Here’s what it is, and why it can be helpful.
Have you ever noticed that you were especially good at reading the mood of a room or picking up on body language? Or, perhaps, you feel the exact opposite — knowing how others are feeling from just a glance or a couple of words feels difficult, if not impossible.
Knowing this information about yourself is integral to understanding what kind of person you are. Maybe you want to work on how you interact with others or become a better leader, or you’re simply curious about how emotionally intelligent you are.
This is where the emotional intelligence test comes in. We’re all familiar with the idea of the intelligence quotient (IQ), which measures how well one reasons and problem solves, but what about how well you understand your own emotions and the emotions of those around you?
What is emotional intelligence?
You may think emotional intelligence is understanding why you cry at sad movies or why the idea of getting dessert can make you so happy — but it’s really a lot more than that. The idea of emotional intelligence has been around for a while, but it hasn’t always been considered an essential part of psychology. In 1964, Michael Beldoch, Ph.D., identified the term “emotional intelligence” in his paper “Sensitivity to Expression of Emotional Meaning in Three Modes of Communication,” but the term didn’t gain popularity until the late 1990s. Today, it’s often used to judge “the individual differences in the perception, processing, regulation, and utilization of emotional information.”
Commonly, researchers use five main skills to assess emotional intelligence: recognizing, understanding, labeling, expressing, and regulating. Not only are these skills evaluated during the EQ test, but they can also be taught to help “improve” one’s results.
These days, some employers consider a candidate’s emotional intelligence, or EQ, as an important factor. Some will have potential employees take an EQ test to learn about how they may respond to certain situations, manage those around them, or even manage their own emotions.
How does the emotional intelligence test work?
Most simply, emotional intelligence is measured through the results of the emotional intelligence test. There are a ton of versions of these EQ tests available online, but not all are created equal. Emotional intelligence isn’t an exact science — and how could it be? Humans will judge and perceive the emotional intelligence of others based on their own intelligence and experiences, so there really are no right or wrong answers
However, there are some ways we can judge how well we perceive our own emotions, process them, and share them with others, just as how we perceive the emotions of others and process those. By answering questions about how you feel about yourself and those around you, and how you perceive the emotions of others through photos, psychologists can see a pretty clear picture of your emotional intelligence.
There are many different versions of the emotional intelligence test, but the most trusted approach is called the “360-degree assessment.” This assessment takes into account both self-awareness and self-regulation, and the views of others about your EI. This way, when your results are analyzed, there is little room for people to lie or skew answers, and if they do, inconsistencies are easier to spot.
The most popular EQ test is The Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT), named after three psychologists who helped develop it. The test is pretty lengthy, and it normally takes about 45 minutes to complete. There are 141 questions, all pertaining to how you would react in certain everyday scenarios, like becoming discouraged at work or how hopeful you are in certain situations.
You’ll also be shown some photos, where you’ll guess (or rather perceive) how someone is feeling in them — granted you won’t be given any context for these photos, but it’s meant to be an exercise in how well you read body language and expressions. You’ll also compare emotions to colors and light, which seems silly, but it has to do with how those things can create emotional responses (e.g. yellow may be associated with happiness, blue with sadness, etc.).
After taking the test, you’ll be given a score from 50-150 (50 meaning you’re essentially emotionless, and 150 meaning you’re an emotional super genius). Most people score around 100, so they have a pretty decent understanding of their own emotions and can read those around them somewhat easily.
Is this actually accurate?
While the score supposedly ranks you on how emotionally intelligent and empathetic you are, do take the results with a grain of salt. Chances are a non-sentient computer is not going to be able to really tell you how well you do or do not register real-life emotions. But, you can use the score as a general framework to see if you have any areas of improvement.
For example, if you score lower in the managing emotions section, maybe you want to think of some ways you can better understand and process your own emotions (whether that be through therapy, self-help books, or talking with others). This doesn’t mean that every emotion you feel leads to a meltdown, it just means that you could possibly find some ways to improve.
Curious to see where you score? Try this online version of the test that’s worth taking. Just remember, one test will never determine what your emotional intelligence number is. If you really want to dig into things, consider taking a test given by a psychologist or other professional who can better interpret your results.
