22 Emotional Intelligence Statistics To Make Your Day (2024)


Emotional Intelligence Statistics

Have you heard about emotional intelligence? There’s a lot of talk about it, but what does it mean, and why should you care?

Emotional intelligence is the idea that your own emotions (and the emotions of others) influence your behavior. If you have high emotional intelligence, it means that you’re able to identify and recognize your emotions and understand how they affect your behavior. It also means that you’re able to identify and respond appropriately to the emotions of other people.

If you’ve ever wondered how important EQ really is, or what its impact is on the workplace, your relationships, or even your health, this blog post is for you! We want to share everything we know about EQ with you so that you can take control of your mood and be the best version of yourself!

People with high EQ tend to make better decisions in life—they’re more successful at work, they enjoy better relationships, and they’re happier overall.

Sounds pretty good right? So why don’t we all just take some pills and be done with it? Well, while there are medication options for mood disorders like anxiety and depression, there aren’t any magic pills for EQ. But the good news is that there are things you can do to improve your emotional intelligence. 

We know that emotions are hard to quantify—but not this time! We’ve put together this list of emotional intelligence statistics that can help you and anyone else get an idea of where they’re at with their emotional intelligence, where they’re going wrong, and what they need to do to improve.

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Compelling Emotional Intelligence Statistics (Editor’s Picks)

  • Nearly everyone (95%) thinks of themselves as self-aware, but only about 15% of people actually are.
  • Peers were reported to be the most unaware co-workers.
  • EQ is four times more reliable than IQ in determining success in your field.
  • Leaders with empathy perform over 40% higher in employee engagement, decision-making, and coaching.
  • Emotional intelligence has a 58% influence on job performance.
  • 90% of top-performing employees have high emotional intelligence.
  • 71% of hiring managers value EQ over IQ when looking for employees.

Self-Awareness Emotional Intelligence Statistics 

1. 95% of people think they are self-aware, but only 10–15% actually are.

(Harvard Business Review)

It seems a lot of people are in denial, according to this research by Tasha Eurich, an organizational psychologist.

Self-awareness is about knowing who you are and how you are perceived. It is crucial for career success, leadership effectiveness, and job performance. However, it looks like it isn’t commonplace in today’s workplace.

 

2. 99% of working American adults report working with at least one person who isn’t self-aware.

(Harvard Business Review)

In a survey involving 467 working adults across several industries in the US, nearly all of them have worked with at least one person who lacks self-awareness. On top of that, nearly 50% of the same respondents reported working with at least four such people.

 

3. Peers were reported to be the most unaware colleagues, with 73% of American workers reporting having at least one unaware peer.

(Harvard Business Review)

It looks like you don’t have to search far to find an unaware colleague. On top of having unaware peers, 33% of American employees reported having bosses who aren’t self-aware, and 16% reported having such clients.

 

Emotional Intelligence At Work

4. Employees with high EQ scores earn an additional $29,000 on average per year than those with lower EQ.

(Workforce.com)

High emotional intelligence is correlated to success and increased productivity. That’s why it doesn’t come as a surprise that employees with high EQ make more money than those with lower EQ. However, you shouldn’t worry too much, as your emotional intelligence improves as you get older, and you can develop it over time.

 

5. Every additional point in your EQ score means an additional $1,300 to your yearly salary.

(Vantage Circle)

Although IQ scores can also help determine someone’s proficiency in their career, having high EQ scores seems to be the bigger factor in determining success. That said, developing your emotional intelligence seems to have monetary rewards as well.

 

6. 75% of the Fortune 500 companies use emotional intelligence training tools.

(Vantage Circle)

The Fortune 500 companies are the top 500 companies in the United States. They’re on top for a reason: emotional intelligence training. These companies understand the benefits and crucial nature of emotional intelligence training, so they make it a point to include it in their arsenal of employee training tools.

 

7. EQ is four times more effective than IQ in determining who will be successful in their field.

(LinkedIn)

A 40-year study of UC Berkeley PhDs showed that EQ is more powerful than IQ in determining a person’s success in their given field — four times more, to be exact.

Skills like active listening, stress management, and empathy are contributing factors to a person’s success. Even the smartest person can benefit from having a higher EQ score.

 

8. Technical programmers with EQ scores belonging to the top 10% can develop software three times faster than their low EQ colleagues.

(IRMI)

This shows that even in jobs where you’d expect a lower EQ won’t matter as much, especially since they’re not client-facing jobs, it does still have an effect on productivity. Anyone can benefit from having high emotional intelligence — or at least conducting training to improve.

 

9. Leaders with empathy perform over 40% higher in employee engagement, decision-making, and coaching.

(Harvard Business School)

According to DDI, a global leadership development company, empathy is the number one skill that leaders have to be good at. Research shows that managers or employees in a leadership role are perceived to have better job performance when they are empathetic.

When leaders communicate to their direct reports with empathy, the team feels more supported, and individual members perform better.

 

How Does Emotional Intelligence Affect Companies?

10. Emotional intelligence has a 58% influence on job performance.

(Vantage Circle)

With this direct correlation between job performance and emotional intelligence, it would be wise for companies to invest in emotional intelligence training for their employees to have higher EQ scores.

Aside from improving their employees’ skills, emotional intelligence has to be taken into consideration as well to improve their performance.

 

11. Restaurants managed by people with high emotional intelligence grow their profit by 22% each year.

(EI Consortium)

With this statistic, there’s no denying that emotional intelligence impacts the profit growth of businesses. It seems that the key factors affecting productivity are emotional self-awareness, happiness, social responsibility, reality testing, and interpersonal relationship — all of which are components in emotional intelligence.

 

12. Workers who have managers with high EQ scores are four times less likely to quit than those with managers who have low EQ.

(LinkedIn)

When emotional intelligence is incorporated in business operations, employees feel secure enough to speak up about their concerns, business-related or otherwise. They’re also more inclined to express their ideas since they feel more heard, thereby increasing employee engagement and decreasing attrition rates.

 

13. 90% of top-performing employees have high emotional intelligence.

(CIPHR)

Employers may include emotional intelligence in their assessment when looking for employees who have leadership potential or who are next in line for a promotion or pay raise. You can still be a top-performing employee if you don’t have a high EQ score, but the chances are very slim.

On the other hand, high EQ employees made up only 20% of the bottom performers.

 

How Much Do Companies Value Emotional Intelligence?

14. 71% of hiring managers value EQ over IQ when looking for employees.

(CareerBuilder)

Companies understand that although having someone with strong hard skills is great, an employee with high emotional intelligence will be more valuable in the long run.

According to hiring managers, they’ve observed that employees with EQ are more likely to effectively and diplomatically resolve conflict, empathize with co-workers, and stay calm under pressure.

 

15. 59% of employers refuse to hire a candidate with a high IQ but low EQ.

(CareerBuilder)

People with a high IQ may have the hard skills necessary to be productive employees in the workforce, but if they have low EQ, they may be difficult to work with. That’s why employers aren’t willing to compromise. If someone has low EQ, they’re most likely not going to get hired even if they have a high IQ.

 

16. High EQ employees are favored over high IQ employees for a promotion 75% of the time.

(CareerBuilder)

Leaders with high emotional intelligence are more than likely to be productive and effective. They usually lead by example and give a lot of thought to business decisions. They also listen as much as they speak, which is a very good quality in employees in a leadership role.

 

17. 30% of HR managers think that employers don’t prioritize emotional intelligence enough during the hiring process.

(PR Newswire)

Although emotional intelligence is a key contributing factor to success, it’s not nearly as emphasized as it should be. However, with the rising awareness of the benefits of hiring emotionally intelligent workers or training workers to improve their emotional intelligence, companies are now taking appropriate action.

 

18. 40% of HR managers reported it’s more difficult for them to teach employees soft skills than technical skills.

(PR Newswire)

Soft skills include problem-solving, stress management, communication, and adaptability. These traits are usually harder to teach than, say, teaching someone how to use Excel. It usually takes a lot of training to train someone to have better soft skills, but the result is worth it in the end.

 

Emotional Intelligence Success Stories

19. Forty-four Fortune 500 companies found salespersons with high emotional intelligence had twice the amount of sales compared to those with low to average scores.

(IRMI)

The Hay Group conducted a study on 44 Fortune 500 companies and found that salespeople with high EQ brought in twice as much revenue as those with low to average emotional intelligence. This is hardly surprising, though — an effective salesperson has to be able to understand the needs of the prospective client to provide the appropriate product or service for them.

 

20. A large hospital decreased its nursing turnover by 50% within 18 months of imposing an emotional intelligence screening assessment.

(IRMI)

This large hospital had a nursing turnover rate of 65% prior to implementing the emotional intelligence screening assessment. Within 18 months, that rate dropped to 15%.

Employee retention has its benefits — reduced costs, lesser time and resources spent on training, improved employee morale, and increased productivity, among others.

 

21. A Fortune 500 company based in Texas that switched to an emotional intelligence-based assessment increased its employee retention by 67% in the first year.

(IRMI)

This Texas-based Fortune 500 company had previously used personality assessment in their hiring process for many years, but it wasn’t doing much to reduce the turnover rate. When they switched to an emotional intelligence-based selection assessment, they started to see results.

In the first year, the company saw the following results — increased employee retention by 67% and increased company bottom line by $32 million in increased sales and reduced turnover costs.

 

22. A Dallas corporation found that its employees with high EQ scores were 20 times more productive than those with low EQ.

(IRMI)

Keeping in mind the results of this recent study, we can conclude that any company can benefit from conducting emotional intelligence training among its employees to improve their EQ.

Additionally, they can also use emotional intelligence-based screening tests on top of other application screening tests that they impose.

 

Related Questions

What percentage of success is emotional intelligence?

According to TalentSmart, among 33 other essential workplace skills, emotional intelligence is the top factor in workplace performance, expounding that it contributes to 58% of any professional’s career success.

Moreover, employees with high emotional intelligence tend to earn $29,000 more per year on average than their peers with lower emotional intelligence. What’s even more shocking is that every additional point you get on an emotional intelligence test adds $1,300 to your yearly salary.

 

What is the average EQ score?

While the perfect EQ score is 160, the average ranges from 90 to 100. People with a high EQ score tend to be better at understanding and empathizing with others. If you have an EQ score that’s below average, you can increase your emotional intelligence by learning how to manage or reduce negative emotions.

 

Is emotional intelligence declining?

The Journal of Personality released new research, showing that three out of four facets of emotional intelligence have declined over the years. The meta-analysis involved 70 studies with 17,000 participants. It showed that well-being, self-control, and emotionality have declined over the years.

The meta-analysis also found that access to technology is linked to a decrease in self-control and well-being.

 

What are the five elements of emotional intelligence?

An American psychologist named Daniel Goleman helped emotional intelligence rise in popularity. He also named five key elements to it, namely:

  1. Self-awareness entails being aware of how your actions and emotions can affect those around you.
  2. Self-regulation is all about keeping yourself in check, so you don’t make rushed decisions or compromise your code of ethics.
  3. Motivation involves being able to work toward your goals consistently.
  4. Empathy means being able to put yourself in someone else’s position.
  5. Social skills imply your ability to communicate well and resolve conflict in a diplomatic manner.

 

Conclusion

That was a lot of information, wasn’t it?

So, what did you think? We’ve gone through a lot of statistics about emotional intelligence, but we’ve only scratched the surface. Hopefully, this article has left you craving more information on emotional intelligence—and maybe even a little more emotionally intelligent.

Thank you for reading this blog post. We’re so glad you made it to the end of this article. We hope it’s cleared up some misconceptions, and given you a deeper understanding of what EI is and why it matters.

If you have any more questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us.

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