Empathy Quotient and Systematizing Quotient

[nemorathwald]

According to these tests, my Systematizing Quotient is 22 and my Empathy Quotient is 12. This site says that most women tend to average an SQ of 24 and most men tend to average an SQ of 30, and that most women tend to average an EQ of 47 and most men tend to average an EQ of 42. And someone with High-Functioning Autism or Asperger's Syndrome has EQ of about 20, which is eight points better than mine. I've been feeling downright autistic lately in my dealings with some people (except without the accompanying genius), but I know better than to believe that feeling. This is further demonstration that personality evaluation tests are like psychics: the only answers they give back are the ones you unconsciously feed them. They reveal only what you already know or happen to believe. Throughout the empathy test I kept wondering how anyone can know an answer to give to the questions. If you fail to read people's feelings, how would you know? What if the emotions people think they're reading are just an illusion that they are projecting?

Comments

Interesting...

[phecda.livejournal.com]

My EQ score was slightly below the male average at 38. My SQ score was way high at 67. The other thing that I noticed was on the EQ test, most of my selections were in the "Slightly Agree/Disagree" category while on the SQ test, most of the questions elicited "Strongly Agree/Disagree" answers.

So, basically I'm a geek with acceptable social skills. And since I learned about it, I've always suspected that I have a tendency towards Aspergers Syndrome. My EQ when I was younger would have been much lower.

And Matt, just as a comment, I think your scores match you reasonably well. You don't have an engineer's mind set, and you are typically oblivious to the outside world. This doesn't make you a bad person -- these tests aren't measuring artistic ability and abstract thought, the two areas where you seem to excel.

Also, there was a complaint by someone else regarding how the questions were phrased. I think this is a difference between British and American use of English. The Guardian is one of the premier British newspapers. I found it perfectly understandable. :-)

Re: Interesting...

[matt-arnold.livejournal.com]

I can believe your comment. But... 12? You suspect yourself of tending toward Asperger's despite an EQ is 38. What does that make a 12? Rain Man? Clinically dead? I still think I skewed my answers low.

Re: Interesting...

[phecda.livejournal.com]

Oh, I'm sure you skewed your answers, and that, along with the cultural and idiom shift from British to American, probably contributed to the low score. But I think if you retook the EQ test, you might end up somewhere between 25 and 35.

Admittedly, I don't know you that well, so I don't have a large data set on your social interactions, but so far, I don't see you as a highly empathic person. This doesn't mean that you're not an interesting and good person to be around. What you lack in empathic socialization, you clearly make up for with enthusiasm. And this is a good thing. :-)

20 years ago, I would probably have scored in the low 20's on this test, so I guess I'm living proof that social skills can be learned (and I'm still refining them).