Spirituality and Emotional Intelligence

8

Behavioral Science Meets the Toltec Mayans

Although they never met, John Wallen and don Miguel Ruiz are clearly kindred spirits. With their writing, both illuminate the power that subjective perception holds over our emotional lives. Wallen drew the process this way:

Figure 8.1The Interpersonal Gap.

A difference between intent and impact equals a “gap.”

Filter #1: Sender’s beliefs and habits regarding how to translate intentions into words and actions.

Filter #2: Receiver’s interpretation/judgment (beliefs/theories/stories) about what sender’s behavior really means.

In short, Wallen’s theory is that each of us has intentions in every interaction ...