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The use of psychological measurement
has always been rather controversial, and the measurement of emotional
intelligence is no different. This may be due to the view that emotions
are unpredictable, irrational, and something to be suppressed in favor
of logic and reason. Theories of emotional intelligence have helped to
counter this view and offered the promise of a more balanced analysis
of what it means to be intelligent about emotions. This has, in turn,
expanded our understanding of the role that emotions play.
The use of emotional intelligence assessment in organizations has also
been controversial. The definition of emotional competencies and the subsequent
focus on work performance and assessment has led some critics to label
the whole process as a return to an outmoded mechanistic way to increase
performance and efficacy at the expense of the well-being of individual
employees.
However, the core principles of emotional intelligence make clear that
individuals are a complex combination of emotion and reason. Without a
specific theory of emotional intelligence and the methods to assess it,
employees may be limited vague criticism related to their "people
skills". In order to improve on any emotional competence, people need
to see quantifiable measurement of their baseline abilities and any improvement
from it. In conclusion, reliable and valid measurement of specific emotional
competencies, so long as it is provided in a positive way helps to provide
employees with insight into their strengths and areas for development.
Assessment Tools
The following is a summary of the most widely used assessment tools.
Assessment Tool |
Description |
EIQ (Dulewicz & Higgs) |
Developed in 1999
at Henley Management College in the UK. The Emotional Intelligence
Questionnaire offers both self-report and 360 questionnaires,
with the latter enabling an all-round assessment of an individual's
performance from peers, colleagues and managers. |
Multifactor Emotional Intelligence
Scale |
The MEIS is a test of ability rather
than a self-report measure. The test-taker performs a series of
tasks that are designed to assess the person’s ability to perceive,
identify, understand, and work with emotion. There is very little
for predictive validity in work situations. |
MSCEIT® "Mayer,
Salovey, Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test" |
The only ability measure of EQ, the
MSCEIT requires you to actually use your abilities in taking the
test with questions where you look at faces, for example, and identify
what emotions are present. It helps you understand the actual intelligence
behind emotions: Perceiving, using, understanding, and managing
feelings. |
SEI™, Six Seconds Emotional Intelligence
Test |
Focused on self-development, the SEI
is the only test based on Six Seconds' EQ-in-action model: Know
Yourself, Choose Yourself, Give Yourself. The test measures 8 fundamental
skills in these three areas. Report comes with over 20 pages of
interpretation and development suggestions. |
OVS, Organizational Vital Signs™ by
Six Seconds |
Organizational Vital Signs is an organizational
climate assessment that gives a clear picture of how people are
relating to each other and the workplace. Unlike the other tests,
OVS is designed to assess a group or an organization to show the
context in which individuals perform. The test measures six factors:
Trust, Collaboration, Accountability, Leadership, Alignment, Adaptability.
These factors statistically predict over 50% of productivity +
customer service + retention. |
EQ Map® by Essi Systems |
With a much broader
perspective, the EQ Map helps people put emotional intelligence
into a workplace context. The Map is self-scored, so you can
do it completely on your own; it has questions along the lines
of, "How well do
you recognize emotions in people?" The 14 main scales include
emotional awareness, emotional expression, resilience, outlook,
trust, and personal power. It also has four outcome scales to show
the benefit of increasing the first 14. The EQ Map includes an
interpretation guide booklet. |
EQ-i® by Reuven BarOn |
This self-report
instrument was designed to assess those personal qualities that
enabled some people to possess better "emotional well-being" than
others. The EQ-I has been used to assess thousands of individuals,
and its reliability and validity is well documented. Less is
known about its predictive validity in work situations |
Emotional Intelligence Appraisal® by
Talent Smart |
There are 3 versions of this test.
All use the Daniel Goleman 4-quadrant model: Self-awareness, Other-awareness,
Self-management, Relationship-management. All take about 7 minutes
to complete, and all come with 6 months of e-learning and a valuable
goal-tracking reminder system. |
ECI® (Emotional Competence Inventory)
by Hay McBer |
The ECI is a 360 degree appraisal tool
where people who know the individual rate him or her on 20 competencies
that are believed to be linked to emotional intelligence. |
If we accept that emotional intelligence can be measured,
then the next question is, can
emotional intelligence be developed? |
