We Are Emotionally Aware (Level 1)
Key Takeaways
- We are emotionally aware means understanding yourself, colleagues, and the public, managing your own emotions under pressure, and seeking support so you can thrive.
- Level 1 behaviours include compassionate, tailored communication; recognising stress limits; adapting style to emotional needs; and seeking to understand concerns even when people cannot express them clearly.
- On the SJT, rate higher actions that listen, de-escalate, and tailor communication; rate lower dismissive, harsh, or emotionally reactive options.
- Emotional awareness is assessed on both the Situational Judgement Test and the Behavioural Styles Questionnaire as one of the six CVF competencies.
- Seeking support and recognising when a situation may affect your ability to cope are strengths under this competency, not weaknesses.
Definition: We Are Emotionally Aware
In CVF 2024, We are emotionally aware is about understanding ourselves, colleagues, and the public; managing our own emotions so we remain effective under stress; seeking support so we can thrive; being sensitive to cultural and individual differences; and considering people’s thoughts, feelings, and concerns when we choose how to respond.
It is not “being soft,” suppressing all feeling, or claiming you never get stressed. It is professional emotional skill: notice what is going on inside you and around you, stay effective, treat people as humans, and ask for help when that is the professional choice.
| Element | What it means in practice |
|---|---|
| Self-understanding | You notice your own triggers, stress signs, and biases before they drive your behaviour |
| Understanding others | You try to read colleagues’ and the public’s feelings, concerns, and cultural or individual context |
| Emotion management under pressure | You stay effective when a situation is heated, sad, chaotic, or personally difficult |
| Support-seeking | You ask for help, debrief, or guidance so you can perform and recover |
| Sensitivity to difference | You do not assume one “normal” emotional style; culture, disability, trauma, age, and personality matter |
| Response shaped by others’ inner world | You design your words and actions with people’s thoughts, feelings, and concerns in mind |
Why This Competency Matters in Policing
Policing work regularly involves fear, anger, grief, intoxication, mental ill health, conflict, and mistrust. Emotionally aware practice:
- produces a better understanding of needs (what this person actually requires right now)
- supports polite, compassionate conduct that builds public trust
- builds resilience — not by never feeling stress, but by managing it and using support
- helps you support colleagues who are struggling, which is part of a healthy team culture
On the national sift you will not be tested on clinical psychology. You will be tested on whether you recognise effective human handling of emotion in ordinary scenarios: a difficult member of the public, a stressed teammate, a tense misunderstanding, or your own rising frustration.
Level 1 (Practitioner) Example Behaviours
These Level 1 examples are the recognition patterns for the sift. They are illustrative, not an exhaustive script.
- Communicate effectively and compassionately, and tailor your message so it is easily understood.
- Understand and manage your own emotions so you remain effective under pressure.
- Seek out support so you can perform effectively.
- Recognise that some situations might affect your ability to deal with stress — and act on that insight.
- Adapt your style and approach by understanding the emotional needs of people and the public.
- Seek to understand the concerns of others even when they cannot express those concerns clearly.
What each behaviour looks like
| Level 1 behaviour | Everyday / sift-style example |
|---|---|
| Compassionate, tailored communication | Explains next steps in plain language; slows down for someone distressed; avoids jargon |
| Manage own emotions under pressure | Notices rising irritation and chooses a calm, firm tone instead of sarcasm or shouting |
| Seek support | Asks a supervisor or trusted colleague for advice after a difficult encounter; uses welfare routes appropriately |
| Recognise stress limits | Admits a personal link to a situation may impair judgement and seeks a check or temporary support |
| Adapt to emotional needs | Softens pace for a frightened person; sets clearer boundaries for someone aggressive while staying respectful |
| Understand unclear concerns | Patiently asks open questions, reflects back what you think you heard, and checks understanding |
SJT Recognition Patterns
On the Situational Judgement Test you rate how effective each action would be. Emotional awareness strongly influences those ratings.
Signals that usually rate higher (effective)
- Listening first before deciding or correcting
- De-escalating emotionally charged moments (calm tone, space, structure, acknowledgement)
- Tailoring communication so the person can understand (language, pace, medium, simplicity)
- Acknowledging feelings without improperly agreeing to an impossible demand
- Managing your own reaction when provoked (no mockery, no revenge tone)
- Seeking understanding when someone is confused, non-verbal, distressed, or hard to follow
- Getting appropriate support when stress, trauma, or personal impact would reduce effectiveness
- Adapting for vulnerability, cultural context, disability, or communication difference
Signals that usually rate lower (counterproductive)
- Dismissive responses (“just calm down,” “not my problem,” “you’re overreacting”)
- Harsh or humiliating language aimed at winning the moment
- Emotionally reactive behaviour (snapping, matching aggression, personal insults)
- One-size-fits-all delivery that ignores obvious distress or communication needs
- Ignoring a colleague’s struggle or a public person’s fear because the task feels urgent
- Refusing all support and “pushing through” when it clearly risks poor decisions or harm
- Assuming intent from tone alone without checking understanding
Balance points candidates miss
Emotional awareness is not:
- agreeing with every demand to keep someone happy
- abandoning safety or lawful process because someone is upset
- oversharing your own emotions in a way that burdens the public
- taking over someone else’s emotional life or “rescuing” without boundaries
Strong options often combine compassion with clarity: acknowledge the feeling, explain what you can and cannot do, keep the interaction safe and fair.
How This Competency Appears on the BSQ
The Behavioural Styles Questionnaire assesses all six competencies (and the three values). Statements that map to emotional awareness often sound like:
- I stay calm and effective when situations become heated.
- I try hard to understand people even when they struggle to explain themselves.
- I adapt how I communicate depending on how someone is feeling.
- I ask for support when pressure is affecting my performance.
- I notice my own emotional reactions and manage them at work.
Prepare by reflecting on real examples from work, study, volunteering, sport, or family settings. Credible answers show consistent people skill under pressure, not a claim that you never feel stress or always fix everyone instantly.
Mini Scenarios (Recognition Practice)
Scenario A — Distressed member of the public
A person is speaking fast, tearful, and looping between anger and panic. A colleague mutters that they are “wasting time.”
| Action idea | Emotional awareness read |
|---|---|
| Tell them to calm down and get to the point | Low — dismissive; escalates |
| Match their volume so they “respect authority” | Low — emotionally reactive |
| Acknowledge distress, slow the conversation, use plain language, check you understand their main concern | High — compassion, tailor, understand unclear concern |
| Walk away because emotion is not “operational” | Low — ignores needs and trust |
Scenario B — Your own pressure
You are exhausted after a difficult day and a colleague’s comment nearly makes you snap in front of others.
| Action idea | Emotional awareness read |
|---|---|
| Snap back so they learn not to push you | Low — unmanaged emotion |
| Stay silent while fuming and later take it out on a member of the public | Low — unmanaged and displaced |
| Pause, regulate, respond professionally; if needed, seek a short break or support so you stay effective | High — manage self; seek support |
| Pretend nothing affects you and refuse any welfare conversation forever | Low — denies stress limits |
Scenario C — Unclear concern
Someone keeps saying “it’s not fair” but cannot name what they want. A teammate suggests ignoring them until they “make sense.”
| Action idea | Emotional awareness read |
|---|---|
| Ignore until they produce a perfect statement | Low |
| Guess their demand and act without checking | Risky/low — may miss the real concern |
| Patiently explore, restate, and check understanding before acting | High |
| Mock their confusion privately with the team | Low — disrespectful and corrosive |
Link to the National Sift
| Assessment | How “We are emotionally aware” appears |
|---|---|
| SJT | All six competencies, including this one, are assessed at Level 1. Rate actions for effectiveness using listening, de-escalation, tailored communication, and self-management as high-value signals. |
| BSQ | Statements probe how you typically handle emotion, stress, difference, and interpersonal sensitivity. |
You do not need to name the competency in the exam. You need to recognise emotionally aware behaviour and prefer it over dismissive or reactive alternatives when you rate actions or describe yourself honestly.
Common Traps
- Equating professionalism with emotional coldness. Detachment that ignores distress is not Level 1 excellence.
- Equating empathy with compliance. You can understand someone and still say no firmly and kindly.
- Treating support-seeking as failure. At Level 1, seeking support to perform effectively is a positive behaviour.
- Judging only by politeness scripts. Polite words without real listening or adaptation can still be weak.
- Over-identifying. Absorbing every emotion and losing effectiveness is not the same as awareness.
Mental Checklist for SJT Items
When an option involves people under stress, ask:
- Does this listen and try to understand (including unclear concerns)?
- Does it manage my emotion rather than dump it on others?
- Does it adapt tone, pace, or style to the person’s emotional needs?
- Does it use support appropriately when stress would impair performance?
- Does it stay respectful and effective rather than dismissive or harsh?
If the answer is mostly yes, the action is often a stronger effectiveness rating under this competency.
Which definition best matches the CVF 2024 competency We are emotionally aware?
In an SJT scenario, a member of the public is distressed and struggling to explain what happened. Which action best reflects Level 1 emotional awareness?
A colleague is clearly struggling after a difficult incident. You also feel affected. Which response best shows emotional awareness?
On the national sift, how is We are emotionally aware assessed?