An emotional intelligence quiz is a short self-assessment of how well you notice, understand and manage emotions in yourself and others. This one follows Daniel Goleman’s four domains: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness and relationship management. It gives a score out of 48 and shows which areas are strongest and which to build next.
Last updated: 10 November 2026
Reading time: about 11 minutes
How we wrote this article: this article was written by Saj Ali. It includes a free interactive quiz, explains the science of emotional intelligence and gives practical ways to build each skill, and every research claim links to its source.
The emotional intelligence quiz in brief
- What it is. 16 questions, about 3 minutes, scored out of 48.
- What it measures. Self-awareness, self-management, social awareness and relationship management.
- What you get. Your overall level, your two strongest areas and two areas to build next.
- Privacy. Your answers stay in your browser and are not saved.
- Good to know. Emotional skills can be learned; a meta-analysis found training has a moderate positive effect.
Take the Emotional Intelligence Quiz
Answer 16 quick questions about how you usually think, feel and act. You will get a score out of 48, your strongest areas and your areas to build next. Your answers stay on this page and are not saved or sent anywhere.
Contents
- What Emotional Intelligence Is
- The Four Domains This Quiz Measures
- What Your Score Means
- What the Research Says
- How to Build Self-Awareness
- How to Build Self-Management
- How to Build Social Awareness
- How to Build Relationship Management
- A 30-Day Plan to Raise Your Score
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Key Takeaways
- Explore More on Self Help Supermarket
- Sources
What Emotional Intelligence Is
Emotional intelligence, often shortened to EI or EQ, is the ability to notice, understand and manage emotions, both your own and other people’s. Psychologists Peter Salovey and John Mayer introduced the term in a 1990 paper, describing it as the ability to monitor your own and others’ feelings and emotions, to tell them apart, and to use that information to guide thinking and action (Salovey and Mayer, 1990).
Daniel Goleman brought the idea to a wide audience with his 1995 book Emotional Intelligence. He later grouped the skills into four domains, which this quiz follows. You can read the full background in our guide to emotional intelligence.
People often ask whether EQ matters more than IQ. They measure different things. IQ tests reasoning and problem solving. EQ covers how you handle feelings, stress and relationships. Both matter, and they work together: clear thinking is easier when emotions are steady, and good relationships make it easier to put your skills to use.
The Four Domains This Quiz Measures
Each of the 16 questions belongs to one of four domains. Four questions cover each domain, so each area is scored out of 12.
| Domain | What it means | Example question |
|---|---|---|
| Self-awareness | Recognising your own emotions and how they affect you | “I can name what I am feeling, beyond just good or bad.” |
| Self-management | Handling your emotions and impulses, and adapting to change | “When I am upset, I can pause before I react.” |
| Social awareness | Reading other people’s feelings and the mood of a group | “I can tell when someone is upset, even if they do not say it.” |
| Relationship management | Using emotional skills to communicate, resolve conflict and work well with others | “I can raise a difficult subject without it turning into a fight.” |
The domains build on each other. It is hard to manage an emotion you have not noticed, and it is hard to handle a relationship well if you cannot read how the other person feels. That is why self-awareness is often the best place to start.
What Your Score Means
Your total is out of 48. Each answer scores 0 for “Rarely”, 1 for “Sometimes”, 2 for “Often” and 3 for “Almost always”.
| Score | Result | What it suggests |
|---|---|---|
| 40–48 | Strong emotional intelligence | You report handling emotions well in most situations |
| 30–39 | A solid foundation | Good everyday skills, with one or two areas to grow |
| 20–29 | Growing emotional skills | Some skills come easily, others take more effort |
| 0–19 | Early days | Emotions often feel hard to read or manage right now |
The domain breakdown is often more useful than the total. Two people can both score 32, with one strong at reading others and the other strong at staying calm. Your result shows your two highest and two lowest domains as percentages, with a link to a guide for each area to build.
Self-ratings have limits. People who are less aware of their emotions may also be less aware of their gaps, so scores can run high. For a fuller picture, ask a friend or colleague to answer a few of the questions about you and compare.
What the Research Says
Emotional intelligence has been studied widely since the 1990s. Here are some of the main findings.
| Question | What studies found | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Can EI be trained? | A meta-analysis of 58 studies found a moderate positive effect of training on EI scores | Mattingly and Kraiger, 2019 |
| Is EI linked to health? | A meta-analysis linked higher EI with better mental, psychosomatic and physical health | Schutte et al., 2007 |
| Does EI matter at work? | An integrative meta-analysis linked EI with job performance, especially in jobs with high emotional demands | Joseph and Newman, 2010 |
The training finding is encouraging. Emotional skills are not fixed. Like any skill, they improve with deliberate practice, feedback and time.
Researchers also distinguish between two kinds of measures. Ability tests, like the MSCEIT, ask you to solve emotional problems, such as reading faces or predicting how feelings change. Self-report questionnaires, like this quiz, ask how you usually behave. Self-report is quick and useful for reflection, while ability tests are used more in research.
How to Build Self-Awareness
Self-awareness is the base for every other domain. These habits help:
- Name feelings precisely. Move past “fine” or “stressed”. Try words like disappointed, restless, embarrassed or relieved. A wider vocabulary helps you understand what is going on. Our guide to The Book of Human Emotions is a good place to find new words.
- Check in with your body. Emotions often show up first as tension, a tight chest or a racing heart. A quick body scan two or three times a day builds the habit.
- Journal for five minutes. Write what happened, what you felt and what you did. Patterns appear within a few weeks. See our journaling prompts.
- Ask for feedback. Ask one trusted person: “What do you notice about me when I am stressed?” The Johari Window gives a simple structure for this.
How to Build Self-Management
Self-management is about what you do with a feeling once you notice it.
- Pause before you respond. Count to five, or take one slow breath before you reply to a message that annoys you.
- Use your breath. Slow breathing with a longer out-breath helps the body settle. See our guide to nervous system regulation.
- Plan for triggers. Use if-then plans: “If my manager criticises my work, then I will ask a clarifying question before I defend myself.”
- Look after the basics. Sleep, food and movement have a big effect on mood. It is much harder to manage emotions when you are exhausted. Our sleep guide has practical steps.
If anger is the emotion that most often runs the show, our guide to anger and resentment goes deeper.
How to Build Social Awareness
Social awareness is the ability to read other people. It includes empathy and an understanding of group dynamics.
- Listen to understand. Try summarising what the other person said before you give your view. Notice whether they feel understood.
- Watch for non-verbal cues. Tone of voice, posture and pace often say more than words.
- Get curious about other views. When you disagree, ask: “What would have to be true for this to make sense?”
- Read the room. At the start of a meeting or gathering, take a moment to sense the mood before you speak.
If you pick up a lot from other people and find it draining, our guide to empaths and highly sensitive people may help.
How to Build Relationship Management
Relationship management turns emotional awareness into skilful action with others.
- Use “I” statements. “I felt left out when plans changed” lands better than “You always ignore me.”
- Repair quickly. After a disagreement, a short acknowledgment such as “I was sharp earlier, sorry” goes a long way.
- Give useful feedback. Be specific, describe behaviour rather than character, and suggest what would help.
- Learn a communication method. Nonviolent Communication gives a four-step structure of observations, feelings, needs and requests.
For more on handling disagreements, see our guides to conflict resolution and improving communication in relationships. Setting boundaries is also part of healthy relationship management.
A 30-Day Plan to Raise Your Score
Choose the domain where you scored lowest and practise one habit a day for 30 days.
| Week | Focus | Daily habit |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Notice | Name your main emotion three times a day |
| 2 | Pause | Take one slow breath before replying when you feel a strong emotion |
| 3 | Understand | Ask one person a day how they are, and listen fully to the answer |
| 4 | Act | Have one honest conversation you have been putting off, using “I” statements |
At the end of the month, retake the quiz and compare your domain scores. Small changes add up, and many people notice they feel calmer and get on better with others.
Frequently Asked Questions
How accurate is this emotional intelligence quiz?
It is a self-reflection tool, not a validated test. It gives a useful snapshot of how you see your own emotional skills across Goleman’s four domains. For a formal assessment, workplace psychologists use tools such as the MSCEIT or EQ-i 2.0.
What is a good EQ score?
On this quiz, 30 or above out of 48 suggests a solid foundation, and 40 or above suggests strong emotional skills. Your domain breakdown is more useful than the total, because it shows exactly where to focus.
Can you improve emotional intelligence?
Yes. A meta-analysis of 58 studies found that training has a moderate positive effect on emotional intelligence scores. Practising one habit at a time, such as naming feelings or pausing before reacting, is a good start.
What are the four parts of emotional intelligence?
In Daniel Goleman’s model they are self-awareness, self-management, social awareness and relationship management.
Is emotional intelligence more important than IQ?
They measure different abilities. IQ covers reasoning and problem solving, while emotional intelligence covers handling feelings and relationships. Both contribute to success at work and in life.
Are my answers saved?
No. The quiz runs in your browser, and your answers are not saved or sent anywhere.
Key Takeaways
- Emotional intelligence is the ability to notice, understand and manage emotions in yourself and others.
- This quiz scores you out of 48 across four domains: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness and relationship management.
- Your domain breakdown shows where to focus first.
- Research shows emotional skills can be trained, with a moderate positive effect.
- Start with self-awareness: name your feelings precisely and check in with your body.
Explore More on Self Help Supermarket
Use these pages alongside this one:
- Emotional Intelligence – the full guide to EI and how to build it
- Relationship Compatibility Quiz – another free interactive quiz
- The Johari Window – a model for self-awareness and feedback
- The Book of Human Emotions – a vocabulary for naming feelings
- Conflict Resolution – skills for handling disagreements
- Nonviolent Communication – a four-step method for honest conversations
- Personality Types on YouTube – channels explaining personality models
- Browse all self-help techniques – compare every method on Self Help Supermarket.
Sources
- Salovey, P., and Mayer, J. D. (1990). Emotional intelligence. Imagination, Cognition and Personality, 9(3), 185–211. https://doi.org/10.2190/DUGG-P24E-52WK-6CDG
- Goleman, D. (1995). Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ. New York: Bantam Books.
- Mattingly, V., and Kraiger, K. (2019). Can emotional intelligence be trained? A meta-analytical investigation. Human Resource Management Review, 29(2), 140–155. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hrmr.2018.03.002
- Schutte, N. S., Malouff, J. M., Thorsteinsson, E. B., Bhullar, N., and Rooke, S. E. (2007). A meta-analytic investigation of the relationship between emotional intelligence and health. Personality and Individual Differences, 42(6), 921–933. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2006.09.003
- Joseph, D. L., and Newman, D. A. (2010). Emotional intelligence: An integrative meta-analysis and cascading model. Journal of Applied Psychology, 95(1), 54–78. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0017286
Self Help Supermarket guides are for general information and are not a substitute for professional medical or psychological advice.
