Reality Testing
Reality Testing is one of the skills measured by the EQi-2.0 Emotional Intelligence assessment.
Reality Testing is part of the Decision Making domain of emotional intelligence skills. It is defined like this:
Reality Testing is the capacity to remain objective by seeing things as they really are. This capacity involves recognizing when emotions or personal bias can cause one to be less objective.
This particular skill is one of the most important skills out of the 15 emotional intelligence skills measured by the EQi-2.0. If a person’s Reality Testing is not balanced, the way they see themselves and the way they see the world around them will be out of balance.
Unbalanced Reality Testing
Let’s say you have a boss who thinks they are an outstanding communicator. From your point of view, when your boss speaks to you, he / she is never clear with regards to their spoken expectations.
You constantly find yourself wondering what your boss really expects from you because you’re never clear about what your boss just said.
Based on how confident your boss is about how they think they communicate, they set expectations in their mind for your performance that you never quite live up to.
Can you see where disconnect is occurring in this example?
This is what an unbalanced Reality Testing score looks like on the EQi-2.0 Emotional Intelligence assessment
This is what a balanced Reality Testing score looks like on the EQi-2.0 Emotional Intelligence assessment
What we're looking for in the scores you see above is balance. The top example is completely out of balance whereas the bottom example is much closer to being in balance.
If you were a boss who had healthy Reality Testing abilities or if you reported to a boss who had healthy Reality Testing abilities, the communication disconnect described in the above example would likely not occur.
Good News!
Unlike IQ (cognitive intelligence) that remains static throughout adulthood, EQ or Emotional Intelligence can be measured, coached and improved. Think of EQ as being flexible.
If you’d like to see the entire chart of Emotional Intelligence skills that are measured by the EQi-2.0, the world’s most widely used assessment to measure Emotional Intelligence, I’ll take you to it on Jeff Snyder Coaching.
Jeff Snyder Coaching, 719.686.8810
