Psychometrics and the Measurement of Emotional Intelligence

The Development and the Psychometric evaluation of the Adolescents Intensions towards the Birth Options Scale in Greek

INTRODUCTION

Worldwide, the rising of caesarean section rates is a major public health issue. Little is known regarding birth attitudes held by students who are the next generation of parents. The aim of this study was to develop and assess the psychometric properties of the Adolescents Intentions towards Birth Options Scale (AIBOS), a self-report and short instrument assessing intentions towards birth options in young adolescents.

METHODS

The AIBOS was framed by Ajzen’s theory of planned behavior and developed in a three-phase process using an integrated mixed-methods approach that included literature reviews, professional focus groups, and a psychometric survey evaluation. The psychometric evaluation was conducted by recruiting a sample of 480 high school students. Content validity, exploratory factor analysis, discriminant and construct validity, test-retest reliability and internal consistency were explored.

RESULTS

The expert panel determined that the content validity was satisfactory. The final 17-item scale consisted of five factors explaining 48.9% of the total variance in the data. Discriminant validity was satisfactory. Cronbach’s α coefficient was over 0.7 for each factor, indicating acceptable internal consistency of the questionnaire. There was significant agreement in all subscales as emerged from test-retest.

CONCLUSIONS

The AIBOS demonstrated good content validity, an easily interpretable five-factor structure, acceptable internal consistency, high test-retest reliability, and satisfactory discriminant and construct validity with sample characteristics. It is an easily comprehensible, easily completed tool, which matches the culture of young adolescents.

Agreement on emotion labels' frequency in eight Spanish linguistic areas

Various traditions have investigated the relationship between emotion and language. For the basic emotions view, emotional prototypes are lexically sedimented in language, evidenced in cultural convergence in emotional recognition and expression tasks. For constructionist theories, conceptual knowledge supported by language is at the core of emotions. Understanding emotion words is embedded in various interrelated constructs such as emotional intelligence, emotion knowledge or emotion differentiation, and is related to, but different from, general vocabulary. A clear advantage of Emotion Vocabulary over most emotion-related constructs is that it can be measured objectively. In two successive corpus-based studies, we tested the predictions of concordance and absolute agreement on the frequency of use of a total of 100 Spanish emotion labels in the eight main Spanish-speaking areas: Spain, Mexico-Central America, River Plate, Continental Caribbean, Andean, Antilles, Chilean, and the United States. In both studies, the intraclass correlation coefficient was statistically different from the null and very large, over .95, as was the Kendall's concordance coefficient, indicating broad consensus among the Spanish linguistic areas. From an applied perspective, our results provide supporting evidence for the similarity in frequency, and therefore cross-cultural generalizability regarding familiarity of the 100 emotion labels as item stems or as experimental stimuli without going through a process of additional adaptation. On a broader scope, these results add evidence on the role of language for emotion theories. In this regard, countries and regions compared here share the same Spanish language, but differ in several aspects in history, culture, and socio-economic structure.

Digit Span Subscale Scores May Be Insufficiently Reliable for Clinical Interpretation: Distinguishing Between Stratified Coefficient Alpha and Omega Hierarchical

The Digit Span subscale (Digit Span Forward, Backward, and Sequencing combined composite) internal inconsistency reliability has been reported at .93, based on a coefficient known as stratified coefficient alpha. With accessible examples, we demonstrate that stratified coefficient alpha can deviate substantially from a model-based internal consistency reliability that represents an underlying dimension, that is, omega hierarchical. Next, we simulated item-level Digit Span subscale data to correspond very closely to the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-fourth edition normative sample. Based on omega hierarchical, we estimated the internal consistency reliability associated with the Digit Span subscale scores at .74. In light of the results, clinicians are cautioned against interpreting Digit Span subscale scores. Instead, interpretations should probably be restricted to the Digit Span Forward, Digit Span Backward, and Digit Span Sequencing test scores. Finally, we offer suggestions for improvement to achieve higher levels of Digit Span subscale score reliability.

Structural and Predictive Properties of the Emotional Quotient Inventory Youth Version-Short Form (EQ-i:YV[S])

Emotional intelligence (EI) is a popular construct with concentrated areas of application in education and health contexts. There is a need for reliable and valid measurement of EI in young people, with brief yet sensitive measures of the construct preferable for use in time-limited settings. However, the proliferation of EI measures has often outpaced rigorous psychometric evaluation (Gignac, 2009 ). Using data from 849 adolescents (407 females, 422 males) aged 11 to 16 years (M age 13.4, SD = 1.2 years), this article systematically examines the structural and predictive properties of a frequently employed measure of adolescent trait EI-the Emotional Quotient Inventory Youth Version-Short Form (EQ-i:YV[S]); Bar-On & Parker, 2000 ). Although the intended multidimensional factor structure was recovered through confirmatory factor analysis, the statistical and conceptual coherency of the underlying model was inadequate. Using a multitrait-multimethod approach, the EQ-i:YV(S) was found to converge with other measures of EI; however, evidence for divergent validity (Big Five personality dimensions) was less robust. Predictive utility for adolescent mental health outcomes (depression, disruptive behavior) was also limited. Findings suggest that use of the EQ-i:YV(S) for predictive or evaluative purposes should be avoided until refinements to the scale are made.

The Feminist Identity Composite

The Feminist Identity Composite is a commonly used measure of feminist identity development. However, psychometric examinations of this measure with samples of diverse women are lacking. The current study presents the first investigation, to our knowledge, to examine the factor structure of the Feminist Identity Composite with two subsamples of sexual minority women ( N = 402). We used exploratory factor analysis (EFA), partial confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), and CFA and found both the EFA and subsequent partial CFA ( n = 201) indicated a six-factor solution, which was upheld in the final CFA ( n = 201). The results generally corroborated four (Passive Acceptance, Embeddedness/Emanation, Synthesis, Active Commitment) of the five original subscales reported in previous studies with predominately heterosexual (or sexual orientation not reported) undergraduate women. However, the subscale Revelation was further delineated into two subscales labeled Societal Revelation and Contact Revelation. Convergent validity of the obtained Feminist Identity Composite subscale scores was largely supported by correlations in expected directions with measures of perceived sexism and heterosexism. We encourage future researchers to investigate the structural and convergent validity of the Feminist Identity Composite with other diverse samples of women.

Models of Cognitive Ability and Emotion Can Better Inform Contemporary Emotional Intelligence Frameworks

Emotional intelligence (EI) stands at the nexus between intelligence and emotion disciplines, and we outline how EI research might be better integrated within both theoretical frameworks. From the former discipline, empirical research focused upon whether EI is an intelligence and what type of intelligence it constitutes. It is clear that ability-based tests of EI form a group factor of cognitive abilities that may be integrated into the Cattell–Horn–Carroll framework; less clear is the lower order factor structure of EI. From the latter discipline, research linking EI with theoretical frameworks from emotion research remain relatively sparse. Emotion regulation and appraisal theory may be key to explain how EI may reflect different processes. We propose a research agenda to advance the EI study.

Modeling the Test-Taking Motivation Construct Through Investigation of Psychometric Properties of an Expectancy-Value-Based Questionnaire

The aim of this study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of an expectancy-value-based questionnaire measuring five aspects of test-taking motivation (effort, expectancies, importance, interest, and test anxiety). The questionnaire was distributed to a sample of Swedish Grade 9 students taking a low-stakes ( n = 1,047) or a high-stakes ( n = 536) test. Structural equation modeling largely supported theoretical assumptions and psychometric properties were acceptable. Expectancies and importance were significant predictors of effort, and effort significantly predicted performance in both test situations. Furthermore, measurement invariance across test situations was investigated. Partial scalar invariance was obtained and latent mean comparisons showed significantly higher levels of reported test-taking motivation in the high-stakes context. The study findings suggest that the present instrument can be used in low- as well as high-stakes assessment contexts not only to get an extended knowledge of test-takers’ perceptions of tests but also to control for lack of motivation when stakes are low for test-takers.

Seven-Factor Model of Emotional Intelligence as Measured by Genos EI

In this investigation, a series of progressively more complex factor models was tested based on self-report and rater-report data derived from the workplace version of the Genos Emotional Intelligence Inventory (Genos EI). Based on a total sample of 4775 individual self-reports and 6848 rater-reports, a theoretically derived higher-order 7-factor model of emotional intelligence (EI) was found to be adequately well-fitting, in comparison to a competing global EI single-factor model and a five-factor model of EI. Internal consistency reliabilities associated with the total scale scores were approximately .95 and the subscale score reliabilities were approximately .80. The results are interpreted as largely supportive of a 7-factor model of EI as measured by Genos EI in both self- and rater-report formats.