Testing the level of emotional intelligence

Emotional Intelligence (EI) can be briefly defined as "the ability to harmonise thinking and emotions", that is, the ability of an individual to understand and control his or her own emotions, as well as to recognise and manage the emotions of others. This requires an individual to be self-aware, sensitive and able to regulate their emotional reactions in a variety of social situations.

IQ tests measure cognitive ability, that is, the ability to manipulate numbers, abstract concepts, and so on. IQ is most often relatively constant and does not change much over the course of a lifetime. EI, by contrast, is inconstant; it most often stabilises by the age of 30, although some areas may change at turning points in life. A further distinction is contained in the concept of EI itself: some models treat EI as similar to cognitive ability and measure it by true/false responses to questions (ability model), while other constructs link EI to personality traits, allowing for a sequence of responses that provide a better understanding of an individual's emotional ability (trait model of emotional intelligence).

The earlier Salovey-Meyer model was based on the ability theory of emotional intelligence, defining it as "the ability to perceive emotions, and to evaluate and generate them in order to facilitate the thought process", i.e. on the idea that emotions are a useful source of social information and that some people are better able than others to process and benefit from this information.

More recently, Professor C. V. Petrides developed the Traits of Emotional Intelligence (or Traits of Emotional Self-efficacy) model, where he defined EI as "a set of emotional self-perceptions located at the lowest hierarchical levels of personality" (2001). Simplistically speaking, EI is understood here as a set of personality traits (as assessed by the individual themselves) derived from a bottom-up theory of behaviour. Because individual personality traits are subjective and environment-dependent, these personality traits can only be reliably assessed through self-report rather than through task-based tests with true or false answers.

Each of us has a model of the world around us, based on our own beliefs, values, attitudes, behavioural stereotypes and life experience. Since no two worldviews are exactly alike, it is clear that effective social interaction depends on an individual's self-awareness and readiness to recognise the positions of others.

Even outside the circle of family and friends, human relationships can be emotionally coloured. Trying to recognise one's own emotional competence - and also to understand the impact it can have on others - is an effective way to develop one's interpersonal and people management skills.

Since EI affects the quality of both naturally occurring relationships and artificially organised ones (e.g. relationships between work colleagues), and organisational performance is highly dependent on the well-being and motivation of employees - it is clear that EI is crucial for boosting morale, increasing productivity and performance, facilitating communication and so on.

Because managers in their work achieve results with and through people, they face particularly high demands in the emotional domain. A higher EI can be an asset to a manager and help him as a leader to engage his team and realise the full potential of his employees, it can also protect the manager from the negative consequences of emotionally problematic relationships with others.

The results indicate how well a person is aware of their ability to understand and manage their own emotions, how well they are able to interpret and respond to the emotions of others, and how they believe they can use this knowledge to manage their relationships with others.

Because there are no right or wrong answers on questionnaires measuring EI using the Traits of Emotional Intelligence model, they are essentially self-assessments. This means that the final report is best used as a tool for further discussion directly with the test participant to gain a deeper understanding of the result.

The in-depth situational awareness gained from such counselling can help managers train employees, deal with conflict, overcome communication barriers, and ultimately increase self-awareness and improve teamwork.

The response structure of the Emotional Intelligence Traits questionnaire is inherently subjective, so testing cannot directly predict a person's potential for success, nor can it reveal a person's moral qualities. It is not true to say that a person with a "high EI" will necessarily be an outstanding leader or necessarily succeed in life, but the information gained from testing can be used to explore a person's potential in the context of the specific challenges they face and the environment in which they find themselves.

To benefit from EI in the workplace, the key is to understand what aspects of EI are relevant to the needs of a particular job, in which areas employees are required to be particularly effective, and what the impact on the business might be if an employee falls short in a particular area.