How accurate is an EQ test?

Accuracy in points, not adjectives

Test manuals report reliability as a coefficient, which tells a reader very little. Translated into the unit that matters, a well-built self-report EQ scale carries a margin of several points either side of any single figure. On our instrument the 95 percent margin works out at about 8 points on the total and about 9 points on a facet, and we print it on the report, because a number without its margin invites more precision than the measurement holds.

The margin means a facet at 64 and a facet at 60 may not differ at all. It also means a repeat sitting will wobble by a few points with nothing about you having changed. Neither is a flaw in one test; it is what measuring an inner disposition through 40 questions can support.

The mistake accuracy numbers invite

Change scores are where the imprecision compounds. Two sittings each carry their own error, so the difference between them is noisier than either. A facet needs to move about 13 points between sittings before it is evidence of change rather than noise, a threshold that rests on an assumed reliability and is labelled as such, which is why our reassessment applies it and says so, instead of celebrating every wiggle as growth. A chart that always moves is describing measurement error with enthusiasm, and real improvement has its own page.

What accuracy cannot mean

A self-report score is an accurate record of how you see yourself, at best. It cannot certify the impression you leave, which only other people can report. Our report scores a separate situational track for that reason, and labels the two as the weakly related things they are.

How we handle it

We publish every score as a percentage of its own maximum with its margin printed beside it, and the method is public. The test is free to take; the free result shows your classification and the shape of your profile, and the full scored report, every figure with its margin, is available as a one-off purchase or inside membership.

The rest of this family

Every page here does the same job for a different number: the full set is indexed on the hub.