Schutte Emotional Intelligence Scale (SEIS)

Abstract

The Schutte Emotional Intelligence Scale (SEIS)—frequently referenced in psychometric literature as the Self-Report Emotional Intelligence Test (SREIT), the Assessing Emotions Scale (AES), or the Schutte Self-Report Inventory (SSRI)—is one of the most widely utilized self-report measurement instruments designed to assess trait emotional intelligence. Developed by Nicola S. Schutte and colleagues in 1998, the instrument operationalizes the seminal conceptual framework of emotional intelligence articulated by Peter Salovey and John D. Mayer (1990). The scale comprises 33 self-report items evaluated across a standardized 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). Psychometrically, the SEIS yields a unidimensional global emotional intelligence composite score, while subsequent empirical investigations robustly identify distinct multidimensional sub-factors: Appraisal and Expression of Emotion, Regulation of Emotion, and Utilisation of Emotion (with alternative four-factor solutions identifying Optimism/Mood Regulation, Appraisal of Emotion, Social Skills, and Utilisation of Emotion). Extensive validation studies demonstrate exemplary psychometric properties, including high internal consistency (Cronbach’s $\alpha$ coefficients typically between .87 and .90), adequate test-retest reliability ($r = .78$ across two-week intervals), and robust convergent, discriminant, and predictive validity across educational, organizational, and clinical domains. The instrument effectively predicts adaptive outcomes including psychological well-being, life satisfaction, resilient coping styles, academic retention, prosocial relationship quality, and reduced psychopathology, making it an indispensable tool for contemporary behavioral science research and psychological assessment.

Keywords

Schutte Emotional Intelligence Scale, SEIS, Trait Emotional Intelligence, Salovey-Mayer Model, Emotional Appraisal, Emotion Regulation, Emotion Utilisation, Psychometrics, Self-Report Inventory, Affective Science, Psychological Assessment

Authors

The scale was developed by a collaborative research team led by Nicola S. Schutte, in conjunction with John M. Malouff, Lena E. Hall, Donald J. Haggerty, Joan T. Cooper, Charles J. Golden, and Liane Dornheim.

• Nicola S. Schutte, Ph.D.: Professor of Psychology, School of Psychology, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of New England, Armidale, New South Wales, Australia. Primary research specialization in positive psychology, emotional intelligence, self-efficacy, and adaptive behavioral regulation.
• John M. Malouff, Ph.D., J.D.: Associate Professor of Psychology, University of New England, Australia. Expertise in behavioral health interventions, emotional regulation, and clinical psychology.
• Lena E. Hall, Donald J. Haggerty, Joan T. Cooper, Charles J. Golden, & Liane Dornheim: Center for Psychological Studies, Nova Southeastern University, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States. Renowned for psychometric tool construction, neuropsychological assessment, and behavioral measurement.

Purpose

The primary purpose of the Schutte Emotional Intelligence Scale is to quantify an individual’s subjective perception of their emotional competencies, dispositions, and self-regulatory capacities. Prior to its construction in 1998, psychological assessment lacked a concise, readily administerable, and psychometrically sound self-report instrument anchored directly to the burgeoning theoretical literature on emotional intelligence (EI). While ability-based performance tests—such as the Multifactor Emotional Intelligence Scale (MEIS) and its successor, the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT)—evaluate objective cognitive-emotional problem solving, there existed an acute clinical and research necessity for a brief self-report index capturing typical performance, affective self-efficacy, and characteristic behavioral tendencies across everyday life.

In clinical and counseling psychology, the SEIS is utilized to identify individuals displaying deficits in emotional processing, affect recognition, and mood repair. It facilitates diagnostic formulation in conditions marked by emotional dysregulation, such as alexithymia, major depressive disorder, generalized anxiety, and borderline personality dynamics. By mapping a patient’s baseline emotional self-awareness and regulatory repertoire, therapists can tailor cognitive-behavioral, dialectical-behavioral, or emotion-focused interventions to bolster specific emotional competencies.

In organizational and occupational settings, the SEIS functions as an evaluative metric for leadership development, occupational stress resilience, transformational leadership potential, and interpersonal effectiveness. Empirical studies demonstrate that higher scores on the SEIS correlate with elevated job performance, lower employee burnout, superior conflict-resolution capability, and enhanced team cohesion.

In educational and developmental research, the instrument is employed to examine the interface between affective intelligence, academic success, and social adaptation in late adolescents and university students. Longitudinal investigations reveal that students possessing higher baseline SEIS scores exhibit smoother transitions into higher education, higher cumulative grade point averages, superior social integration, and significantly lower attrition rates.

Psychological Construct

The psychological construct measured by the SEIS is trait emotional intelligence (or emotional self-efficacy), defined as a constellation of emotional self-perceptions, emotion-related dispositions, and perceived abilities located at the lower levels of personality hierarchies. Although anchored in Salovey and Mayer’s (1990) cognitive-ability framework, the self-report nature of the SEIS inherently captures characteristic patterns of behavior and subjective confidence in emotional processing rather than maximum cognitive capacity.

The construct encompasses three primary interrelated dimensions, further refined in contemporary structural investigations into specific sub-domains:

1. Appraisal and Expression of Emotion (Self and Others)

This dimension reflects the degree to which an individual accurately identifies, attends to, decodes, and articulates internal affective states, as well as the emotional states of other social actors. In the intrapsychic realm, it denotes an acute metacognitive awareness of physiological, cognitive, and somatic markers of emotion as they emerge (e.g., Item 9: “I am aware of my emotions as I experience them”; Item 22: “I easily recognize my emotions as I experience them”). In the interpersonal realm, it gauges social sensitivity, empathetic accuracy, and the ability to decode nonverbal signaling—including facial morphology, micro-expressions, postural shifts, and vocal prosody (e.g., Item 18: “By looking at their facial expressions, I recognize the emotions people are experiencing”; Item 32: “I can tell how people are feeling by listening to the tone of their voice”). Deficits in this domain characterize conditions such as alexithymia, where individuals experience profound impoverishment in emotional vocabulary and interoceptive awareness.

2. Regulation of Emotion (Self and Others)

Emotion regulation encompasses the strategic cognitive, physiological, and behavioral processes through which individuals modulate the trajectory, magnitude, duration, and manifestation of affective experiences. At the intra-individual level, it captures executive mood management, the maintenance of positive affect, and the down-regulation of disruptive distress or rumination (e.g., Item 12: “When I experience a positive emotion, I know how to make it last”; Item 21: “I have control over my emotions”). At the inter-individual level, this component measures prosocial emotional management, social facilitation, and relational scaffolding—the capacity to soothe, console, uplift, and influence the emotional states of peers and associates (e.g., Item 30: “I help other people feel better when they are down”; Item 13: “I arrange events others enjoy”).

3. Utilisation of Emotion

The utilisation domain assesses the pragmatic application of affective information in facilitating cognitive processes, enhancing motivational drive, and guiding adaptive problem solving. Emotions serve as vital informational inputs that prioritize attention, ignite creative divergence, foster cognitive flexibility, and invigorate goal-directed behavior (e.g., Item 17: “When I am in a positive mood, solving problems is easy for me”; Item 20: “When I am in a positive mood, I am able to come up with new ideas”). Individuals scoring high on this dimension harness positive affective states as generative catalysts for expansive thinking, resilience in the face of setbacks, and persistent optimism (e.g., Item 31: “I use good moods to help myself keep trying in the face of obstacles”).

Theoretical Framework

The SEIS is fundamentally grounded in the original conceptual architecture formulated by Peter Salovey and John D. Mayer in their seminal 1990 paper, “Emotional Intelligence.” Salovey and Mayer defined emotional intelligence as “the subset of social intelligence that involves the ability to monitor one’s own and others’ feelings and emotions, to discriminate among them and to use this information to guide one’s thinking and actions” (1990, p. 189).

Their original theoretical model delineated three broad categories of mental processes, which Schutte and colleagues directly translated into the initial pool of 62 candidate items:

• Appraisal and Expression of Emotion: Subdivided into appraisal of emotion in the self (verbal and nonverbal perception) and appraisal of emotion in others (nonverbal perception and empathy).
• Regulation of Emotion: Subdivided into regulation of emotion in the self and regulation of emotion in others.
• Utilization of Emotion: Subdivided into flexible planning, creative thinking, redirected attention, and motivating activity.

During the late 1990s and early 2000s, a major theoretical bifurcation emerged within affective science, distinguishing between Ability EI and Trait EI (Petrides & Furnham, 2000, 2001). Ability EI conceptualizes emotional intelligence as a standard form of cognitive intelligence that must be evaluated via performance tests with objective correct and incorrect answers. In contrast, Trait EI conceptualizes emotional competencies as self-perceived affective traits and behavioral dispositions located within personality hierarchies, properly evaluated through self-report questionnaires.

Although Schutte et al. (1998) originally derived their items from Salovey and Mayer’s ability framework, psychometricians categorize the SEIS as an operationalization of trait emotional intelligence (or perceived emotional intelligence). It measures an individual’s subjective appraisal of their emotional capabilities, emotional self-concept, and typical emotional functioning across naturalistic environments.

Validity

The psychometric validity of the SEIS has been thoroughly corroborated across hundreds of empirical studies spanning diverse cross-cultural, clinical, and community cohorts.

Construct and Factorial Validity

Construct validity was initially established by Schutte et al. (1998) through exploratory factor analysis, demonstrating that a 33-item solution clustered cohesively around a dominant general factor, alongside theoretically coherent multi-factor representations. Subsequent confirmatory factor analyses by independent research groups (e.g., Petrides & Furnham, 2000; Saklofske et al., 2003; Austin et al., 2004) substantiated the internal construct coherence, demonstrating acceptable fit indices when modeled either as a higher-order hierarchical structure or via multidimensional sub-factors.

Convergent Validity

Convergent validity is verified by strong, theoretically predictable correlations with established personality and affective constructs:

• Personality Dimensions (Big Five Model): SEIS scores correlate positively with Extraversion ($r = .43$ to $.61$), Agreeableness ($r = .26$ to $.41$), Conscientiousness ($r = .24$ to $.36$), and Openness to Experience ($r = .43$ to $.54$). Crucially, SEIS demonstrates a robust, statistically significant negative correlation with Neuroticism ($r = -.28$ to $-.52$), aligning with the theoretical premise that emotional stability facilitates adaptive emotional regulation.
• Alexithymia: SEIS demonstrates strong negative correlations with the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20; $r = -.65$, $p < .001$), confirming that the scale accurately captures the inverse of emotional blindness and affective processing deficits.
• Dispositional Optimism and Self-Esteem: Scores correlate substantially with the Life Orientation Test (LOT; $r = .52$ to $.68$) and Rosenberg’s Self-Esteem Scale ($r = .55$ to $.61$).
• Empathy: Significant positive correlations are documented with the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI) Empathic Concern scale ($r = .43$) and Perspective Taking subscale ($r = .48$).

Discriminant Validity

To demonstrate that the SEIS does not merely duplicate traditional cognitive capability or basic academic aptitude, Schutte et al. (1998) evaluated its relationship with standard cognitive ability indices. SEIS scores did not correlate significantly with Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) scores ($r = -.06$, $p = .56$), demonstrating distinct discriminant independence from general cognitive intelligence ($g$). Furthermore, hierarchical regression analyses confirm that the SEIS accounts for unique incremental variance in psychological well-being, depression, and life satisfaction beyond the variance explained by the Big Five personality traits.

Criterion and Predictive Validity

Extensive empirical investigations confirm the predictive utility of the SEIS across behavioral and clinical outcomes:

• Psychological Well-Being and Depressive Symptoms: Longitudinal and cross-sectional designs demonstrate that higher SEIS scores prospectively predict lower levels of clinical depression, lower suicide ideation, diminished state-trait anxiety, and elevated Subjective Well-Being (SWB).
• Interpersonal Functioning: Schutte et al. (2001) demonstrated that individuals with higher SEIS scores display greater cooperative behavior during social dilemma paradigms, higher marital satisfaction, and superior peer-rated social attractiveness.
• Physiological Stress Adaptation: In laboratory psychophysiological experiments, individuals scoring high on the SEIS exhibit more rapid cardiovascular and salivary cortisol recovery following exposure to acute laboratory stressors (e.g., the Trier Social Stress Test).

Reliability

The reliability of the Schutte Emotional Intelligence Scale has been confirmed through repeated examinations of internal consistency, split-half metrics, and temporal stability.

Internal Consistency

In the original scale development study across a sample of 346 diverse adults, Schutte et al. (1998) established a high internal consistency with a overall Cronbach’s alpha of $\alpha = .87$. Subsequent replications across global samples have mirrored or exceeded these initial metrics:

• General adult samples consistently yield Cronbach’s $\alpha$ coefficients between .87 and .90.
• University student cohorts across the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia report internal consistency values ranging from $\alpha = .84$ to $.89$.
• Cross-cultural adaptations (e.g., Spanish, Turkish, Persian, Japanese, and Chinese validated translations) report homogeneous reliability coefficients spanning $\alpha = .83$ to $.91$.
• For the multidimensional subscales identified by Petrides and Furnham (2000) and Saklofske et al. (2003), typical internal reliabilities are: Optimism/Mood Regulation ($\alpha = .78-.82$), Appraisal of Emotions ($\alpha = .76-.80$), Social Skills ($\alpha = .66-.75$), and Utilisation of Emotions ($\alpha = .63-.73$).

Temporal Stability (Test-Retest Reliability)

Temporal stability was evaluated by Schutte et al. (1998) administering the instrument across a two-week interval to a subgroup of 28 participants, yielding a robust test-retest reliability coefficient of $r = .78$ ($p < .001$). Extended test-retest evaluations over intervals of one to two months continue to yield stability coefficients above $r = .70$, confirming that the instrument measures stable dispositional traits and self-regulatory patterns rather than transient, fluctuating emotional moods.

Factor Analysis

The internal structural geometry of the SEIS has been the subject of extensive psychometric investigation and scholarly dialogue.

Original Exploratory Factor Analysis (Schutte et al., 1998)

Schutte and colleagues began with an initial pool of 62 items directly reflecting Salovey and Mayer’s (1990) theoretical dimensions. An exploratory principal components factor analysis with orthogonal (varimax) rotation was conducted on data from 346 participants. A scree plot analysis and eigenvalue inspection clearly revealed a dominant first factor (eigenvalue = 6.02), which accounted for substantially more variance than subsequent factors. A 33-item solution was retained by selecting items that exhibited factor loadings of $ge .40$ on this primary factor. While the authors acknowledged that minor subsidiary factors could be extracted, they concluded that the instrument was most appropriately structured as a unidimensional composite scale measuring global emotional intelligence.

Multidimensional Structural Models

Subsequent independent psychometric evaluations concluded that a strictly unidimensional model did not fully capture the structural complexity of the 33 items. Several alternative factor solutions have been proposed and validated using exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses (CFA):

1. The Four-Factor Model (Petrides & Furnham, 2000)

Petrides and Furnham (2000) subjected the 33 items to exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, isolating four distinct, theoretically sound factors:

• Optimism / Mood Regulation: Items assessing optimism, resilience, and positive mood maintenance (e.g., Items 2, 3, 10, 12, 14, 21, 23, 28, 31).
• Appraisal of Emotions: Items measuring interoceptive awareness and emotional perception in self and others (e.g., Items 9, 15, 18, 19, 22, 25, 29, 32).
• Social Skills: Items tapping interpersonal emotional management, social facilitation, and empathy (e.g., Items 1, 4, 11, 13, 16, 24, 26, 30).
• Utilisation of Emotions: Items reflecting the functional deployment of emotions for creative thinking and problem solving (e.g., Items 6, 7, 8, 17, 20, 27).

2. Replications and Bifactor Confirmations (Saklofske et al., 2003; Austin et al., 2004)

Saklofske, Austin, and Minski (2003) tested the Petrides and Furnham model across 354 Canadian undergraduate students, demonstrating that the four-factor model exhibited superior model fit compared to the unidimensional structure. Later structural investigations suggested that a hierarchical or bifactor model—consisting of a overarching general trait EI factor along with four nested specific factors—provides the optimal statistical fit:

• Comparative Fit Index (CFI) values consistently range from .90 to .94 under hierarchical and bifactor specifications.
• Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA) values generally hover between .048 and .062, indicating acceptable to good fit.
• Standardized Root Mean Square Residual (SRMR) metrics typically remain below .06.

Consequently, researchers and clinicians have the empirical flexibility to utilize the SEIS either as a single overarching global emotional intelligence index (summing all 33 items) or as a multidimensional profile evaluating discrete sub-facets of emotional functioning.

Instrument / Measurement Tool

• Test Type: Self-report psychological inventory; trait emotional intelligence / emotional self-efficacy assessment.
• Target Population: Adolescents (ages 14+) and adults. Suitable for educational, organizational, clinical, and general population research.
• Administration Format: Paper-and-pencil questionnaire, computerized survey, or secure online psychological testing platform; individual or group administration.
• Administration Time: Approximately 5 to 10 minutes.
• Total Number of Items: 33 items.
• Response Format: 5-point Likert scale:
  • 1 = Strongly disagree
  • 2 = Disagree
  • 3 = Neither disagree nor agree
  • 4 = Agree
  • 5 = Strongly agree
• Reverse-Scored Items: Three items are negatively phrased and must be reversed prior to score aggregation: Item 5, Item 28, and Item 33 (i.e., transform $1 \rightarrow 5$, $2 \rightarrow 4$, $3 \rightarrow 3$, $4 \rightarrow 2$, $5 \rightarrow 1$).
• Scoring and Interpretation Procedures:
  • Global Score Computation: After reversing items 5, 28, and 33, compute the sum of all 33 items. Total scores range from a minimum of 33 to a maximum of 165. Alternatively, compute the overall mean item score (range: 1.0 to 5.0).
  • Normative Reference Points: In typical adult community and university samples, the mean composite score ranges between 120 and 130 (Standard Deviation $\approx 12-15$). Women frequently display slightly higher composite mean scores than men (typical difference: 2 to 5 points), primarily driven by elevated scores on social skills, emotional appraisal, and empathetic concern subscales.
  • Subscale Scoring (Original 3-Factor Conceptualization):
    • Appraisal and Expression of Emotion (13 items): Items 5(R), 9, 15, 18, 19, 22, 25, 29, 32, 1, 4, 11, 26.
    • Regulation of Emotion (10 items): Items 2, 10, 12, 14, 21, 28(R), 31, 13, 16, 30.
    • Utilisation of Emotion (10 items): Items 3, 6, 7, 8, 17, 20, 23, 24, 27, 33(R).

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

The Schutte Emotional Intelligence Scale was first published in 1998 in the peer-reviewed journal Personality and Individual Differences. The scale developers, Nicola S. Schutte and colleagues, placed the 33 items in the public domain for non-commercial academic, clinical, and educational research purposes. Researchers and psychological practitioners may freely administer, adapt, and score the SEIS without paying licensing royalties or obtaining formal written permission, provided that appropriate bibliographic citation is accorded to the original 1998 publication in all ensuing reports, dissertations, and scholarly papers. Commercial deployment, inclusion within proprietary psychometric software platforms, or monetization within for-profit organizational consulting frameworks requires direct consultation and express consent from the copyright holder and publisher.

References

• Austin, E. J., Saklofske, D. H., Huang, S. H. S., & McKenney, D. (2004). Measurement of trait EI: Testing and cross-validating a modified version of Schutte et al.’s (1998) measure. Personality and Individual Differences, 36(3), 555–562. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0191-8869(03)00114-4
• Ciarrochi, J. V., Chan, A. Y. C., & Caputi, P. (2000). A critical evaluation of the emotional intelligence construct. Personality and Individual Differences, 28(3), 539–561. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0191-8869(99)00119-1
• Mayer, J. D., & Salovey, P. (1997). What is emotional intelligence? In P. Salovey & D. J. Sluyter (Eds.), Emotional development and emotional intelligence: Educational implications (pp. 3–34). Basic Books.
• Petrides, K. V., & Furnham, A. (2000). On the dimensional structure of emotional intelligence. Personality and Individual Differences, 29(2), 313–320. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0191-8869(99)00195-6
• Petrides, K. V., & Furnham, A. (2001). Trait emotional intelligence: Psychometric investigation with reference to established trait taxonomies. European Journal of Personality, 15(6), 425–448. https://doi.org/10.1002/per.416
• Saklofske, D. H., Austin, E. J., & Minski, P. S. (2003). Factor structure and validity of a trait emotional intelligence measure. Personality and Individual Differences, 34(4), 707–721. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0191-8869(02)00056-9
• Salovey, P., & Mayer, J. D. (1990). Emotional intelligence. Imagination, Cognition and Personality, 9(3), 185–211. https://doi.org/10.2190/DUGG-P24E-52WK-6CDG
• Schutte, N. S., & Malouff, J. M. (1999). Measuring emotional intelligence and related constructs. Edwin Mellen Press.
• Schutte, N. S., Malouff, J. M., Bobik, C., Coston, T. D., Greeson, C., & Jedlicka, C. (2001). Emotional intelligence and interpersonal relations. The Journal of Social Psychology, 141(4), 523–536. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224540109600569
• Schutte, N. S., Malouff, J. M., Hall, L. E., Haggerty, D. J., Cooper, J. T., Golden, C. J., & Dornheim, L. (1998). Development and validation of a measure of emotional intelligence. Personality and Individual Differences, 25(2), 167–177. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0191-8869(98)00001-4
• Schutte, N. S., Malouff, J. M., Simunek, M., McKenley, J., & Hollander, S. (2002). Characteristic emotional intelligence and emotional well-being. Cognition & Emotion, 16(6), 769–785. https://doi.org/10.1080/02699930143000482

13. Items of the Scale (Questionnaire)