EI. This includes comedians in their non-performance parts of life."

5. Feedback

Hans Jacobsen argued that "accepting feedback" could signal the quality of someone’s emotional capacity. He wrote: "Make it clear to people that you are open to feedback, and that you want feedback," and "listen attentively".

"Even if the feedback is yelling, or completely wrong. It is about hearing, and making sure the other person knows they are heard," he added.