Emotional communication: What it is, characteristics and 7 keys to improve it

Communication is the act of transmitting a message to another person, who must decipher it and grasp the content of the message. This process can be verbal or non-verbal. The message that is transmitted through the communicative process can be of various kinds, that is, we can transmit information, feelings, emotions, etc.

In this Psychology-Online article, we will focus on the emotional communication: what it is, its characteristics, its importance and how to improve it.

Index

1. What is emotional communication
2. Characteristics of emotional communication
3. Importance of emotional communication
4. How to improve emotional communication
5. Advantages and disadvantages of emotional communication
6. Examples of emotional communication

Emotional communication is based on transmission of emotions to another or other people. That is, it is about including emotions in the transmission of our message so that communication is more effective. Emotional communication can take place through a verbal message, physical contact, gesture, or non-verbal expression. The use of emotions in communication

To be able to put emotional communication into practice, it is necessary to be able to recognize, name and manage our own emotionsas well as taking into account the emotions of others.

Thanks to the use of emotional communication, we can transmit our own emotions to others, adapting the message to how its recipients feel. To communicate emotionally, either verbally or non-verbally, and / or in person or remotely, you have to gradually modify the physical contact, the tone and the intention of the message.

Among the main characteristics of emotional communication, we find:

• Transmission of a verbal or non-verbal message through a spoken message or through physical contact, from a subjective perspective, since it is used to express how we feel and be able to understand too how others feel.
• Use of emotional verbs how to charm, surprise, anger, bore, disappoint, etc.
• Mood is included and our self-esteem, insecurities, social skills and affective.
• Emotional communication focuses on describing how we feel, defining behaviors rather than people, and focusing on reaching mutual understanding.

Emotional communication is important not only for each person individually, but also for the whole of society:

• The fact that we communicate emotionally helps to enhance empathy, respect and mutual understanding.
• This type of communication is really relevant so that we can understand the other, avoiding unnecessary arguments, conflicts and altercations that usually arise from the lack of knowledge about the emotional state of the other. For example, in the field of couple relationships it could make us feel loved, in the family nucleus it would allow convey gratitude to our parents, and / or in the school sector show teachers when we feel overrun.
• Our interlocutor will open up and be more honest with us due to what is called "emotional contagion", that is, by exposing our feelings, the other person will feel comfortable and unconsciously will do the same and show us their feelings from her.
• Our actions are much more justified, since others will understand that emotions are what have led us to act in a certain way.

There are several keys that can help us improve emotional communication, among them the following stand out:

1. Reflect before beginning to speak: it is necessary that we identify how we feel before transmitting the message in order to focus on what emotion we want to accompany our message.
2. Use eye contact: the fact of looking into each other's eyes when we communicate with someone is a key factor to transmit not only the content of the message, but also how we feel, as well as being able to perceive how the other.
3. Take charge of your own emotions: It is essential that we also allow ourselves to experience negative emotions and avoid the tendency to constantly blame the other for how we feel.
4. Respect: respect is the basis of any type of communication, since it allows both interlocutors to feel comfortable and confident to continue communicating despite the content and emotion associated with the message being of a negative.
5. Integra: that the people who participate in the communicative act feel part of it and with the right to intervene. It is essential for communication to be fluid and reciprocal.
6. Avoid judging: You do not always have to understand how the other feels, but you do have to accept that they are their feelings and that we do not have the right to criticize what makes them feel something, someone or some situation.
7. Use emotional verbs: the fact of using verbs that convey emotion by itself is a very useful tool to improve the way we communicate emotionally. Some examples of emotional verbs are: anger, cheer, feel, anger, like, make nervous, surprise, enchant, sadden, etc.

Emotional communication has many advantages, but also some disadvantages.

Between the advantages stand out:

• The development of social, affective, coping, empathy, respect and understanding skills.
• It helps to avoid conflicts and arguments, thus reducing all types of violence.
• It allows us to improve our self-esteem, reduce the number of insecurities, gain self-confidence and improve our mental health.
• It helps us improve the quality of our interpersonal relationships, achieve certain goals and share more in depth with our loved ones.

However, emotional communication also has certain disadvantages as they can be:

• The fact of being rejected.
• That the other person is not able to put themselves in our place.
• That they judge us by how we feel and / or that we generate insecurities.

There are endless examples of emotional communication. Some of these examples are: smiles, knowing glances, a hug, a kiss, caresses or the expression of some desire.

In the case of kisses, they can be used to show affection to a relative or passion to your partner.

Hugs can show understanding when the other person experiences a painful situation. A very specific example is the skin-to-skin contact that mothers make with their babies when they are born, it is a form of emotional communication in the one that mothers transmit all their love and happiness to their babies with only physical contact, without the need to share a common language.

This article is merely informative, in Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.

If you want to read more articles similar to Emotional communication: what it is, characteristics and how to improve it, we recommend that you enter our category of Emotions.

• Gutiérrez Tapias, M., & García Cué, J. L. (2015). Emotional communication, a necessity for a society in crisis. In I International Congress of Emotional Expression and Communication (CIECE) (2015), p 397-408. Sevilla University. Available in: https://idus.us.es/bitstream/handle/11441/48255/CIECE_36.pdf? sequence = 1 & isAllowed = y
• Bucci, W. (2001). Paths of emotional communication. Psychoanalytic Openings, 10. Available in: https://aperturas.org/articulo.php? item = 0000189