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Last Updated: Nov 2, 2026
Mental Health & Therapy
Emotional intelligence scale: Free PDF and how to score it
Free PDF 3 pages, print-ready Clinician-reviewed
An emotional intelligence scale is a self-report questionnaire that measures how well a person recognizes, understands, and manages their own emotions and other people's. The most widely used free version, the 33-item Schutte scale, asks people to rate statements from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). Three negatively worded items are reverse-scored, and the ratings add up to a total between 33 and 165. Clinicians, coaches, and HR teams use that total to structure a conversation about emotional skills, not to make a diagnosis.
Template details
- Template type
- Scale
- Format
- Printable PDF, 3 pages
- Sections
- 1 section
- Fields to complete
- 33 fields
- Best for
- Mental Health & Therapy
Free download
Download your free emotional intelligence scale
A ready-to-use questionnaire covering self-awareness, self-regulation, empathy, and social skills, with Likert-style response items for practitioners.
What’s inside
- Name and date fields to record who completed the scale and when
- Instructions defining the 1 to 5 scale, from strongly disagree to strongly agree
- 33 first-person statements about noticing, using and managing emotions
- Statements on reading other people's feelings from faces, voice and nonverbal cues
- Three negatively worded statements mixed in among the positive ones
- A 1 to 5 rating line under every statement for circling one answer
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Key takeaways
An emotional intelligence scale is a structured self-report questionnaire covering self-awareness, self-regulation, empathy, and social skills.
Most self-report scales use Likert-type items, so the response format is consistent across the questionnaire.
Scores are norm-referenced, so interpret them against a published normative sample rather than an absolute standard.
Scales support conversations and documentation but do not diagnose a condition or replace certified administration.
Pabau’s free template gives your team a ready-to-use starting point.
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What is an emotional intelligence scale?
An emotional intelligence scale is a questionnaire that measures emotional competence across defined dimensions. Most instruments are built around four core areas: self-awareness, self-regulation, empathy, and social skills.
- Self-awareness: Noticing your own emotions and how they affect your thinking and behavior.
- Self-regulation: Managing emotional responses, including stress and impulses.
- Empathy: Recognizing and considering the feelings of other people.
- Social skills: Handling relationships, communication, and conflict.
A scale turns these dimensions into items that a person can rate. The result is a profile rather than a single verdict, which is why most practitioners read subscale scores alongside the total.
When one area needs a closer look, a focused measure helps. The Toronto Empathy Questionnaire looks at empathy alone, and a self-regulation questionnaire targets impulse and stress control.
Ability models vs self-report models
Two broad traditions shape how emotional intelligence scales are built. Ability models treat EI as a set of skills tested through performance tasks. Mixed or trait models ask people to describe their own emotional habits instead.
The Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT) is the best-known ability-based measure. The Emotional Quotient Inventory (EQ-i 2.0) and the Schutte Self-Report Emotional Intelligence Scale take the self-report route. Knowing which tradition an instrument follows tells you what its scores can and cannot show.
The three instruments practitioners cite most
Choosing an instrument depends on who will complete it, who will interpret it, and what decision it supports. The table below compares the three instruments most often cited in the literature.
The Emotional Intelligence Consortium maintains a library of EI measures that includes the Schutte scale. It is a useful place to check availability before you choose an instrument.
How to score and interpret results
Scores on a standardized instrument are norm-referenced, meaning they show where a person sits relative to a normative sample. The EQ-i 2.0 uses a mean of 100 and a standard deviation of 15 for its scales. A score near 100 sits around the typical range.
How Likert scale questions work in EI assessments
Likert scale questions ask people to rate how much they agree with a statement, usually on a five-point scale from strongly disagree to strongly agree. Each item is scored, reverse-scored where wording is negative, and summed into a subscale.
- Read the statement and rate how well it describes you in a typical situation.
- Reverse-score any items worded negatively, so a higher number always means more of the trait.
- Sum the item scores within each subscale, then sum the subscales for a total.
- Compare each result against the published norm group before drawing conclusions.
Scoring the template by hand
The template’s 33 statements follow the Schutte Self-Report Emotional Intelligence Scale, and the PDF itself carries no scoring key. Each statement gets a rating from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree).
Items 5, 28 and 33 are worded negatively, so reverse them before you add up. A 1 becomes a 5, and a 2 becomes a 4. The 33 ratings then sum to a total between 33 and 165. Higher totals mean more self-reported emotional intelligence, and the four steps below fit the whole calculation on one page.
Reliability and validity: What makes a scale trustworthy
Before you use or recommend any scale, check its psychometric evidence. Three properties matter most, and each one decides how far you can trust a score you share with a patient.
- Reliability: Whether the scale gives consistent results, measured through internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha) and test-retest correlation.
- Validity: Whether the scale measures what it claims to, supported by construct, convergent, and criterion evidence.
- Norm group: Whether the normative sample resembles the people you will assess.
A well-documented instrument publishes these figures in its manual. If a template or questionnaire does not explain its norms or validation, treat its scores as a conversation prompt rather than a measurement.
Using the questionnaire in clinical and coaching sessions
Clinicians often use an emotional intelligence scale during intake, next to a counselor intake form, or as a reflective tool between sessions. The score is most useful when it opens a discussion about how a patient handles stress, relationships, and emotional triggers.
- Explain the purpose of the scale and that results inform discussion, not diagnosis.
- Have the patient complete the items in a quiet setting, without time pressure.
- Review the pattern of answers together, starting with the patient’s own interpretation.
- Record the agreed goals in the clinical notes, referencing the instrument used.
Coaches can log the same goals in structured coaching notes, so the next session starts from them.
Using EI scales for employee and workplace assessment
Occupational health and HR teams use emotional intelligence scales in leadership development and well-being programs. Results work best as group-level themes, such as a team’s shared strength in empathy, rather than as individual performance ratings.
Where strain is the concern, teams often pair it with the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory, which measures exhaustion at work and in personal life.
Any workplace use should be transparent, voluntary, and handled in line with data protection rules. In the UK, that means GDPR obligations, and in the US, HIPAA applies where the assessment sits within a covered clinical record.
The free emotional intelligence scale PDF
The Pabau emotional intelligence scale template gives practitioners a structured starting point. It follows the same Likert-style logic used across most self-report instruments, so your team can adapt it to its own workflow.
What’s included in the PDF
- Items covering self-awareness, self-regulation, empathy, and social skills, presented as one continuous list of 33 statements.
- Instructions explaining the five-point scale, from strongly disagree to strongly agree.
- A blank 1–5 response line under each statement, plus name and date fields at the top.
The PDF has no scoring key or norms, so treat it as a practice tool rather than a formal assessment. When a decision depends on the result, use a certified instrument such as the EQ-i 2.0 alongside it.
For patients who struggle to notice their own feelings, an emotional awareness worksheet gives them structured practice between sessions.
Pro Tip
Use the template as a pre-session reflection tool, then compare the patient’s own reading of their results with your observations. Note the discrepancies in the clinical record, since they often reveal the most useful starting point for discussion.
How Pabau turns the questionnaire into a digital form
Most practices print the PDF, hand it over at reception, and type the total into the notes by hand. Paper copies get lost between sessions. Comparing this month’s score with last quarter’s then means digging through files.
Pabau, the practice software we build for easier therapy practice management, lets you rebuild the scale as a digital form. Patients complete it on their own device before the session, and their answers are saved to their patient record.
You open the session with the responses already in front of you. Repeat scores sit in one file, so progress conversations start from the patient’s own history instead of a stack of paper.
Send the scale before every session
Pabau’s digital forms let patients complete questionnaires before their appointment and save each response to their record. You open the session with results ready, not paperwork.
Conclusion
A self-report emotional intelligence scale earns its place when you treat the total as the start of a conversation. Score the 33 items the same way every time, reverse the three negative ones, and date each result so the next score has a baseline.
The trade-off is precision. A free questionnaire without norms can’t support a formal assessment, so switch to a certified instrument when a decision rides on the result.
Book a demo to see how Pabau sends questionnaires before the session and keeps every result in the patient’s record.
Continue your research
Need a follow-up exercise after a low score? Regulating emotions worksheet gives patients a structured way to practice managing strong feelings.
Want to start with the basics of naming feelings? Identifying emotions worksheet helps patients put words to what they feel.
Measuring how self-worth shifts over time? State self-esteem scale tracks momentary self-esteem across sessions.
Is stress shaping the results? Stress assessment questionnaire maps where pressure is coming from before you plan the next step.
Need a broader personality picture? Personality Assessment Inventory template covers the clinical scales an EI questionnaire leaves out.
Frequently asked questions
What is an emotional intelligence scale?
An emotional intelligence scale is a self-report questionnaire that measures self-awareness, self-regulation, empathy, and social skills. It produces subscale and total scores that show a profile of emotional competence.
What do emotional intelligence test scores mean?
Scores show where a person sits relative to a normative sample. Read subscales together with the total, and interpret results alongside the patient’s own account rather than as a diagnosis.
What is the best emotional intelligence scale for clinical use?
The best scale depends on the setting and the qualifications available. Certified instruments such as the EQ-i 2.0 suit formal assessment, while free self-report scales suit reflective or exploratory use.
Is there a free emotional intelligence scale I can download?
Yes, Pabau offers a free emotional intelligence scale PDF for practitioners. It is a practice tool and does not replace validated, certified instruments.
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