Factor structure of the spanish version of Wong and Law's Emotional Intelligence Scale

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the factor structure of the Spanish version of the Wong Law Emotional Intelligence Scale (WLEIS) in a sample of 5,175 participants, age range from 13 to 93 years. Confirmatory factor analysis showed a similar structure to the original scale with the extraction of four factors: Self-emotion appraisals, others’ emotion appraisals, use of emotion, and regulation of emotion. The factorial structure was stable in all age ranges, showing excellent robustness. Factorial invariance by gender within different age groups showed a better fit of scale for the female sample. Finally, the WLEIS was negatively related to levels of stress, anxiety and depression, as well as to suicidal behaviors. In sum, findings provided by this study demonstrated the validity of the Spanish adaptation of the WLEIS scale within a representative sample.