Swinburne University Emotional Intelligence Test (SUEIT)

Abstract

The Swinburne University Emotional Intelligence Test (SUEIT) is a comprehensive, self-report psychological scale developed by Palmer and Stough in 2001 to measure various facets of Emotional Intelligence (EI). SUEIT conceptualizes EI as a multifactorial trait, distinct from cognitive ability, focusing on an individual’s capacity to recognize, understand, utilize, and manage emotions effectively in both personal and social contexts. The scale is designed primarily for use with adult populations, particularly within organizational and workplace settings, providing detailed scores across five core dimensions of emotional competence.

Keywords

SUEIT, Emotional Intelligence, EI, Palmer, Stough, Emotional Recognition, Emotional Management, Organizational Psychology, Trait EI, Psychometrics

Authors

Brett R. Palmer, Con Stough, Lorraine Gardner, Melanie Walls, Zoë Burgess

Purpose

The primary purpose of the SUEIT is to provide a robust and scientifically sound measure of Emotional Intelligence, particularly for use in research, organizational development, and selection contexts. It aims to quantify an individual’s self-perceived emotional competencies across several distinct areas, allowing researchers and practitioners to identify specific strengths and weaknesses related to emotional functioning. The scale distinguishes itself by focusing on the practical application of emotional skills in daily life and work environments.

The SUEIT has been utilized to explore the relationship between EI and critical outcomes such as effective leadership, occupational stress, and overall well-being. By offering a detailed profile across five subscales, the SUEIT allows for targeted interventions and training programs aimed at enhancing specific areas of emotional competence.

Construct

The SUEIT measures Emotional Intelligence (EI) as a collection of interrelated competencies, adhering to a mixed or trait model of EI. This approach views EI as a set of personality traits and self-perceived abilities related to emotion. The SUEIT model is structured around five distinct, yet correlated, factors:

• Emotional Recognition and Expression (ERE): The ability to accurately perceive and articulate one’s own emotions and moods.
• Understanding Emotions External (UE): The capacity to recognize, interpret, and understand the emotions, intentions, and perspectives of others, often through non-verbal cues (e.g., body language, tone of voice).
• Emotions Direct Cognition (EDC): The skill of using emotions and moods to facilitate cognitive processes, such as generating new ideas, enhancing memory, and guiding problem-solving.
• Emotional Management (EM): The ability to influence and manage the emotions of others, including building rapport, promoting cooperation, and resolving conflict.
• Emotional Control (EC): The capacity to regulate one’s own feelings, manage stress, overcome frustration, and maintain focus, particularly under pressure.

Validity

Validity evidence for the SUEIT, as detailed in the technical manuals (e.g., Palmer & Stough, 2001; 2002), typically includes analyses supporting its structural, convergent, and discriminant validity. Structural validity is supported by Factor Analysis confirming the five-factor structure of the scale. Convergent validity is established by demonstrating moderate positive correlations between SUEIT scores and other established measures of Emotional Intelligence, as well as relevant personality constructs (such as high conscientiousness or extraversion).

Furthermore, criterion validity has been explored through studies linking SUEIT scores to practical outcomes. For instance, research has shown that higher scores on SUEIT dimensions, particularly Emotional Management and Emotional Control, correlate positively with measures of effective leadership and lower levels of occupational stress, supporting the utility of the scale in predicting real-world performance.

Reliability

The reliability of the SUEIT is typically assessed using measures of internal consistency, primarily Cronbach’s alpha, across its five subscales and for the total EI score. Published technical documentation indicates that the SUEIT generally demonstrates good to excellent internal consistency, with alpha coefficients commonly falling within the acceptable range (e.g., 0.70 to 0.90) for psychological measures. This suggests that the items within each factor consistently measure the same underlying construct.

Test-retest reliability, which assesses the stability of scores over time, is also a critical component of SUEIT validation, ensuring that the measurement of trait EI remains stable across repeated administrations, assuming no significant intervention has occurred between testing periods.

Factor Analysis

The development of the SUEIT was underpinned by extensive Factor Analysis (FA) conducted on large samples, which confirmed the existence of the five distinct factors: Emotional Recognition and Expression (ERE), Understanding Emotions External (UE), Emotions Direct Cognition (EDC), Emotional Management (EM), and Emotional Control (EC). The FA procedure, likely employing exploratory and confirmatory methods, was instrumental in refining the 64 items and ensuring that they load appropriately onto their designated subscales, minimizing cross-loading and maximizing the clarity of each dimension.

This empirical factor structure supports the theoretical model proposed by Palmer and Stough, positioning the SUEIT as a multidimensional measure that captures the complexity of emotional functioning across intrapersonal (ERE, EC) and interpersonal (UE, EM) domains, as well as the cognitive utilization of emotion (EDC).

Instrument

Test Type: Self-report Trait Emotional Intelligence Measure

Format: 64 items utilizing a 5-point Likert scale response format.

Language Available: Primarily English (original version), with translations used in subsequent research (e.g., the 2011 Romanian study referenced).

Population Group: Adults and working professionals.

Age Group: Typically 18 years and above.

Population Details: Developed and standardized initially on Australian university and organizational samples. The scale is suitable for general population and workplace assessments.

Test Methodology: Respondents rate their agreement with each statement based on a 5-point frequency scale: 1=Never, 2= Seldom, 3= Sometimes, 4= Usually, 5= Always.

Keywords

Emotional Control, Emotional Recognition, Workplace SUEIT, Psychometric testing, Affective Cognition, Leadership, Organizational Development

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: Information not provided in source content.

Affiliation Email addresses: Information not provided in source content.

Correspondence Address: Formerly Organisational Psychology Research Unit, Swinburne University of Technology, Victoria, Australia.

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

The original conceptualization and technical manual (V2) were published in 2001 and 2002. Use and licensing typically require permission from Swinburne University of Technology or authorized distributors, particularly for commercial or large-scale organizational application. The scale is often utilized in academic research settings. The original PDF of the instrument, as referenced in the source material, can be found here: http://researchbank.swinburne.edu.au/vital/access/services/Download/swin:4487/DS2

Reference’s

• Palmer, B. R. (2003). An Analysis of the Relationships Between Various Models and Measures of Emotional Intelligence. Centre for Neuropsychology, School of Biophysical Sciences and Electrical Engineering. Victoria, Swinburne Unversity of Technology.
• Palmer, B. R., & Stough, C. (2001). SUEIT: Swinburne University Emotional Intelligence Test: Interim Technical Manual V2. Organisational Psychology Research Unit, Swinburne University: Australia.
• Palmer, B. R., & Stough, C. (2002). Swinburne University Emotional Intelligence Test (Workplace SUEIT). Interim technical manual (Version 2). Victoria: Swinburne University of Technology.
• Palmer, B. R., Gardner, L and Stough, C. (2003). The relationship between emotional intelligence, personality and effective leadership. 5th Australian Industrial & Organizational Psychology Conference, Melbourne.
• Palmer, B. R., Walls, M., Burgess, Z. and Stough, C. (2001). Emotional intelligence and effective leadership. Leadership & Organization Development Journal 22(1), pp. 5 – 10.
• Darvish, Hassan., Nasrollahi, Ali Akbar. (2011). Studying the Relations between Emotional Intelligence and Occupational Stress: A Case Study at Payame Noor University. Petroleum-Gas University of Ploiesti, BULLETIN Vol. LXIII, No. 2/2011: 38 – 49 Economic Sciences Series, Romania.

Items of the Swinburne University Emotional Intelligence Test (SUEIT)

IMPORTANT: The following scale items must be preserved in their original language and must not be changed in any way.

1. I can tell how others are feeling.
2. I generate positive moods and emotions within myself to get over being frustrated.
3. Examination of feelings is useful in solving problems.
4. When I’m anxious I can remain focused on what I am doing.
5. I can tell whether others like each other or not.
6. When I’m under stress, I tend to irritate those around me.
7. I find it difficult to talk about my feelings with others.
8. I find it hard to determine how others are feeling from their body language alone.
9. Difficult situations elicit emotions in me that I find hard to overcome.
10. Others find it easy to pick-up on how I am feeling.
11. I find it difficult to keep from getting stressed out when I am under a lot of pressure.
12. My moods and emotions help me generate new ideas.
13. I can tell how others feel by the tone of their voice.
14. When I am anxious, I find it difficult to express this to others.
15. I find it easy to influence the moods and emotions of those around me.
16. I don’t easily pick-up on the emotional overtones of the environment I am in.
17. I can tell when others are trying to hide their true feelings.
18. I try not to let my emotions guide me when problem solving.
19. I find it easy to control my anger.
20. I can describe my feelings on an issue to others.
21. I don’t think it’s a good idea to use emotions to guide my decision making.
22. I find it hard to identify if somebody is upset without them telling me.
23. I find it hard to get people to cooperate with each other.
24. I come up with new ideas using rational thoughts rather than my moods and emotions.
25. I find it hard to concentrate on a task when I’m really excited about something.
26. I can portray how I’m feeling to others through my body language.
27. I find it hard to determine friendships between people I don’t know well.
28. I overcome conflict with others by influencing their moods and emotions.
29. I watch the way people react to things when I’m trying to build rapport with them.
30. My problem solving is based on sound reasoning rather than feelings.
31. I find it difficult to think clearly when I’m feeling anxious about something.
32. I have trouble finding the right words to express how I feel.
33. I find it difficult to get others excited about things.
34. I can pick-up on the emotional ‘overtone’ of the discussion.
35. I attend to my feelings on a matter when making important decisions.
36. I overcome anger by thinking through what’s causing it.
37. Others know when I am worried.
38. I readily understand the reasons why I have upset someone.
39. I find it hard to reduce anxiety in others.
40. I weigh-up how I feel about different solutions to problems.
41. I can be upset and still think clearly.
42. I find it hard to convey my anxiety in others.
43. I can determine when other’s emotional reactions are inappropriate.
44. I find it easy to comfort others when they are upset about something at work.
45. Other’s facial expressions reveal a lot to me about the way they are feeling.
46. I find it difficult to control strong emotions.
47. Feelings should be kept at bay when making important decisions.
48. I readily notice the ‘feel’ of different environments.
49. When something gets me down I find it difficult to snap out of it.
50. I go with my ‘feelings’ when making important decisions.
51. I can detect my emotions as I experience them.
52. When discussing an issue, I find it difficult to tell whether others feel the same way as me.
53. Thinking about how I felt in certain situations helps me to remember them.
54. I can easily snap out of feeling down.
55. I find it hard to distinguish my emotions.
56. I can tell when someone feels the same way as myself about another person without actually discussing it.
57. I find it difficult to maintain positive moods and emotions when I’m under stress.
58. When others get worked-up I stay out of their way.
59. I find it hard to determine exactly how others feel about issues I have with them.
60. When something goes wrong in my life, I find it difficult to remain positive.
61. Others can easily tell how I feel.
62. I try to keep emotions out of my decision making.
63. I can tell when someone doesn’t really like me.
64. When someone upsets me, I think through what the person has said and find a solution.