--- title: Emotional Intelligence: Emotional IQ Linked To Higher Salary description: Your level of emotional intelligence and emotional IQ may predict your salary, finds a study in the Journal of Organizational Behavior canonical: https://time.com/3593413/emotional-intelligence-salary/ author: Mandy Oaklander article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-11-19T16:44:13.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T11:31:44.697Z article:section: Health og:title: Your Emotional IQ Predicts How Much You'll Make og:description: Your level of emotional intelligence and emotional IQ may predict your salary, finds a study in the Journal of Organizational Behavior og:url: https://time.com/3593413/emotional-intelligence-salary/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6fec1fa041b5f56b/6987698055a859353ea842e1/emotional-iq-work-wages.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Colleagues at work og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Your Emotional IQ Predicts How Much You'll Make twitter:description: Your level of emotional intelligence and emotional IQ may predict your salary, finds a study in the Journal of Organizational Behavior twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6fec1fa041b5f56b/6987698055a859353ea842e1/emotional-iq-work-wages.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Your Emotional IQ Predicts How Much You'll Make  by [Mandy Oaklander](https://time.com/author/mandy-oaklander/)  ## Mandy Oaklander Oaklander is a senior editor at TIME. Nov 19, 2014 4:44 PM UTC  Colleagues at work Colleagues at workGetty Images  by [Mandy Oaklander](https://time.com/author/mandy-oaklander/)  ## Mandy Oaklander Oaklander is a senior editor at TIME. Nov 19, 2014 4:44 PM UTC How good are you at reading another person’s emotions? $50,000-a-year good? Or $150,000? Your level of emotional intelligence may predict how much you earn, finds a new [study](http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/job.1975/abstract?campaign=wolearlyview) published in the _Journal of Organizational Behavior_. The researchers looked at a trait called “emotion recognition ability,” responsible for how well you can sense (and make sense of) another person’s emotions from their face and voice. Researchers tested and measured it along with other interpersonal skills—such as how socially astute they were, their networking savvy and how seemingly trustworthy they were—in 142 German workers. High emotional recognition was linked to a higher salary, even after controlling for salary-bumping factors like age, gender, education, work experience and work hours. “This very basic ability has effects on the interpersonal facilitation facet of job performance and, most notably, even on annual income, an objective indicator of career success,” the study authors wrote. “The better people are at recognizing emotions, the better they handle the politics in organizations and the interpersonal aspects of work life, and thus the more they earn in their jobs.” That could give women, who may [recognize emotions better than men](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3402412/), an edge—in theory, at least. One [study](http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1348/096317907X174349/abstract) found that female managers who could more accurately assess nonverbal cues got better satisfaction ratings from their subordinates—an advantage that wasn’t detected in men. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3593413/emotional-intelligence-salary/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3593413/emotional-intelligence-salary/"},"headline":"Your Emotional IQ Predicts How Much You'll Make","datePublished":"2014-11-19T16:44:13.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T11:31:44.697Z","description":"Social skills at work lead to a bigger paycheck","url":"https://time.com/3593413/emotional-intelligence-salary/","keywords":["Mental Health/Psychology","emotions","salary"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6fec1fa041b5f56b/6987698055a859353ea842e1/emotional-iq-work-wages.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Mandy Oaklander","jobTitle":"Oaklander is a senior editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/mandy-oaklander/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6fec1fa041b5f56b/6987698055a859353ea842e1/emotional-iq-work-wages.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Colleagues at work","caption":"Colleagues at work","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/mental-healthpsychology/","name":"Mental Health/Psychology"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3593413/emotional-intelligence-salary/","name":"Your Emotional IQ Predicts How Much You'll Make"}}]}] ```