Description

The Schutte Emotional Intelligence Scale (SEIS-33), also known as the Assessing Emotions Scale, was developed by Schutte, Malouff, Hall, Haggerty, Cooper, Golden, and Dornheim (1998) and later revised by Schutte, Malouff, and Bhullar (2009).

The scale is a self-report psychometric instrument designed to assess emotional intelligence as an individual ability and personality-related characteristic. It evaluates how individuals perceive, understand, regulate, and use emotions in everyday life.

The SEIS-33 consists of 33 statements that measure different aspects of emotional intelligence, including emotional awareness, emotional regulation, and the use of emotions to support adaptive thinking and behaviour.

Objective

The main objective of the SEIS-33 is to measure an individual’s level of emotional intelligence.

The scale aims to assess:

Perception and Understanding of Emotions, referring to the ability to recognize and interpret one’s own emotions and the emotions of others.

Management and Regulation of Emotions, referring to the ability to control emotional responses and maintain emotional balance.

Use of Emotions, referring to the ability to utilize emotions to facilitate problem-solving, motivation, decision-making, and goal achievement.

The instrument is widely used to investigate how emotional intelligence relates to psychological well-being, academic achievement, professional performance, and interpersonal relationships.

Structure and Content

The SEIS-33 includes 33 self-report items rated on a 5-point Likert scale:

1 = Strongly Disagree

to

5 = Strongly Agree

The items assess emotional competencies related to:

Emotional perception.

Understanding of emotional experiences.

Emotional regulation.

Positive use of emotions for adaptation and social functioning.

Depending on the theoretical model applied, researchers may analyse the scale as a single global emotional intelligence construct or examine separate dimensions.

Scoring

Responses are scored additively.

The total score ranges from:

33 to 165

Higher scores indicate higher levels of emotional intelligence.

Subscale scores may also be calculated according to the adopted theoretical structure, including:

Perception of emotions.

Management of emotions.

Use of emotions.

Higher scores reflect greater ability to recognize, regulate, and effectively use emotional information.

Data Analysis and Use

The SEIS-33 provides quantitative information regarding emotional intelligence and can be applied in psychological, educational, occupational, and interpersonal research.

Statistical analysis may include:

Descriptive statistics to evaluate overall emotional intelligence levels.

Reliability analysis using Cronbach’s alpha coefficient to assess internal consistency.

Factor analysis to examine the dimensional structure of emotional intelligence.

Correlation analysis to investigate relationships between emotional intelligence and variables such as psychological well-being, personality traits, academic achievement, occupational performance, and social relationships.

Regression analysis to examine whether emotional intelligence predicts adaptive outcomes and behavioural patterns.

Validity

The SEIS-33 has demonstrated satisfactory construct validity through relationships with personality characteristics, psychological well-being indicators, and interpersonal functioning measures.

The scale has been translated and adapted into multiple languages and cultural contexts, showing evidence of cross-cultural applicability.

Reliability

The original validation studies demonstrated good internal consistency, with reported Cronbach’s alpha values approximately:

α = 0.87

The scale has also demonstrated satisfactory test–retest reliability, supporting its stability over time.

Applications

The SEIS-33 is widely used in:

Positive psychology research.

Educational psychology.

Organizational and occupational psychology.

Studies of leadership and workplace behaviour.

Research on interpersonal relationships and psychological adjustment.

Evaluation of emotional skills development programs.

References

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.

Schutte, N. S., Malouff, J. M., & Bhullar, N. (2009). The Assessing Emotions Scale. In C. Stough, D. H. Saklofske, & J. D. A. Parker (Eds.), Assessing Emotional Intelligence: Theory, Research, and Applications (pp. 119–134). Springer.