Intelligence quotient or IQ for short measures your ability to reason logically, solve math problems, or putting words together. Many case studies have been implemented to find out if a high IQ gives somebody a better chance at a successful life.  Numerous studies suggest that having a high IQ over an average intelligence score does not give those higher testers an advantage in life.

The Emotional intelligence test is more likely to determine how someone’s life may progress. EQ is our ability to “read” peoples body language and signals. It’s our ability to adapt to certain situations and to help you understand people to work in cooperation with different personalities.

When taking an emotional intelligence test you are being measured in five very specific areas. It’s important to understand what those areas are.

1. Empathy: A number of factors go into measuring empathy. Empathy is the ability to feel what the other person is feeling. If you are an empathetic person you might be a social services counselor, a teacher, a sales rep along with many more.

As parents and or mentors you see the potential that a person has. You don’t see where they are now but what they could become if they so choose. No matter what your religious or political affiliations are, you ability to put yourself in their shoes.

2. Being self aware: Being in touch with your own emotions is a major component of EQ.

You recognize your emotions and how that your current emotions, mood etc can affect other people. You have the ability to calm somebody in a heated argument. You are in tune.

3. Motivation: If you are a motivated person you have the ability to take negative circumstances and thoughts and turn them into positives.  Negatives are viewed as obstacles where an unmotivated person looks at negatives as a permanent road block.

If you test high in motivation chances are you are a visionary. You see what could be and picture it as what currently is. For example entrepreneurs have this ability. They can take a picture of how big their business will be in a few years and they act upon those visions as if they are happening right now.

4. Social Skills: Social skills are your people skills. How do you actually interact with other human beings. People with great social skills have the ability to lead, and interact well with others in a team environment.

You are also very good at leading other people, networking and building personal bonds with others. You could be very charismatic too. People probably like you and enjoy your company and feel like they may be missing out once you part ways.

5. Emotional Self Regulation: The ability to self regulate your emotions requires the ability to control your though process when you may be vulnerable.  You know how you feel when somebody cuts you off in traffic when you are having a great day. You go from the world is a great place. to the emotion of anger and disbelief that people are so rude and only care about themselves.

The ability to alleviate that feeling of anger and hostility comes with your ability to put it into perspective without losing control. This type of self control takes practice and certain techniques but it can be done. If you test high in this area of an EQ test you have the natural ability to do this.

These important areas of the EQ are the areas that more than likely will determine your ultimate lot in life, your relationships and the success you have.

In other words he thought that if you were a great physical specimen you also had superior mental abilities. Much of the development of the IQ test was expanded upon by Alfred Binet. Binet was appointed by the government of France, in 1904 to find a way to differentiate school children who were intellectually superior to those who weren’t. Binet had a passion to learn why some people seemed to fare better in school and life, than others. He administered his test to children in Paris and created the beginnings of the IQ test, based on the results of testing.

The actual terminology of intelligent quotient was announced by a professor of psychology by the name of Lewis Terman. Terman was hired by the US Army in 1917 as one of seven psychologists assembled together as part of a team to devise a way of sorting, over two million draftees, into job that suited them. Terman enlisted the help of one of his students to construct an intelligence test. The student’s name was Arthur Otis.

The seven member psychology team hired by the army decided to use Otis’s test. His test was given to a test group 4000 soldiers. It seemed to work as the army tested over 2 million draft picks by 1917 during the height of World War One.

Intelligent testing became the norm for measuring the smarts of people during the 1960’s. In the 1970’s the test became less and less popular because it was learned that the test scored could be manipulated by how it was administered.  However the evolution of the IQ test continued.

Today we see various forms of testing administered in college entrance exams in the SAT and ACT.  Most colleges use these tests as a deciding factor of whether or not somebody is accepted to their post secondary educational facilities.

But there is a positive aspect to personality tests that you can use to your advantage.

Many of us are now taking the time to find out who we are. This is a great way to possibly get a gauge on that. If you are in a job or career that you don’t like a personality test can help you determine what you may be suited for.

Are you an accountant that feels stuck in an office pouring over numbers all day long. Do you look forward to your lunch and break times so that you can get some real interaction with people. This is a type of personality trait.  You are either introverted (you like to kepp to yourself) or extroverted (you like the social interaction with people)

Have you ever been around somebody that tends to blow up for no apparent reason? Many people have bosses like that and it’s usually not a fun situation to be in. People of high job responsibility may not be suited for being a job because they can’t multi task and the stress of managing people can make an intensely hostile work situation.

This is an example of emotional reactiveness.

A personality test can be used by employers to also find out what type of working situation will make you the most productive.

Psychologists tend to think that personality tests are never changing. In other words your scores won’t depend on whether or now you are feeling good on the day of the test or now. Intelligent quotient tests score or IQ tests results can fluctuate depending on a number of factors.

Personality tests are what are perceived as to who you are. What makes you tick and what are your real strengths and weaknesses based on a certain set of criteria. These typically will not change on a day to day basis.

What is high IQ? Is it better performance in school? Is it a good standard of life? Let examine if IQ is a relevant means to gauge one’s intellect or not.

Intellect and High IQ: Interrelated?
It is a known fact that the more your IQ score is the more intelligent a person is believed to be. But there are tests which are culturally biased. So for a person whose intelligence level is mediocre, this is a wrong means of measurement. Also, many simple techniques exist using which one can very easily boost IQ scores.

These techniques like a cup of coffee before a test may help you boost your score. Hence it is easy to adopt techniques which will modify your score. In short, you can manipulate the IQ score. I do agree that there is correlation between intellgence and IQ score, but it has its limitations.

Is lifestyle linked to High IQ?
There is no proof till date that higher intelligence leads a better lifestyle. Moreover, how do you quantify “better life”? What parameters are used to measure lifestyle?

There are people who had high IQ, yet they ended their lives voluntarily. Some of the names are Virginia Woolf, Ernest Hemingway and Sylvia Path. Does this indicate towards a inverse relation between IQ and life? Research has shown that chances are high that people with low and high IQ would commit suicide. But these studies are only indicative. They do not pinpoint towards a reason for this phenomena.

Educational Grades and High IQ
Studies and experiments conducted lately, indicate that there did exist relation between IQ and academic performance. But it also showed that self discipline is more closely related to the grades a student secures. The more the self disciplined the child is the better is his/her performance. Yet there is no relation between IQ and discipline. These qualities are independent of each other.

There are experiments which have been conducted to understand the relation between discipline and academic performance. In these experiments the children were presented with two choices. First was that they could choose the cookie then. Second alternative was, if they do not choose cookie they could have 2 at a later stage. Those who opted the second choice had good academic grades. Thus the will power to choose the more lucrative choice, which comes through self discipline, has proven to be more influential on educational grades.

True meaning of IQ
I do agree that intelligence is a powerful tool, but remember there are far more significant tools which play an equally important role in shaping up our lives. It is only useful if applied to improve one’s lifestyle. Computing power alone is not capable of making a computer helpful. Other components are necessary to support it. Do not underestimate people with average IQ. People like Henry Ford have been successful. So be cautious when you exaggerate the importance of high IQ.