Restricted accessResearch articleFirst published online 2012-8
The Measurement Invariance of the Wong and Law Emotional Intelligence Scale (WLEIS) Across Three Chinese University Student Groups From Canada and China
The current study assessed the measurement equivalence of the Wong & Law Emotional Intelligence Scale (WLEIS) with three groups of Chinese university students. Two research sessions were conducted—one in Beijing, China with university students (N = 680), and the other in Calgary, Canada where two groups of Chinese students were administered the WLEIS in either Chinese (N = 151) or English (N = 151). The WLEIS had satisfactory reliability, the four-factor structure was replicated, and metric invariance was supported across the three groups. The present study provided empirical support to the growing emotional intelligence measurement invariance literature and demonstrated the robustness of both the English and Chinese versions of the WLEIS.
AustinE. J.SaklofskeD. H.HuangS. H.McKenneyD. (2004). Measurement of trait emotional intelligence: Testing and cross-validating a modified version of Schutte et al.’s (1998) measure. Personality and Individual Difference, 36, 555-562.
2.
Bar-OnR. (1997). Bar-On emotional quotient inventory: Technical manual. Toronto, ON: Multi- Health Systems.
3.
Bar-OnR. (2000). Emotional and social intelligence: Insights from the Emotional Quotient Inventory (EQ-i). In Bar-OnR.ParkerJ. D. (Eds.), Handbook of emotional intelligence. (pp. 363-388). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
4.
BrownT. (2006) Confirmatory factor analysis for applied research. New York, NY: The Guilford.
5.
ByrneB. M. (1998). Structure equation modeling with LISREL, PRELIS, and SIMPLIS: Basic concepts, applications, and programming. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
6.
ByrneB. M.CampbellT. L. (1999). Cross-cultural comparisons and the presumption of equivalent measurement and theoretical structure: A look beneath the surface. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 30, 555-574.
7.
ByrneB. M.ShavelsonR. J.MuthenB. (1989). Testing for the equivalence of factor covariance and mean structures: The issue of partial measurement invariance. Psychological Bulletin, 105, 456-466.
8.
ByrneB. M.WatkinsD. (2003). The issue of measurement invariance revisited. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 34, 155-177.
9.
CandellG. I.HulinC. L. (1986). Cross-language and cross-cultural comparisons in scale translations. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 17, 417-440.
EkermansG.SaklofskeD. H.AustinE.StoughC (2011). Measurement invariance and differential item functioning of the Bar-On EQ-i: S measure over Canadian, Scottish, South African and Australian samples. Personality and Individual Differences, 50, 286-290.
12.
FukudaE.SaklofskeD. H.TamaokaK.FungT. S.MiyaokaY.KiyamaS. (2011). Factor structure of Japanese versions of two emotional intelligence scales. International Journal of Testing, 11, 71-92.
13.
FukudaE.SaklofskeD. H.TamaokaK.LimH. (2012). Factor structure of the Korean version of the Wong and Law’s emotional intelligence scale. Assessment, 19, 3-7.
14.
GreenfieldP. (1997). You can’t take it with you: Why ability assessments don’t cross cultures?American Psychologist, 52, 1115-1124.
15.
HancockG. R. (2001). Effect size, power, and sample size determination for structured means modeling and MIMIC approaches to between-groups hypothesis testing of means on a single latent construct. Psychometrika, 66, 373-388.
16.
HensonR. K.RobertsJ. K. (2006). Use of exploratory factor analysis in published research. Common errors and some comment on improved practice. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 66, 393-416. doi:10.1177/001316440528248510.1177/0013164405282485.
17.
HongS.MalikM. L.LeeM. (2003). Testing configural, metric, scalar, and latent mean invariance across genders in sociotropy and autonomy using a non-Western sample. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 63, 636-654.
18.
HornJ. L.McArdleJ. J. (1992). A practical and theoretical guide to measurement invariance in aging research. Experimental Aging Research, 18, 117-144.
19.
HuL.BentlerP. M. (1999). Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis: Conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Structure Equation Modeling, 6, 1-55.
20.
KitayamaS.MarkusH. R. (1994). Emotion and culture: Empirical studies of mutual influence. Washington, DC; American Psychological Association.
21.
KlineR. B. (2010). Principles and practice of structural equation modelling (3rd ed.). New York, NY: Guilford.
22.
LawK. S.WongC. S.SongL. (2004). The construct and criterion validity of emotional intelligence and its potential utility for management studies. Journal of Applied Psychology, 89, 483-496.
23.
LiTong-Wei.SaklofskeH.D.YanG. G. (2008, June). Assessing the structural equivalence of a Measure of emotional intelligence in Chinese students from China and Canada. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Canadian Psychological Association, Halifax, Nova Scotia.
24.
LiTong-Wei. (2010). Measuring emotional intelligence of Chinese university students: A validation study. Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation, University of Calgary, Canada.
25.
LittleT. D. (1997). Mean and covariance structures (MACS) analysis of cross-cultural data: Practical and theoretical issues. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 32, 53-76.
26.
MatthewsG.ZeidnerM.RobertsR. D. (2002). Emotional intelligence: Science and myth. Cambridge, MA: MIT.
27.
MatsumotoD.EkmanP. (1989). Cultural influences on the perception of emotion. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 20, 92-105.
28.
MayerJ. D.SaloveyP.CarusoD. R. (2000). Competing models of emotional intelligence. In SternbergR. J. (Ed.), Handbook of human intelligence (2nd ed.). pp. 396-420. New York, NY: Cambridge University.
29.
MillsapR. E.Yun-TeinJ. (2004). Assessing factorial invariance in ordered-categorical measures. Journal of Multivariate Behavioural Research, 39, 479-515.
30.
MuthénL. K.MuthénB. O. (2011). Mplus user’s guide. Version 6. Los Angeles, CA: Muthén & Muthén.
31.
NgK. M.WangC.ZalaquettC. P.BodenhornN. (2008). A confirmatory factor analysis of the Wong and Law Emotional Intelligence Scale in a sample of international college students. International Journal for the advancement of counseling, 30, 131-144.
32.
ParkerJ. D. A.SaklofskeD. H.ShaughnessyP.A.HuangS. H.S.WoodL. M.EastabrookJ. M. (2005). Generalizability of the emotional intelligence construct: A cross-cultural study of North American aboriginal youth. Personality and Individual Differences, 39, 215-227.
33.
PenaE. D. (2007). Lost in translation: Methodological considerations in cross-cultural research. Child Development, 78, 1255-1264
34.
PetridesK. V.FurnhamA. (2000). On the dimensional structure of emotional intelligence. Personality and Individual Differences, 29, 313-320.
35.
PetridesK. V.FurnhamA. (2001).Trait emotional intelligence: Psychometric investigation with reference to established trait taxonomies. European Journal of Personality, 15, 425-448.
36.
PetridesK. V.FurnhamA. (2003). Trait emotional intelligence: Behavioural validation in two studies of emotion recognition and reactivity to mood induction. European Journal of Personality, 17, 29-57.
37.
PoortingaY. H. (1989). Equivalence of cross-cultural data: A review of basic issues. International Journal of Psychology, 24, 737-756.
38.
RahimM. A.PsenickaC.PolychroniouP.ZhaoJ.YuC.ChanK. A.WykR.V. (2002). A model of emotional intelligence and conflict management strategies: A study in seven countries. The International Journal of Organizational Analysis, 10, 302-326.
39.
RobertC.LeeW. C.ChanK. Y. (2006). An empirical analysis of measurement equivalence with the INDCOL measure of individualism and collectivism: Implications for valid cross-cultural inference, Personality Psychology, 59, 65-99.
40.
SaklofskeD. H.AustinE. J.MinskiP. S. (2003). Factor structure and validity of a trait emotional intelligence measure. Personality and Individual Differences, 34, 707-721.
ShiJ.WangL. (2007). Validation of emotional intelligence scale in Chinese university students. Personality and Individual Differences, 43, 377-387.
43.
SteenkampJ. E. M.BaumgartnerH. (1998). Assessing measurement invariance in cross-national consumer research. Journal of Consumer Research, 25, 78-90.
44.
StoughC.SaklofskeD. H.ParkerJ. D. A. (2009). Assessing emotional intelligence: Theory, research, and application. New York, NY: Springer.
45.
VandenbergR. J.LanceC. E. (2000). A review and synthesis of the measurement invariance literature: Suggestions, practices, and recommendations for organizational research, Organizational Research Methods, 3, 4-70.
46.
Van de VijverF. J. R.LeungK. (1997). Methods and data analysis for cross-cultural research. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
47.
Van de VijverF. J. R.LeungK. (2000). Methodological issues in psychological research on culture. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 31, 33-51.
48.
Van de VijverF. J. RPooringaY. H. (1997). Towards an integrated analysis of bias in cross-cultural assessment. European Journal of Psychological Assessment, 13, 29-37.
49.
Van de VijverF. J. RTanzerN. K. (1997). Bias and equivalence in cross-cultural assessment: An overview. European Review of Applied Psychology, 47, 263-279.
50.
Van RooyD. L.ViswesvaranC.PlutaP. (2005). An evaluation of construct validity: What is this thing called Emotional Intelligence?Human Performance, 18, 445-462.
51.
WidamanK. F.ReiseS. P. (1997). Exploring the measurement invariance of psychological instruments: Applications in the substance abuse domain. In BryantK. J.WindleM. (Eds.), The science of prevention: Methodological advance from alcohol and substance abuse research (pp. 281-324). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
52.
WongC.LawK. S. (2002). The effects of leader and follower emotional intelligence on performance and attitude: An exploratory study. Leadership Quarterly, 13, 243- 274.
53.
YanG.SaklofskeD. H.OaklandT. (2009). Contrasting views of intelligence: Chinese and North American perspectives. School Psychology International, 30, 456-473.
