What does the EI Test do for businesses?
The concept of an Emotional Intelligence test is something that was new to me. I have never understood how intelligence, and, in this case, emotional intelligence, can be measured by a test with multiple-choice answers. Dubiously, I replied to the questions, which forced me to consider myself, my actions as well as my reactions.
In taking the test, I was struck by the simplicity of the questions. These are questions that I have asked myself at one point or another. I started with the Queendom Emotional Intelligence Test and after the 146 questions, I was informed of my strengths, my potential strengths and my limitations. The structures echoes what we are often told as children: don’t say something negative without saying something positive first. However, my list of limitations was at least twice as long as either my strengths or my potential strengths, so it is difficult not to get overwhelmed by all of the areas in which I can improve.
Apparently, I have a limited self-awareness, self-control, self-motivation, and self-esteem. I think this is interesting because under my strengths and potential strengths, the only “self” strength is self-development, which, logically, at least to me, stems from self-motivation, self-esteem and a certain amount of self-control. According to this test, I am also malcontent, inflexible and have difficulties acting independently. The test tells me that I need improvement without telling me how to improve, especially since any improvement would require a great deal of self-control, self-motivation, self-awareness and self-esteem, none of which is a strength of mine. Some of the questions were very thought provoking, but others, including the photos from which we were to deduce emotions, were difficult for me. A photo, by nature, is a freeze-frame of one instant. Depending on the camera, the instant could be as long as several seconds. Intellectually, they posed a problem for me, because I couldn’t hear their conversations, I couldn’t take into account the way they wanted to feel or to express their emotions. The second test that I took, from the Institute for Health and Human Potential, encourages me not to be a martyr, which relates more clearly with the limitations given in the results of the other test.
There are some limitations with which I flat out disagree: I am quite assertive, as I think this response shows, and I am comfortable with emotions in general, I encourage those around me to express their emotions more. I’m not sure how I am doing well in the area of Emotional Understanding, the first strength listed, if I am uncomfortable with emotions generally. Regardless of how I feel about the validity of the results of the test, I do have to acknowledge that the notion of requiring an emotional intelligence test is interesting.
Emotional Intelligence, according to the Queendom site (2013), is the missing piece to explain the discrepancy between high IQ scores and poor lives. As Kendra Cherry (2013) defines it, “Emotional intelligence (EI) refers to the ability to perceive, control and evaluate emotions” (n.p.). According to Salovey and Mayer (1990), emotional intelligence is “the subset of social intelligence that involves the ability to monitor one’s own and others’ feelings and emotions, to discriminate among them and to use this information to guide one’s thinking and actions” (p. 5). If we consider these definitions together, we can define emotional intelligence as the capacity to evaluate emotions and the role that these emotions play in our everyday decisions. For example, we can look at the TV show called The Big Bang Theory, which is broadcast on CBS. The original group can be divided into two groups: the male geeks with high IQs and the young woman who has a low IQ but a relatively high EI. Her presence disrupts their lives and we realize that having a high IQ does not necessarily mean that they are intelligent. In the prompt, this is what the Human Resources Director meant by saying: “We obviously want intelligent people, but we also want them to have emotional intelligence.” Employees must be able to relate to others, and simple IQ does not attest to emotional intelligence.
Jeanne Segal and Melinda Smith (2013) divide emotional intelligence into five key skills which can be mastered to improve emotional intelligence: “the ability to quickly reduce stress; the ability to recognize and manage your emotions; the ability to connect with others using nonverbal communication; the ability to use humor and play to deal with challenges; the ability to resolve conflicts positively and with confidence” (n.p.). These two qualified psychologists aver that learning about your limitations, much like those listed in the results of my first test, is not the same as improving on them. Ameliorating these five skills will help maintain and advance emotional intelligence. Taking the time to think before reacting and before judging others is an excellent way to enhance emotional intelligence.
In conclusion, I think having an emotional intelligence test is a good way to begin to understand how a potential employee will react and cooperate with other employees. However, this should just be the beginning. A test cannot accurately demonstrate all of the potential strengths of an individual. As in my case, some were quite accurate, whereas others are contradicting or wrong.
References
(2013). Emotional Intelligence Test. Retrieved from http://www.queendom.com/tests/access_page/index.htm?idRegTest=3037
Cherry, K. (2013). What is Emotional Intelligence? Definitions, History, and Measures of Emotional Intelligence. Retrieved from http://psychology.about.com/od/personalitydevelopment/a/emotionalintell.htm
Goleman, D. (n.d.). Emotional Intelligence. Retrieved from http://danielgoleman.info/topics/emotional-intelligence/
Salovey, P. & Mayer, J.D. (1990). Emotional Intelligence. Retrieved from http://www.unh.edu/emotional_intelligence/EI%20Assets/ReprintsEI%20Proper/EI1990%20Emotional%20Intelligence.pdf
Segal, J., & Smith, M. (March 2013). Emotional Intelligence: Five Key Skills for Raising Emotional Intelligence. Retrieved from http://www.helpguide.org/mental/eq5_raising_emotional_intelligence.htm
