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this post was submitted on 12 Oct 2025
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The frequent misunderstanding of what IQ means probably arises due to the vagueness of the term. "Intelligence quotient" is very non-specific, despite IQ measuring a very specific kind of intelligence. I wouldn't even say IQ measures "a person's ability to reason and solve problems relative to others." The problems found on an IQ test are of a very specific nature. "Complete the following number sequence", "Which of these shapes doesn't belong", etc.
A problem that won't be found on an IQ test is: "Jeff believes his manager has made an inappropriate remark toward one of his colleagues. What should he do?" This is a problem that needs a solution, but isn't within the purview of IQ measuring. You mentioned that IQ tests don't measure things like emotional depth, which is true, but emotional depth (or emotional intelligence) is still intelligence, so the term "intelligence quotient" only referring to certain kinds of intelligence seems like it will naturally be misunderstood by the masses.
I guess my takeaway is that the term "IQ" could use re-branding to avoid this problem.
Tell us you don't know your EQ from your IQ.
Does the scenario you provided even measure emotional intelligence? I feel like it measires confidence and willingness to confront someone, neither of which feel particularly related to emotional intelligence.
Also, to be frank, I don't think many people consider the ability to revognize the emotions of others and to empathize as "intelligent". A blind person isn't unintelligent because they cannot see, so why would you use the term emotionally unintelligent for a person that is blind with regards to recognizing emotions?
I wasn't suggesting that particular example was for emotional intelligence; it was just an example of a kind of problem solving that isn't covered under IQ. It was a segue into the adjacent topic of emotional intelligence.