Interpersonal Intelligence In Children – Being Parents

Interpersonal intelligence in children is a very special type of ability. This is so since most people have retained it during childhood.

The key to understanding the importance of interpersonal intelligence in children is that it is a skill that many of us are born with. However, few are those who maintain this ability into adulthood. 

That’s why we want to tell you what interpersonal intelligence is and how you can develop it in children.

What is interpersonal intelligence in children?

Interpersonal intelligence is one  of the skills included in Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences. It is a model of intelligence classification that has had a major impact on the teaching systems of many educational centers.

To return to the topic that interests us, interpersonal intelligence is the ability to understand the emotions and behavior of others as well as the ability to communicate effectively with others.

It seems to be a trivial type of intelligence compared to mathematical or logical intelligence for example. However,  the quality of life of those who are gifted in interpersonal intelligence  is generally much better than that of others.

When we were children, most of us were very sensitive to the emotions and situations of our loved ones. We had great insight to detect the mood of our parents or siblings.

We could do this only by talking to them. It is a skill that many adults have completely lost.

This may sound a bit far-fetched to you. Nevertheless, our brain during childhood is much more powerful at perceiving any external stimulus. This allows the child to improve his learning about his external environment. This is a biologically important aspect for its development.

In addition, we cannot ignore that as children we  trust more easily to create social bonds. This is a characteristic that is very present in successful people: politicians, celebrities, CEOs, heads of state, etc.

Interpersonal intelligence can determine your children’s success as adults

Academic instruction is a fundamental factor in the development of any child. But this is not the only factor for success. Although difficult to imagine, education  does not guarantee professional success. But its lack guarantees on the contrary the opposite.

A good education and the hallmark of high interpersonal intelligence can be a big difference for an individual.

Knowing what to say at a certain point can be the difference between getting that desired job, the partner of your dreams, or becoming a leader who can manage and lead other talents to a certain goal and get nothing at all.

This can turn out to be a somewhat blunt comment for some people. Nevertheless, empirically, it is easy to find that despite the importance of intelligence,  it is nothing if it is not accompanied by a good level of interpersonal skills. 

The good news is that it is possible to develop interpersonal intelligence at any age. However, we will focus on its development and consolidation during childhood.

What is interpersonal intelligence used for?

Day-to-day, interpersonal intelligence allows us to:

• Resolve conflicts. Whether it is our own or those of others. This is noticeable from childhood.
• Maintain a more professional image in everything you do. It does not imply better knowledge than others. They nevertheless demonstrate a controlled use of each skill:
  • Team work.
  • Respect for the opinion of the other.
  • Make any professional environment more harmonious.
• Knowing how to understand and assimilate the experiences of others. They show themselves to be really happy with the success of others and are united in all circumstances.
• Be good leaders.  They know exactly what to say to an employee to motivate or correct them, without humiliating them.

• Understand others.  They are seen as good advisers.

Interpersonal intelligence is not just the ability to make friends. It is virtue that makes others really want to become this friend. It is being able to brighten the day of our loved ones and make our presence an added value in our professional environment.

This ability gives us courage hard to match and the ability to open the door to many opportunities at all levels.

You should start to know how to develop emotional intelligence in children. You will be able to focus your way of educating on this aspect.

How to contribute to the development of interpersonal intelligence in children

The development of interpersonal intelligence in children, like its maintenance, is based on activities brought about by different experiences of interaction. All rather intense experiences – in emotion, joy, sadness or fear – can be recorded in childhood.

This allows the brain to codify  a good part of the behaviors that they will express in adulthood. Sometimes, we even forget the event that caused the said behavior.

The great news is that a child’s brain is neutral when it comes to learning and structuring the important information received during this stage. Thus, from childhood, he can acquire habits of assertiveness, trust, honesty, etc. These will continue into adulthood.

Here are some activities to develop interpersonal intelligence in children:

• Theater. Participating in a work – at school or at home – allows a better development of the plasticity of aptitudes. This will help him improve his responses to stimuli. He will thus be able to have better social interaction.

• Play to imitate. Playing at home imitating family members or cartoon characters is a fun way to learn and develop interpersonal intelligence.
  
• New friendships.  Camps, sports activities and any social interaction situation. This is a great way for your child to begin to understand and assimilate other points of view, the rules of community life that are different from those at school or at home.

Main key to the stimulation of interpersonal skills in children

Interpersonal intelligence in children can be developed in many ways. The ideal is  to expose the child to new interactions, to new experiences. These are the ones that are engraved in his mind thanks to the incredible learning capacity of children.

Nevertheless, interpersonal intelligence can perfectly be developed in adulthood. For example, this can occur during the acquisition of a second language.

The level of articulation of a language other than the mother tongue will largely depend on the age at which we learn it. One will notice a strong foreign accent among those who learn it late. In children, on the contrary, the accent will be practically native if they learn it at this age.