Free Emotional Intelligence (EQ) Test
This test scores your self-reported emotional intelligence: how closely you track your own feelings, and how much other people's emotions affect you.
Answer each statement on a 5-point scale, from strongly disagree to strongly agree. There's no right answer, just react honestly.
This measures how you see your own emotional patterns, not a cognitive-ability score like an IQ test, the two aren't interchangeable.
No sign-up. No email. Results in your browser.
What This Emotional Intelligence Test Measures
You'll get one overall EQ score built from two components: how closely you track your own emotions (self-awareness), and how much other people's positive moods affect you (social awareness).
This is a self-report measure of perceived emotional intelligence, not a performance test of emotional skill, the same distinction the scale's original author draws explicitly.
How It Works (20 questions, 5 minutes)
Answer 20 short statements about yourself on a 5-point scale. One question per screen, with a progress bar so you always know how far you are.
Half the statements are reverse-worded, so straight-line answering doesn't produce a misleading score.
What Your Results Include
A 0-100 score, which of three bands you land in (lower, moderate, or higher self-reported EQ), a plain-language explanation of what that means, and a shareable link, no account needed to save or revisit it.
Your result also links back to the other tests on this site if you want a fuller picture alongside your Big Five or Enneagram profile.
The Science Behind This Test
These 20 items come from the International Personality Item Pool (IPIP), a public-domain item bank, specifically Kimberly Barchard's 2001 Emotional Intelligence scales. Read more on our Methodology page. Read the full methodology
We combined 2 of Barchard's 7 published sub-scales (Attending to Emotions and Responsive Joy) into a single overall score to keep this test a comparable length to other EQ tests online, that combination is our own choice, not an official IPIP composite.
Because self-report scales like this one don't correlate strongly with performance-based intelligence tests, treat your result as a reflection of how you see your own emotional habits, not a clinical or cognitive assessment.
FAQ
Is this emotional intelligence test really free?
Yes. Every question and your full results are free, with no sign-up or email required.
What instrument is this based on?
The International Personality Item Pool's Emotional Intelligence scales (Barchard, 2001), a public-domain item bank, the same kind of source that backs our Big Five test.
Is this the same as an IQ test?
No. This measures self-reported emotional patterns, not cognitive ability. Try our methodology page if you want to understand the difference in more depth.
Does this measure emotional skill or just how I see myself?
Just how you see yourself. Self-report scales like this one measure perceived emotional intelligence, not performance on emotional tasks, the same limitation the scale's original author notes.
How long does this test take?
Most people finish in about 5 minutes.
Is emotional intelligence scientifically validated?
The underlying IPIP scales have published reliability data from the researcher who built them, but as with any self-report measure, treat your score as a starting point for reflection, not a clinical diagnosis.
Can my score change if I retake the test?
Yes, your answers can shift with mood, context, and self-awareness, especially for scores close to a band boundary.
Do you sell or share my answers?
No. Your answers are scored entirely in your browser and are never sent to a server, so there is nothing about your responses for us to sell or share.