In 1990, Mayer and Salovey proposed the term Emotional Intelligence. Trait Meta-Mood Scale 24 (TMMS-24) is the spanish version of the first self-report measure of EI based on Mayer and Salovey model. Objective: Determine the differences in the degree of development of EI associated with gender, age and education. Method: Observational cross-sectional comparison between two groups of adolescents enrolled in formal education, one in girls college and the other one in boys school. Results: A total of 451 adolescents, 224 females with a mean age of 14.04 ±1.58 years and 227 men with an age of 14.25 ±1.68 years. The Cronbach alphas TMMS-24 for this research were 0,802 in Attention, 0,756 in Clarity and 0,748 in Repair. Women scored higher than men in Perception (p=0.007). Best score was found in Regulation in grades 6, 7 and 11 in women (p=0.005). There was no evidence of relationship between age and EI. Conclusions: The TMMS-24 is a measure of EI with adequate internal consistency when used in adolescents between 12 and 17 years old from schools in the Bogotá city. This study shows the importance of combining evaluation methods for EI to improve their valuation and the need for more research on EI in our environment.
