PSYCHOMETRIC PROPERTIES OF THE ITALIAN VERSION OF THE SELF-REPORT EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE TEST (SREIT) GIUSEPPE CRAPARO PAOLA MAGNANO PALMIRA FARACI UNIVERSITY OF ENNA KORE
Emotional Intelligence is a multidimensional construct that links emotion and cognition with the aim of improving human interactions. It is related to numerous aspects of individual behavior, clinical illness, human and social interactions, working behavior and team working. The aim of this study was to investigate the psychometric properties of the Italian version of the Self-Report Emotional Intelligence (SREIT) by using a sample of 486 Italian adults. We carried out a confirmatory factor analysis and a reliability analysis. The results supported a one-dimensional factor structure of the SREIT. The validity of the SREIT was confirmed by its negative correlations with TAS-20 (Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20 items). Key words: Emotional intelligence; Psychometric properties; Alexithymia; SREIT; Factorial structure. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Paola Magnano, Università di Enna Kore, Cittadella Universitaria, Plesso di Psicologia, 94100 Enna (EN), Italy. Email:
[email protected]
The construct of Emotional Intelligence (EI) is widely known and studied in psychology (Austin, Evans, Goldwater, & Potter, 2005; Parker, Austin, Hogan, Wood, & Bond, 2005). For instance, several studies found a significant association between low emotional intelligence and high stress vulnerability (Hunt & Evans, 2004). A good emotional intelligence seems to be a dispositional predictor of academic success (Barchard, 2003; Chamorro-Premuzic & Furnham, 2003a, 2003b; Ferguson, James, & Madely, 2002), and to play a central role in leadership effectiveness (George, 2000; Goleman, 1995; Kerr, Garvin, Heaton, & Boyle, 2006). Some studies suggest also that low emotional intelligence is associated with more maladaptive coping strategies (Ciarrochi, Deane, & Anderson, 2002; Engleberg & Sjöberg, 2003; Hunt & Evans, 2004; Rogers, Qualter, Phelps, & Gardner, 2006). In addition, clinical researchers found a significant correlation between emotional intelligence and mental illness (Bagby, Parker, & Taylor, 1994; Craparo, 2011; Fernández-Berrocal, Alcaide, Extremera, & Pizzaro, 2006; Gori et al., 2013; Taylor, 2001). Several authors found that students with higher emotional intelligence scores were more able to use adequate coping strategies (Deniz, Tras, & Aydogan, 2009) and less to risk to have alcohol-related problems (Claros & Sharma, 2012; Schutte, Malouf, & Hine, 2011). Furthermore, meta-analytic studies showed significant associations of higher emotional intelligence with: a better mental and physical health (Martins, Ramalho, & Morin, 2010); a greater romantic relationship satisfaction (Malouff, Schutte, & Thorsteinsson, 2012); a higher work performance (Joseph & Newman, 2010; O’Boyle, Humphrey, Polack, Hawver, & Story, 2011). What is emotional intelligence? In current literature we can distinguish two different in-
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terpretations of EI as ability or EI as trait (Mayer, Salovey, & Caruso, 2000; Warwick & Nettelbeck, 2004). According to the “ability model,” emotional intelligence is considered as an “ability to perceive and express emotion, assimilate emotion in thought, understand and reason with emotion, and regulate emotion in the self and others” (Mayer & Salovey, 1997, p. 5). In Mayer and Salovey’s notion, emotional intelligence consists of the following branches: 1) the ability to be self-aware of emotions and to identify one’s own emotions; 2) the ability to distinguish among different emotions; 3) the ability to understand and analyze emotions; 4) the ability to regulate emotions in oneself and others. By contrast, the sustainers of the “trait model” define emotional intelligence as “a constellation of behavioral dispositions and self-perceptions concerning one’s ability to recognize, process, and utilize emotion laden information” (Petrides & Furnham, 2003, p. 40). In this model, the trait EI is viewed more as a personality characteristic than as a cognitive ability. According to Bar-On (1997), EI is composed of the following five dimensions: intrapersonal, interpersonal, adaptability, stress management, and general mood. In his model, the scholar outlines the characteristics of emotional intelligence focused on emotional and social abilities, including the ability to be aware of, understand, and express oneself, the ability to be aware of, understand, and relate to others, the ability to deal with strong emotions, and the ability to adapt to change and solve social and/or personal problems. The author claims that: “Emotional intelligence is concerned with understanding oneself and others, relating to people, adapting to and coping with the immediate surroundings to be more successful in dealing with environmental demands… In a way, to measure emotional intelligence is to measure one’s common sense and ability to get along in the world” (p. 1). Bar-On considers a “mixed model” in which aspects of personality are incorporated that might accompany emotional intelligence.
MEASUREMENT OF EI The theoretical differences in previous models are important in regard to measures of EI. One of the most frequently used instruments to measure the ability EI is the Mayer-SaloveyCaruso Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT; Mayer, Salovey, & Caruso, 2002). This scale assesses four abilities: perceiving emotions; using emotions; understanding emotions; managing emotions. The MSCEIT has a factor structure congruent with the four-part model of EI and is both reliable and content valid. “The authors assert that the MSCEIT meets several standard criteria for a new intelligence: it is operationalized as a set of abilities; it is objective in that answers on the test are either right or wrong as determined by consensus or expert scoring; its scores correlate with existing intelligences while also showing unique variance; besides this the scores increase with age (Mayer, Caruso, & Salovey, 1999; Mayer & Geher, 1996; Mayer et al., 2002)” (Salovey, Brackett, & Mayer, 2004, pp. 197-198). The EQ-I (Bar-On, 1997) is a self-report composed of 15 subscales, including five higherorder factors: 1) Intrapersonal EQ (emotional self-awareness, assertiveness, self-regard, selfactualization, and independence); 2) Interpersonal EQ (empathy, relationship skills, and social responsibility); 3) Adaptability EQ (problem solving, reality testing, and flexibility); 4) Stress Management EQ (stress tolerance and impulse control); 5) General Mood EQ (happiness and optimism). Reliability coefficients for the 15 subscales that comprise the factor scores range from .69 to .86 across 10 studies.
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The Self-Report Emotional Intelligence Test (SREIT; Schutte et al., 1998) is a self-report measure of emotional skills, according to Salovey and Mayer’s (1990) model of EI. Despite SREIT having good internal consistency and test-retest reliability, Petrides and Furnham (2000) criticized both its one-dimensional structure and the psychometric properties. From the results of their exploratory factor analysis, the two researchers divided the SREIT into four provisional factors (optimism and mood regulation, appraisal of emotions, social skills, and utilization of emotions). Instead, Brackett and Mayer (2003) confirmed a solution to one factor. Investigating the convergent, discriminant, and incremental validity, Brackett and Mayer found also that ability EI and self-report EI are weakly related and yield different measurements of the same person.
STUDIES WITH SREIT Numerous studies have been conducted using SREIT to evaluate emotional intelligence related with other psychological dimensions, with social skills and with psychopathological behaviors. The results of seven studies supported the proposition that emotional intelligence is connected to interpersonal relations (Schutte et al., 2001). Higher scores for emotional intelligence were related to higher scores for empathic perspective taking, for self-monitoring (the ability to understand others’ emotions and behaviors, to understand environmental contexts, to modify selfpresentation accordingly), for social skills; furthermore, the participants with higher emotional intelligence scores showed more cooperation ability, so higher emotional intelligence scores were associated with better relationships. More recently, a meta-analysis of 44 effect sizes, based on the responses of 7,898 participants, found that higher emotional intelligence was significantly associated with better health. Emotional intelligence measured as an individual’s typical or trait performance, and assessed through self-report of perceived functioning (SREIT: Schutte et al., 1998; EQ-I: Bar-On, 1997; Trait Meta Mood Scale: Salovey, Mayer, Goldman, Turvey, & Palfai, 1995; EIQ: Dulewicz & Higgs, 2000; EISRS: Martinez-Pons, 1999-2000), was more strongly associated with mental health than emotional intelligence conceptualized as an ability (MSCEIT: Mayer, Salovay, Caruso, & Sitarenios, 2003; MEIS: Mayer et al., 1999) and assessed through a performance measure (Schutte, Malouff, Thorsteinsson, Bhullar, & Rooke, 2007). Several studies highlight that higher emotional intelligence was associated with better repair of mood (Schutte, Malouff, Simunek, Hollander, & McKenley, 2002) and more impulse control (Schutte et al., 1998); moreover, lower emotional intelligence seems to be associated with more substance abuse problems (Brackett, Mayer, & Warner, 2004; Riley & Schutte, 2003; Trinidad & Johnson, 2002). Studying gambling behavior, Kaur, Schutte, and Thorsteinsson (2006) showed that lower emotional intelligence, assessed with Schutte’s scale, was associated with more problem gambling. “It may be that the poorer identification of emotion, lesser tendency to use emotion to facilitate decision making, poorer understanding of emotion and lesser tendency to regulating emotion associated with low emotional intelligence contribute to the development of gambling problems” (p. 409). Low emotional intelligence may be predictive of a range of problem behaviors associated with difficulties in controlling impulses. The SREIT is one of the most used self-report to measure emotional intelligence. For this reason and for lack of any Italian study on its psychometric characteristics, we realized a research to examine the psychometric properties of the Italian version of SREIT.
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METHOD Participants Data were obtained from 486 Italian adults, recruited on a voluntary basis, aged between 18 and 55 years. Table 1 represents sample distribution for gender and age: we can observe that there are nonsignificant differences. Half of them (53.33%) were single, the others were married (37.71%), divorced (3.54%), or widowed (5.42%). TABLE 1 Sample distribution for gender and age 18-29 years
30-39 years
40-49 years
over 50 years
Total
N
%
N
%
N
%
N
%
N
Male
98
20.33
54
11.20
36
7.47
57
11.83
245
50.83
Female
89
18.47
36
7.47
51
10.58
61
12.66
237
49.17
Total
187
38.80
90
18.67
87
18.05
118
24.48
482
100.00
%
Note. Chi-square test of association for age and gender = 6.62, df = 3.00, p = .09.
Measures Emotional Intelligence. Emotional Intelligence was measured with the Self-Report Emotional Intelligence Test (SREIT; Schutte et al., 1998), 33 items with a 5-point Likert scale from 1 (completely disagree) to 5 (completely agree). The English version of SREIT was translated independently into Italian by a bilingual Italian-English teacher. The two translations were then compared, and no differences were found between them. The first final version was given to several bilingual participants who also completed the English version and provided feedback on differences found in certain items between the English version and the translated version. Based on their comments, a final translation was created. This version was backtranslated into English by two bilingual psychologists with doctoral degrees. After comparing the backtranslation to the original inventory, we made several minor revisions. Alexithymia. The Toronto Alexithymia Scale 20 (TAS-20; Bagby et al., 1994; Italian version by Bressi et al., 1996) is a 20-item self-response scale, with a 5-point Likert scale from 1 (completely disagree) to 5 (completely agree). The TAS-20 measures the construct of alexithymia thought the following three dimensions: 1) difficulty in identifying feelings and discerning emotions from somatic sensations; 2) difficulty in describing one’s feelings to others; 3) externaldirected thoughts. Personality. The Big Five Questionnaire 2 (BFQ-2; Caprara, Barbaranelli, Borgogni, & Vecchione, 2007) is a 134 item self-response scale which reveals five big factors that describe personality: E: Energy refers to the factor usually labeled as Extraversion or Surgency;
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F: Friendliness refers to the factor usually labeled as Agreeableness or Friendly Compliance vs. Hostility; C: Conscientiousness refers to self-regulation in both its proactive and inhibitory aspects; S: Emotional Stability refers to characteristics of personality defined as the capacity to cope adequately with one’s own anxiety and emotionality and the capability of controlling irritation, discontent, and anger; O: Openness refers to the factor labeled as Culture or Intellect or Openness to Experience.
RESULTS Descriptive Analyses of the SREIT Table 2 shows the SREIT 33-item scale and associated descriptive statistics. TABLE 2 Descriptive statistics of the SREIT scale (N = 486)
1. 2.
3. 4. 5. 6.
7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14.
M
SD
I know when to speak about my personal problems to others [So quando posso parlare dei miei problemi personali agli altri] When I am faced with obstacles, I remember times I faced similar obstacles and overcame them [Quando incontro degli ostacoli, penso a quando ho affrontato ostacoli simili e li ho superati] I expect that I will do well on most things I try [Quando provo a fare qualcosa di nuovo mi aspetto di ottenere buoni risultati] Other people find it easy to confide in me [Gli altri si confidano facilmente con me) I find it hard to understand the nonverbal messages of other people* [Non capisco facilmente le comunicazioni non-verbali degli altri*] Some of the major events of my life have led me to re-evaluate what is important and not important [Alcuni eventi della mia vita mi hanno condotto a rivalutare quello che è importante e quello che non lo è] When my mood changes, I see new possibilities [Quando il mio umore cambia, mi accorgo di nuove possibilità] Emotions are one of the things that make my life worth living [Le emozioni sono una delle cose che rendono la mia vita degna di essere vissuta] I am aware of my emotions as I experience them [Sono consapevole delle mie emozioni nel momento in cui le provo] I expect good things to happen [Mi aspetto che mi succedano cose belle]
3.77
0.93
4.01
0.70
3.92
0.75
3.85
0.85
2.52
1.05
4.19
0.81
3.34
0.92
4.16
0.80
3.94
0.83
3.76
0.87
I like to share my emotions with others [Mi piace condividere le mie emozioni con gli altri] When I experience a positive emotion, I know how to make it last [Quando sperimento un’emozione positiva, so come farla durare] I arrange events others enjoy [Organizzo incontri in cui gli altri si divertono] I seek out activities that make me happy [Cerco attività che mi facciano felice]
3.74
0.88
3.35
0.83
3.23 3.86
1.01 0.83
(table continues)
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Table 2 (continued)
15. 16. 17. 18.
19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26.
27. 28. 29. 30. 31.
32. 33.
M
SD
I am aware of the nonverbal messages I send to others
[Sono consapevole delle comunicazioni non-verbali che mando agli altri] I present myself in a way that makes a good impression on others [Mi presento in un modo che lascia una buona impressione sugli altri] When I am in a positive mood, solving problems is easy for me [Quando sono di buon umore, mi riesce facile risolvere i problemi] By looking at their facial expressions, I recognize the emotions people are experiencing [Riconosco le emozioni che le persone stanno provando guardando le loro espressioni facciali] I know why my emotions change [So perché le mie emozioni cambiano] When I am in a positive mood, I am able to come up with new ideas [Quando sono di buon umore, sono capace di avere nuove idee] I have control over my emotions [Ho il controllo delle mie emozioni] I easily recognize my emotions as I experience them [Riconosco facilmente le mie emozioni mentre le provo] I motivate myself by imagining a good outcome to tasks I take on [Trovo la motivazione immaginando di ottenere un buon risultato nei compiti che mi assumo]
3.56
0.92
3.81
0.77
3.96
0.78
3.86
0.86
3.58 3.89
0.95 0.78
3.36 3.86
0.97 0.73
3.75
0.77
I compliment others when they have done something well [Mi complimento con gli altri quando hanno fatto bene qualcosa] I am aware of the nonverbal messages other people send [Sono consapevole delle comunicazioni non-verbali che mandano le altre persone] When another person tells me about an important event in his or her life, I almost feel as though I have experienced this event myself [Quando un’altra persona mi racconta di un importante evento della sua vita, mi sento quasi come se lo avessi vissuto io] When I feel a change in emotions, I tend to come up with new ideas [Quando sento un cambiamento nelle mie emozioni, tendo ad avere nuove idee] When I am faced with a challenge, I give up because I believe I will fail* [Quando mi si presenta una sfida, abbandono perché penso che fallirò*] I know what other people are feeling just by looking at them [Capisco quello che le altre persone stanno provando anche solo guardandole] I help other people feel better when they are down [Aiuto le persone a sentirsi meglio quando sono depresse] I use good moods to help myself keep trying in the face of obstacles [Quando sono di fronte ad un ostacolo mantengo uno stato d’animo positivo per aiutarmi a continuare a tentare] I can tell how people are feeling by listening to the tone of their voice [Ascoltando il loro tono di voce posso capire come si stanno sentendo le persone] It is difficult for me to understand why people feel the way they do* [Per me è difficile capire perché le persone si sentono nel modo in cui si sentono*]
4.06
0.79
3.61
0.88
3.45
0.85
3.37
0.81
2.09
1.00
3.52
0.86
3.85
0.74
3.79
0.75
3.71
0.78
2.55
1.00
Note. * Item with reversed score.
Gender Differences This analysis concerns gender differences, analysed with t-test for independent samples (p < .05). Our sample, according to Schutte et al.’s (1998) results, shows gender differences in SREIT total score (males: M = 121.86, SD = 13.92; females: M = 124.15, SD = 12.30; p = .048) so we analyzed reliability and validity separately for men and women.
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Reliability of the SREIT The reliability of the scale in terms of internal consistency was assessed by Cronbach’s α. For item selection it was decided that adjusted item-total correlations for each item of a scale should exceed .30, recommended as the standard for supporting item-internal consistency (De Vellis, 2003). Item 5 “I find it hard to understand the nonverbal messages of other people,” item 28 “When I am faced with a challenge, I give up because I believe I will fail,” and item 33 “It is difficult for me to understand why people feel the way they do,” which revealed the lowest corrected item-total correlations (r < .30), were excluded. In addition, the part-whole correlations between items and scale are between .30 and .57, which is in the desired range, and the items demonstrated a satisfactory level of internal consistency reliability (α = .89). The corrected item-total correlations are displayed in Table 3. TABLE 3 Corrected item-total correlations Items
Corrected item-total correlation
Item 1 Item 2 Item 3 Item 4 Item 6 Item 7 Item 8 Item 9 Item 10 Item 11 Item 12 Item 13 Item 14 Item 15 Item 16 Item 17 Item 18 Item 19 Item 20 Item 21 Item 22 Item 23 Item 24 Item 25 Item 26 Item 27 Item 29 Item 30 Item 31 Item 32
.409 .495 .428 .421 .378 .301 .488 .396 .368 .455 .413 .344 .483 .438 .486 .469 .574 .481 .519 .360 .470 .400 .456 .501 .346 .377 .434 .488 .477 .434
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Factor Analysis Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was carried out to verify the one-dimensional model proposed by the author of the original version of the scale. Table 4 reports the χ2 statistics and other fit indices for the CFA carried out on the SREIT. We used the least square estimation method to run the factor analysis and we can confirm 1-factor model. CFA results were evaluated using the χ2 statistic and a variety of other, more practical fit indices (see Craparo, Faraci, Fasciano, Carrubba, & Gori, 2013; Gori et al., 2013; Schweizer, 2010): the root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA), the standardized root mean square residual (SRMR), and the comparative fit index (CFI). RMSEA values lower than .05 are usually considered good, while values lower than .08 are considered acceptable (Brown & Cudeck, 1993). SRMR values below .10 are considered acceptable (Kline, 2005). Finally, CFI values equal to or greater than .90 are considered acceptable, while values equal to or greater than .95 are considered good (Hu & Bentler, 1999). All the additional fit indices are adequate: RMSEA, SRMR, and CFI values fall below the acceptable threshold. The standardized solution is reported in Table 5. The results are in line with the original validation study of the SREIT (Schutte et al., 1998), which suggests a homogeneous construct of emotional intelligence. Afterward, also Brackett and Mayer’s (2003) factor analysis suggests only one interpretable factor pertaining to the perception or appraisal of emotion. TABLE 4 Goodness-of-fit statistics for tests of factorial validity of the SREIT
χ2
df
RMSEA
SRMR
CFI
90% CI
1200.34*
404
.00
.06
1
.000-.004
* p < .001.
TABLE 5 Standardized solution Items Item 1 Item 2 Item 3 Item 4 Item 6 Item 7 Item 8 Item 9 Item 10 Item 11 Item 12 Item 13 Item 14
Factor loadings
Standard errors
.440* .526* .451* .452* .398* .305* .509* .419* .386* .474* .433* .364* .511*
.898 .850 .892 .892 .917 .952 .861 .908 .922 .881 .901 .931 .859 (table continues)
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Table 5 (continued)
Items Item 15 Item 16 Item 17 Item 18 Item 19 Item 20 Item 21 Item 22 Item 23 Item 24 Item 25 Item 26 Item 27 Item 29 Item 30 Item 31 Item 32
Factor loadings
Standard errors
.476* .514* .495* .619* .511* .549* .382* .504* .421* .484* .540* .361* .393* .474* .519* .503* .472*
.880 .858 .869 .785 .860 .835 .924 .864 .907 .875 .842 .933 .920 .881 .855 .864 .881
*p < .05.
Correlation with Related Constructs According to Schutte et al. (1998), one would expect a valid measure of emotional intelligence to be related to measures that assess specific aspects of awareness and expression of emotion; in this study we hypothesize that emotional intelligence is negatively associated with alexithymia and positively associated with friendliness and emotional stability as personality factors. We found different results for men and women (Pearson’s r coefficient, p < .05): as expected, for male subsample, higher scores on the 30-item emotional intelligence scale were associated (Table 6) with less alexithymia as measured by the Toronto Alexithymia Scale; we can observe negative correlations with SREIT total score and TAS-20 dimensions and total score. Furthermore, all personality factors are significantly and positively associated to emotional intelligence; higher correlations are detected with emotional intelligence, friendliness and openness. Different results were found for female subsample: there are no significant correlations with alexithymia, neither with the subscale, nor with TAS-20 total score. Personality factors, instead, are significantly and positively associated to emotional intelligence; higher correlations, similar to the male subsample, are detected with friendliness and openness.
DISCUSSION The present study provides evidence for the reliability and validity of the Italian version of the SREIT. The results show that the SREIT has an excellent internal consistency reliability, well above the suggested threshold of .70 (Kline, 1999). Data analysis confirmed the 1-factor
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TABLE 6 Correlations between total score in SREIT, TAS-20, BFQ (Pearson’s r coefficient)
SREIT Difficulty in identifying feelings Difficulty in describing one’s feelings to others External-directed thoughts Total score TAS-20 Energy Friendliness Conscientiousness Emotional Stability Openness
M N = 246
F N = 240
–0.24* –0.26* –0.14* –0.28* 0.35* 0.54* 0.29* 0.24* 0.36*
–0.07 –0.13 –0.04 –0.06 0.33* 0.47* 0.37* 0.14* 0.39*
* p < .05.
CFA solution proposed by the author; this 1-factor solution resulted in scale items that represented each of the following categories: appraisal and expression of emotion in the self and others, regulation of emotion in the self and others, and utilization of emotions in solving problems (Schutte et al., 1998). The scale shows evidence of validity. Concurrent validity has been verified analyzing correlations to personality factors: stronger relations are detected with friendliness and openness (confirming Schutte’s results). The association between these two constructs (emotional intelligence and openness) was expected on the basis of the description of a typical high scorer on the openness subscale as someone for whom emotional reactions are varied and important (Costa & McCrae, 1992). Discriminant validity has been verified analyzing negative correlations to alexithymia, that correspond to what was expected theoretically. As the original version of the scale shows, also in the Italian sample women scored higher than men. Gender differences in Emotional Intelligence are not irrefutably demonstrated: Brackett and Mayer (2003), investigating the validity of several tests of emotional intelligence (EI, MSCEIT, EQ-I, SREIT), found discordant results: significant gender differences were only found on the MSCEIT, with women scoring higher than men; these gender differences are consistent with previous research (Brackett, 2001; Mayer et al., 1999). Parallel to Bar-On’s (1997) findings, no gender differences existed on the EQ-I. About confirmatory factor analysis, we obtained good indices with the 30-item version: excluding items with reversed score, which revealed the lowest corrected item-total correlations, the 1-factor model has been confirmed also in the Italian context. In sum, the findings indicate that the 30-item scale holds promise as a reliable, valid measure of emotional intelligence as conceptualized by Salovey and Mayer (1990), also in the Italian context. Potential uses of the scale in theoretical research involve exploring the nature of emotional intelligence, including the determinants of emotional intelligence, the effects of emotional intelligence and whether emotional intelligence can be enhanced.
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