Another Emotional Intelligence Test for the Curious

As I noted on Sunday, this week I'm trying out a few emotional intelligence tests to see how they work.

For my second test, I chose the Emotional Intelligence Appraisal, affiliated with The Emotional Intelligence Quickbook. written by Travis Bradberry and Jean Greaves. (If you buy the book, you get a secret code that gives you access to the on-line test.)

Now this book is a little bit "EQ-lite," although I like its emphasis on how-to, rather than simple narration of the components of emotional intelligence. So I expected the test to be a little light, too. And alas, it was. The test took five minutes to take and the questions would be very easy "throw"in a way to make myself sound like a paragon of emotional intelligence. In fact, I had to steel myself to answer honestly to some of the questions (e.g., that I sometimes brush people off -- true -- and that I am sometimes withdrawn in social situations -- also true).

Interestingly though, my score on self awareness and self management came out similarly to the much more thorough -- and nuanced -- test I took on at Queendom.com the day before, although my scores on empathy and management of others weren't nearly as high as the Queendom scores. So of course (cough), I've decided Queendom is more accurate.

On the positive side:  I was intrigued by the comparison function offered by the Emotional Intelligence Appraisal, in which you can compare your scores to other people of the same gender, location, industry, and position. Not sure how accurate this is, but it's interesting it even exists.

I also liked the action plan for growing emotional intelligence. More thorough than the "advice and tips" section of the Queendom test, this action plan includes not only substantive tips for learning how to be more self- and other- aware (as well as more in control of one's own and others' emotions) but even clips from movies to show examples of these behaviors. I think this is a brilliant addition because so many people don't know what emotionally (or socially intelligent) behaviors look like.

The price of this test? Since you need to buy the book to get it, it's $23.95.