Test Your Social and Emotional Intelligence

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Social and emotional intelligence refers to your ability to understand and manage your own emotions and recognize the emotions of others. A few free, quick online quizzes can give you a beginning insight into your social and emotional intelligence. The first two quizzes listed below connect to university research projects, and both measure your ability to recognize emotions and facial expressions. The latter two quizzes measure your understanding of emotions in everyday life and in your classroom.

Facial-Recognition Quiz

At the University of California Berkley, the Greater Good Web site offers a 20-question quiz that tests your ability to read facial expressions. In addition to getting immediate feedback as to whether your answers are correct, you'll also learn the major muscle movements that typify different expressions.

Eyes-Only Emotion Study

At a Web site hosted by Harvard University, you can take part in a 10-minute study about recognizing emotions by reading eyes alone. After completing the study, you'll find out your score and compare it against other participants'.

Practical Emotional Intelligence Quiz

The Psychology Today Web site offers a quick online quiz that measures your practical emotional intelligence. You'll explore how different situations affect your emotions and which reactions are adaptive and which are maladaptive.

EQ Quiz for Teachers

The Edutopia Web site offers a 5-minute quiz designed to help teachers recognize and improve their social and emotional intelligence. In addition to gaining a quick measure of your emotional intelligence, you'll also provide valuable data for a research project out at Yale University.

Improving Social and Emotional Intelligence

To learn more, check out In Focus: Improving Social and Emotional Intelligence One Day at a Time. This teacher resource provides quick classroom activities for each day of the school year, helping students learn to recognize and manage their emotions. In Focus comes in elementary (K-2), intermediate (3-5), and middle school (6-8) levels.