Do you respect Emotional Integrity to the same Degree you Respect the Right to Differing Views?

I learned through hundreds of hours of therapy, that every person's feelings are valid to them, no matter what you think of it. No matter how illogical, it is how they feel. Similarly, your thoughts are valid to you, no matter how they feel about them. So, I have tried to condition myself to respect thoughts and feelings equally in my personal life. Not always easy to feel, but at least I'm logically trying LOL

Tough question to plow through. First of all, I use "I think," and "I feel" interchangeably, depending to whom I am speaking. I want them to believe that I identify with what they are thinking and/or feeling. I mirror them, so to speak. I try to make a connection so that I can be more persuasive. Your question as posed, did not make me connect the terminology issue addressed above, with either emotional integrity, or with the concept of respecting the rights of people to differing views. I believe emotional integrity is a bit of an oxymoron, because integrity implies a constant, whereas emotion implies constant evolution. I do believe people have the right to have different views without being labeled, intimidated or belittled.

I see no difference really, in what a person expresses, no matter whether they preface it with the word "feel" or the word "think." This delineation owes more to semantic nit-picking than to anything substantive. What bothers me is so many people - perhaps even a majority - are not saying anything in either case that comes from their own (often woefully inadequate) ability to make judgements of their own, and involves merely parroting what they've been told to think and/or feel by their favorite propaganda organ. Repeat it enough times and you can get Americans to believe hogs can pole vault.

I tend to empathize with others far more readily than anything else. If someone says "I feel," I fully respect that...to feel something is a very real experience for the person who feels it. And yes, it's to be respected. You can argue academic, philosophical, theological, ethical, and other readily debatable points- but you can't argue with feelings....they are what they are- and for each and every person they are meaningful and valid.

This is an interesting question because it's caused me to examine how I value emotional versus intellectual feedback. I suspect that the value I allocate to emotional feedback depends on the situation. If we're talking about something that is considered subjective, such as opinions about a restaurant, or your initial impressions of a new person at your office, then it might be a lot easier to discuss it in terms that don't require empirical proof. ("I feel" statements simply being the product of your emotional responses and requiring little outside corroboration.) In these situations, the result is a cumulative pooling of opinions and not necessarily something requiring action. However, in an instance where there is a metric for deciding on a right or wrong answer, I might take feelings into consideration, but I probably won't make my decision on them. For instance, two candidates are in front of me for a promotion to senior account director (there are several at any time in my line of work). Both have five years' middle management experience and both have similar degrees. However, Candidate A has managed a large team on several different types of accounts, and B has only managed one small team on one account. I need someone with a specific experience history that encapsulates all of A's accounts, so I promote A. B says to me, "I feel like I should have been promoted, because I believe I've done what's required and I feel like I've been loyal and worked hard for the same amount of time." Emotionally, I may sympathize with B's frustration. I could also understand that the jobs B chose may not have lined them up for the same opportunities. But, intellectually and empirically, I know that B just did not meet part of the specific criteria for promotion. So I can respect that B's feelings of frustration are valid, and advise them to try for another, more suitable promotion, but I can't attribute more weight to their feelings than to the requirements of the task I have to fulfill.

We can say we feel strongly about something. We cannot say we think strongly about something. There is nothing wrong with acknowledging an emotional response in an opinion, just as long as it is clear that it is not a 'fact' in any wider sense

(BIG EDIT : I just realised that I didn't answer your question .. just went about answering ... SORRY ,guess that's what happens when you start answering questions when you're tired :) sorry ) answering Honestly .. NOT ALWAYS .. there are some things That i can accept differing opinions .. and I will even argue that i can understand such opinions despite not agreeing with them ..... HOWEVER .. when it comes to ethics and morality .. there are some things that based on what I believe and feel .. that I simply can not respect the right to hold such a differing opinion ... to explain .. I will give two examples .. If a person was to say to me that they believed that their should be no legal minimum of age of consent( infact if they said that they believed a very small child could be enaged in adult behaviour..... I COULD NOT accept their right to hold such an opinion .....and I would argue like nothing you have seen with them about How I felt their opinion was wrong .... another example involves the settling of a family estate .. under no circumstance could I support the opinion of one relative who believes another ( n.b a loyal caring and loving ) family member is NOT entitled to a share in that estate...While I may not want to risk upsetting other family members .. I can guarantee my actions would be indication enough to show that I have NO respect for their opinion ( and this is something I have done ... ) If it is a matter of politics or economics . .while I might engage in a debate .. most times I will think " yeah that's ok I disagree .. but THAT'S YOUR OPINION " I know you shouldn't judge or condemn .. and most times I won't if it only affects me .. BUT if it affects somebody else . .either somebody who is vunerable or somebody deserving .. THEN i become intolerant of SOME opinions

In all honesty, I probably honor emotional integrity to a higher degree than intellectual integrity. When someone says "I think" than it is almost always an opening to debate an issue on which I disagree or to explore new areas, ect. However, since it is almost impossible to debate a person's feelings (for right or wrong, they are what they are) when someone says "I feel" that is the end all for me. I will question why a person feels a certain way, see if they can explain what experiences led to those emotions. In the end though, I feel wins out over I think any day.

I respect people and listen to those who's approach is open, non-combative, calm, rational etc. If someone is explaining a feeling or a thought, I don't think I would disrespect one over another, besides, lots of people mix the two up.