Assessment of emotional intelligence

Measures of Emotional Intelligence
Some researchers believe EI is a cognitive ability just as is IQ (eg, Mayer & Salovey, 2000), while others believe it is a combination of perceived abilities and traits (e.g., Schutte et al. 1998; Bar-On, 1997). These opposing views have inspired two separate domains of inventories – ability-based measures, which focus on maximal performance, and mixed-model measures, which focus on typical performance (Mayer, Salovey, & Caruso, 2000; Petrides & Furnham, 2000). Maximal performance is an indication of the best cognitive performance a test-taker can achieve on a test, while typical performance indicates a test-taker’s performance under ordinary test conditions (Dennis, Sternberg, & Beatty, 2000).

Ability-based measures of EI
The MSCEIT measure is an ‘objective’ measure of EI involving a series of emotion-based problem solving items with relatively low face-validity, of which the answers have been deemed correct by consensus (MacCann, Roberts, Matthews, & Zeidner, 2004; Roberts, Zeidner, & Matthews, 2001). The MSCEIT purports to measure emotional intelligence across the following domains:


 * Experiential Area
 * Perceiving Emotions Branch
 * Facilitating Thinking Branch
 * Strategic Area
 * Understanding Emotional Meaning Branch
 * Managing Emotions Branch

For more on this topic see psychological testing and evaluation. A discussion on the strengths of ability-based measures versus self-report measures was written by.

Self-report measures of EI
Bradberry and Greaves, based on the work of Goleman, give the following four areas as significant for measuring emotional knowledge. Their test, The Emotional Intelligence Appraisal is a self-administered, online assessment that is included in their book The Emotional Intelligence Quickbook. Emotional Intelligence Appraisal
 * Personal competence, including:
 * Self-awareness: Only when somebody is aware of their strengths and weaknesses can they maximise their potential.
 * Self-management: Using awareness of your emotions to manage your response to different situations and people.
 * Social competence, including:
 * Social awareness: Understanding the perspectives of other people including their motivations, their emotions, and the meaning of what they do and say.
 * Relationship Management: Using awareness of one's own emotions and the emotions of others to manage relationships to a successful outcome.


 * BarOn EQ-i
 * Emotional Competence Inventory

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Papers

 * Google Scholar