Skills
A 21-item Tromsø Social Intelligence Scale (TSIS) measuring three dimensions: Social Information Processing (understanding others), Social Skills (effective social behavior), and Social Awareness (perceiving social situations accurately).
For each item, indicate how well it describes you. There are no right or wrong answers - answer honestly based on how you actually are.
Social intelligence is the ability to understand people and to act wisely in social situations: reading what others think and feel, navigating interactions smoothly, and noticing when the social tone of a moment has shifted. It is what lets some people walk into an unfamiliar group and quickly find their footing while others misjudge the room. This test measures social intelligence as a self-reported trait across three related facets.
The 21 items follow the structure of the Tromsø Social Intelligence Scale and take about 6 minutes. You rate how well each statement describes you, and your results are compared with other people, so you see where your self-perceived social intelligence stands among them rather than a raw number in isolation. There are no right or wrong answers; answer based on how you actually are.
Social intelligence is best understood as several distinct capacities that work together. This test separates the cognitive side - understanding people and situations - from the behavioral side - actually handling interactions well. Each facet is a continuous spectrum, not a category, and a profile is most informative when the facets diverge: some people read others accurately yet act awkwardly, while others are smooth in interaction but less attuned to subtle cues.
Because this is a self-report measure, it captures how you see your own social functioning, which is informative but can differ from how others experience you. People sometimes overrate their social skill and underrate their awareness, or the reverse, and the report is honest about that. Read your result as a structured reflection of your social style rather than an objective measure of how socially effective you are.
The idea of social intelligence dates to early-twentieth-century psychology, but it long proved hard to measure cleanly, partly because it overlaps with general intelligence and with verbal ability. Modern work, summarized by Kihlstrom and Cantor, distinguishes social intelligence as the body of knowledge and skill people use to understand and manage social life, and treats it as related to but separable from abstract intelligence and from personality.
This test follows the self-report approach of the Tromsø Social Intelligence Scale (TSIS) developed by Silvera, Martinussen, and Dahl, which measures social intelligence through the three facets of social information processing, social skills, and social awareness, and reports consistent scores for each. Self-report social intelligence overlaps with extraversion and trait emotional intelligence while adding distinct information about social understanding. Your scores are compared with other people, and the detailed report is generated from your scored profile by strict scoring rules. This is an educational self-assessment, not a clinical instrument, and it does not diagnose anything.
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Yes. Taking the 21-item test is free, with no account required to start, and your free result shows your strongest social intelligence dimension and its band, while the other dimensions are named and covered in the report. The full report, free with an account, adds the exact percentiles and a facet-by-facet breakdown of your social information processing, social skills, and social awareness with practical suggestions written against your specific score bands.
They overlap but emphasize different things. Emotional intelligence centers on recognizing and managing emotions, your own and others. Social intelligence centers on understanding people and navigating social situations effectively - reading the room, fitting into groups, and predicting how others will respond. Many people take both, since strong emotional skills often support, but do not guarantee, social effectiveness.
Your score shows where your self-reported social understanding and skill place you among other people, for example higher than about 70 of every 100 people. A higher score suggests you generally read people well and handle social situations comfortably. Because it is self-reported, read it as a structured reflection of your social style rather than an objective measure of how others experience you.
Yes. Unlike abstract intelligence, the components here respond well to practice. Paying deliberate attention to others, seeking honest feedback, observing socially skilled people, and rehearsing specific situations all help. Progress tends to be domain-specific - you get better in the contexts you practice in - so retaking the test after focused effort can show whether your self-perception has shifted.
No, although they are related. Extraversion is about how much you seek and enjoy social stimulation; social intelligence is about how well you understand and navigate social situations. Quiet, introverted people can be highly socially intelligent, and outgoing people are not automatically skilled at reading others. This test measures understanding and effectiveness, not sociability.
No. It is an educational self-assessment for personal insight, not a clinical instrument, and it does not diagnose autism, social anxiety, or any other condition. A low score reflects self-reported tendencies on a normal spectrum, not a disorder. If social difficulties are affecting your daily life, a qualified professional is the right source of help.
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