Emotionally average

Self report component: score 116

Includes self-reported ability to understand your emotions and those of others, ability to motivate yourself, and your level of comfort with becoming close with others. (I think that intimate relationships skew this quite a bit.

According to your self-report answers, your emotional intelligence is average. People who score like you do feel that their ability to understand and deal with their own emotions and those of others is acceptable but could still use some improvement. Emotionally intelligent people have an easy time overcoming difficulties in their lives and they are generally able to control their moods. It’s easy for them to motivate themselves to overcome obstacles and reach their goals. In addition, they find social interactions to be quite easy and fulfilling, for several reasons. They are comfortable allowing themselves to get close with others, and feel comfortable being vulnerable enough to establish intimacy. They also report having an easy time offering support to others; likely due to an empathetic nature and a clear mind when it comes to offering good advice. Perhaps by working on your problem areas, you can become more confident in dealing with your own emotions and those of others.

Ability component: score 114

Refers to how well you identify emotions in others, whether you are able to understand complex emotional situations, and whether you understand how best to deal with emotions.

Your scores on the ability component of this test were average. In fact, you scored as well as the average test-taker. People who score as you did appear to have some knowledge in the areas of recognizing, understanding, and managing emotions, but there is certainly room for improvement. This average score is mostly an indication of their ability to handle the emotions of others, although indirectly it also probably means that they sometimes have difficulty managing their own emotions as well. This area can certainly be improved. Making a conscious effort to be more observant of those around you could help.

Emotional insight: score 126

Measures aspects of self-esteem, recognition and control of emotions, and ability to console yourself in a crisis.

You had quite a high score on Emotional Insight. People with such a score are typically in touch with their own emotions, and are able to recognize and identify their true feelings. They understand their own reactions in most situations. The fact that they are able to pinpoint the reason why something is bothering them gives them a sense of self-control because it helps them determine a course of action to deal with that issue. In fact, they can most often console themselves rather than unleashing a flood of uncensored emotions. Having such insight into their own emotions generally means they have a high self-esteem and are better able to bounce back quite well from life's difficulties.

Emotional Expression (score 108)

Measures comfort with expressing emotions, and your willingness to be emotionally vulnerable with others.

You fit somewhere in the mid-range when it comes to Emotional Expression. People with such a score are able to express their emotions in most situations, although they may feel less comfortable with some emotions than others (anger, sadness or even joy). Individuals who posses the ability to express and recognize emotions are typically more communicative, assertive, and self-confident. They also are generally well-equipped to form mature, intimate relationships. With a medium score, however, there is still room for improvement. People with this profile may occasionally find it difficult to share with others, feeling they need to protect their integrity or ego by hiding what they consider to be "irrational" emotions. They may sometimes put on a poker face, without realizing that others can't tell what they are feeling. While they may actually be very sensitive, they could sometimes come across as distant or uninvolved. (emphasis mine)

Motivation (score 108)

Measures whether you report having the ability to motivate yourself, even in difficult situations.

You had an average score on Motivation. People with such a score generally possess an adequate amount of natural drive and self-discipline to work towards goals - but they could certainly benefit from more. They may sometimes get overwhelmed when faced with obstacles or quickly lose their incentive to complete tasks. This may be a result of a need for external reinforcement (like praise or frequent encouragement) and irregular internal motivation (lacking personal satisfaction from reaching goals), which makes it more challenging to stick things out in the long-term. Individuals with this profile may do well enough to succeed somewhat, but have the potential to achieve even more if they find ways to increase their drive. (I thought that I would score slightly higher in this one.-Ed.)

Social Insight and Empathy (score 101, I guess I don't really give a shit about anyone.-Ed.)

Assesses whether you report being able to understand, empathize with, and help manage the emotions of others.

In regards to Social Insight and Empathy, your score puts you in the average range. Individuals with such a score are generally able recognize the emotions of others and understand the underlying motivations behind their actions. They are also typically able to put themselves in other people's shoes and empathize, which is obviously an important skill for having satisfying and meaningful human interaction. With an average score, however, there is still some room for improvement. An individual of this nature may sometimes come across as narrow-minded or lacking in sensitivity, and could occasionally misinterpret other people's behavior.

Recognition of emotions (score 99)

Measures your ability to recognize other people's emotions.

You appear to be slightly less accurate than average when it comes to recognizing the emotions of others. When asked to report what you think a person is feeling based on visual cues, you make more errors than the average person. Although you may have picked up on some of the correct emotions, the number of mistakes you made is a concern, as it could cause some problems in your relationships. The ability to recognize emotions is a natural human capacity and most people make very few errors. When interacting with others, we need to be able to read body language and facial expressions in order to gauge how best to approach them. Otherwise it is easy to approach people in an inappropriate manner and not even know it! (But sometimes you really don't care, because you have other priorities. Also, when they were showing me pictures of people and making me guess what they were feeling and giving my limited choices, well, that seemed a little unfair, because without context (see below, I kicked ass when there was context), you could guess a whole lot of things.-Ed.)

Emotional Integration (score 135, good to see that I am not a complete emotional idiot)

Ability to understand what a feeling would feel like, to understand mixed emotions and emotional progressions, underlying emotion behind art or music, or to liken feelings to physical sensations.

You appear to be very skilled when it comes to emotional integration – much more skilled than the average person. This scale entails a number of varied skills. First, it entails being able to describe how emotions feel physically, and to liken them to phenomena that occur in the world, such as colors, weather, etc. Second, it entails the capacity to identify the emotion that a person must be feeling based on physical sensations that he or she is experiencing. Finally, it involves the ability to understand how emotions progress when they become stronger or weaker, and what two emotions mixed together become when integrated. You are likely very accomplished at identifying which emotions you are feeling, figuring out what others are feeling, and empathizing with what others experience.

Emotional Insightfulness (score 137, not to be confused with Emotional Insight, above)

Assesses whether you are able to identify what a person might be feeling given additional contextual information.

You appear to be much more capable than the average person of taking context into consideration when making judgments about other people’s emotions. You are sometimes able to go beyond what you see on the surface (i.e. what is being conveyed solely though facial expressions and body language), and take into consideration both his or her past and the current context when determining what he or she is feeling in that situation. Being able to put yourself in other people’s shoes is essential to understanding others. You almost always appear to have empathy for others and will rarely, if ever, come across as insensitive to their feelings.

Control and Maintenance of Emotions (score 97, maybe I spoke too soon about not being an idiot)

Measures the ability to make good decisions in dealing with emotional situations.

While life is seldom black or white, there are certainly good and bad ways to handle emotional situations. On this test, you had more trouble than the average person when it comes to finding appropriate solutions to problems. You may have trouble making decisions about how to resolve issues in your life or when helping others do so. Conversely, you may not realize when something needs to be done; you might let things go instead of taking action. Being able to make decisions about how to deal with emotional situations is essential for many different aspects of life: having successful relationships, dealing with co-workers and handling life’s obstacles, among others. Your ability to nurture others, resolve conflicts, and offer insightful advice is probably somewhat poor because of your struggles in this area. (I definitely thought that I would score higher here. If I don't have control of my emotions, then I have nothing. In any case, I know that I used to be MUCH better at this.-Ed.)

It seems to me that this test could have widely different results if you include and put the appropriate weight on intimate relationships, which I think I did. This is why I scored lower than I did, I think. If I had taken this test 5 or 6 years ago, I think my results would be slightly higher. I don't mean to say that intimate relationships lower scores; they could very well raise them. But in my case, they were lowered probably due to how I react within that intimate setting.