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The validity of the Wong and Law Emotional

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 Personality and Individual Differences xxx (2017) xxx-xxx

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Personality and Individual Differences

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journal homepage: www.elsevier.com

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Short Communication

The validity of the Wong and Law Emotional Intelligence Scale in a Chinese sample:
Tests of measurement invariance and latent mean differences across gender and age
Feng Kong

PR
School of Psychology, Shaanxi Normal University,' China

ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT

Article history: The Wong and Law Emotional Intelligence Scale (WLEIS) is one of the most widely used measures of trait emotional
Received 5 March 2017

Received in revised form 7 April 2017
Accepted 12 April 2017
Available online xxx
Keywords:
Emotional intelligence
Confirmatory factor analysis
Measurement invariance
Gender differences
Age differences
ED
intelligence. The aim of this study was to examine measurement equivalence and latent mean differences of the WLEIS
across gender and age groups. The sample consisted of 1160 Chinese individuals aged 1340 years. Confirmation factor
analysis (CFA) replicated the original four-factor model previously found in other studies. Importantly, the multi-group
CFA revealed that configural, metric and scalar invariance across gender and age groups were supported. Moreover, la-
tent mean scores on the WLEIS subscales were comparable across gender and age groups. The implications of these
findings are discussed in light of existing literature in the field.
2016 Published by Elsevier Ltd.
CT

1. Introduction Luebbers, Downey, & Stough, 2007; Whitman, Van Rooy,

Viswesvaran, & Kraus, 2009).
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In the past decades, emotional intelligence (EI) has attracted con-
siderable attention from researchers (Saklofske, Austin, & Minski,
2003; Wong & Law, 2002). In the literature, there are two classic
models of EI: the ability (AEI) and the trait models (TEI). Ability EI
refers to a cognitive ability concerning one's actual ability to per-
ceive, use, understand, and manage emotions in the self and others
(Kong, Zhao, & You, 2012). TEI refers to a constellation of emo-
R
Although the WLEIS has been used widely in many countries, to
our knowledge, few studies have investigated measurement invariance
of the WLEIS across groups (e.g., age and gender). Previous literature
has indicated that age is a significant predictor of TEI. For example,
Mayer, Caruso, and Salovey (1999) found that adults scored signifi-
cantly higher than adolescents. This pattern of results is also found in
many other studies (Bar-On, 1997; Luebbers et al., 2007; Sliter, Chen,

tion-related self-perceptions located at the lower-levels of personality Withrow, & Sliter, 2013). However, it is important to note that, when
hierarchies (Kong et al., 2012; Petrides, Pita, & Kokkinaki, 2007). In examining these age differences, we must assure that the WLEIS does
this study, we focused on a trait approach and examined measurement measure the same latent structure across different age groups. Thus,
CO

invariance of a TEI scale across groups because replication of valida-
tion studies is necessary and useful.
To assess individual differences in TEI, the 16-item Wong and
Law Emotional Intelligence Scale (WLEIS) was developed (Wong &
Law, 2002). The WLEIS measures four dimensions of TEI: Self-Emo-
tion Appraisals, Others' Emotion Appraisals, Use of Emotion, and
Regulation of Emotion. Wong and Law (2002) have found that the
UN
one purpose of this study was to examine whether the measurement
structure underlying TEI is equivalent across age groups.
In addition, previous literature has also shown that gender is a sig-
nificant predictor of TEI. For example, males were found to score
higher on TEI than females (Kong & Zhao, 2013; Kong et al., 2012;
Mikolajczak, Luminet, Leroy, & Roy, 2007). Contrary to the above
results, some studies reported that females had higher TEI scores than

WLEIS have satisfactory validity and reliability. Subsequently, the
WLEIS has been validated in different countries (Fukuda et al., 2011;
Fukuda, Saklofske, Tamaoka, & Lim, 2012; LaPalme, Wang, Joseph,
Saklofske, & Yan, 2016; Li, Saklofske, Bowden, Yan, & Fung, 2012;
Libbrecht, Beuckelaer, Lievens, & Rockstuhl, 2014;
Email address: Corresponding author at: School of Psychology, Shaanxi Normal
University, 199 South Changan Road, Xian, 710062, China.E-mail address:
kongfeng87@126.com or kongfeng@snnu.edu.cn (F. Kong)
males (Saklofske et al., 2003; Van Rooy, Alonso, & Viswesvaran,
2005) or reported no gender differences (Whitman et al., 2009). How-
ever, when examining the gender differences, we must rule out the
possibility that the differences arise from measurement bias between
males and females. To our knowledge, only one published study has
tested measurement invariance of the WLEIS across gender (Whitman
et al., 2009). However, this study was conducted in a working en-
vironment, with American job applicants as participants.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2017.04.025
0191-8869/ 2016 Published by Elsevier Ltd.
2 Personality and Individual Differences xxx (2017) xxx-xxx
Thus, another purpose of this study was to examine gender-related in-
variance of the WLEIS in a general Chinese population.
To address these issues, we first performed a confirmatory fac-
tor analysis (CFA) to test whether the original four-factor structure of
the WLEIS can be replicated in a large Chinese sample (N = 1160).
Second, we conducted multi-group CFAs (MGCFAs) to test mea-
surement invariance across gender and age groups. Finally, we con-
ducted MGCFAs to test gender- and age-related latent mean differ-
ences. We expected latent scores on the WLEIS subscales were com-
parable across gender and age groups.
2. Method
2.1. Participants and procedure
The survey was made available to participants via a survey website
(http://www.sojump.com). Written informed consent was obtained
from each participant prior to this study. A total of 1160 Chinese
healthy volunteers (mean age = 24.19 5.22 years, 636 females) an-
swered these questionnaires. The majority of the participants had com-
pleted university, college or post-graduate studies (70.6%). The study
was approved by the local committee of ethics.
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The sample was split into three age groups: the first group con-
sisted of 187 teenagers aged between 13 and 19 (M = 16.75,
SD = 1.96, 95 females). The second group consisted of 852 youths
(i.e., young adults) aged between 20 and 30 (M = 24.38, SD = 2.87,
472 females). The third group consisted of 121 adults aged between
31 and 40 (M = 34.35, SD = 2.93, 69 females).
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2.2. Wong and Law Emotional Intelligence Scale
The 16-item WLEIS (Wong & Law, 2002) was used to assess TEI.
Sample items are as follows: I am quite capable of controlling my
own emotions (Regulation of Emotion), I always know whether or
not I am happy (Self-Emotion Appraisals), I am sensitive to the
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feelings and emotions of others (Others' Emotion Appraisals), and
I always tell myself I am a competent person (Use of Emotion).
Each item is answered on a 5-point Likert scale that ranges from
1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree. In the current study, the al-
pha reliabilities of WLEIS subscales ranged from 0.74 to 0.87.
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2.3. Data analysis
To examine whether the original four-factor structure of the
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WLEIS could be replicated in our dataset, a CFA was first performed
using Amos 22.0. Because Chi-Square is considered to be sensitive to
sample size, we used the following indices to evaluate model fit (Hu
& Bentler, 1999): non-normal fit index (NNFI), comparative fit index
(CFI), standardized root mean square residual (SRMR), and root mean
square error of approximation (RMSEA). Accordingly, an acceptable
model fit is indicated by a RMSEA of < 0.08, a SRMR of < 0.08, a
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NNFI of > 0.90, and a CFI of > 0.90.
Then, we conducted MGCFAs to examine configural, metric, and
scalar invariance of the WLEIS. Configural invariance implies the
same number of factors in each group, which is a prerequisite for
the other tests. Metric invariance implies invariance of factor loadings
across groups. Scalar Invariance (strict invariance) refers to invariance
of item intercepts across groups. For tests of invariance, the differ-
ence for CFI and RMSEA (CFI and RMSEA) was used as indices.
CFI and RMSEA of equal to or < 0.01 indicate strong invariance
(Li, Yang, Ding, & Kong, 2015).
3. Results
3.1. Confirmatory factor analysis
To examine whether the original four-factor structure of the
WLEIS can be replicated in our dataset, we first performed a CFA.
F
The results indicated that the proposed four-factor model showed a
very good fit to the data, 2 (98) = 386.74, p < 0.001, NNFI = 0.96,
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CFI = 0.96, RMSEA = 0.050, SRMR = 0.032. The factor loadings
ranged from 0.55 to 0.89, and were significant.
3.2. Measurement invariance across gender and age groups
3.2.1. Configural invariance across gender and age groups
The MGCFA started with testing for configural invariance assess-
ing whether the WLEIS was best described by a four-factor structure
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across gender and age groups. With regard to the gender groups, the
results showed that the configural invariance model (M1) fitted the
data very well, RMSEA = 0.039, CFI = 0.96 (Table 1), and all factor
loading were significant (p < 0.05).
With regard to the age groups, the M1 fitted the data well, RM-
SEA = 0.034, CFI = 0.94, and all factor loading were significant
(p < 0.05). Together, these results indicated that the four-factor model
fitted the data well in two gender and three age groups.
3.2.2. Metric invariance across gender and age groups
Subsequently, a metric invariance model (M2) was tested with fac-
tor loading constrained to be equal across groups. With regard to the
gender groups, the results showed a good model fit, RMSEA = 0.038,
CFI = 0.96. When compared to the M1, no significant changes oc-
curred, CFI = 0.001 and RMSEA = 0.0006.
With regard to the age groups, the M2 fitted the data well, RM-
SEA = 0.033, CFI = 0.94. When compared to the M1, no significant
changes occurred, CFI = 0.001 and RMSEA = 0.001. This indi-
cated that factor loadings were invariant across gender and age groups.
3.2.3. Scalar invariance across gender and age groups
To establish scalar invariance (M3), intercepts and factor loadings
were constrained to be equal across groups. With regard to the gen-
der groups, the results showed a good model fit, RMSEA = 0.041,
CFI = 0.95. When compared to M2, no significant changes occurred,
CFI = 0.009 and RMSEA = 0.003. This indicated that intercepts
and factor loadings were invariant across the female and male groups.
With regard to the age groups, the results showed a good model fit,
RMSEA = 0.033, CFI = 0.94. When compared to the M2, no signif-
icant changes occurred, CFI = 0.001 and RMSEA = 0.0005. This
indicated that intercepts and factor loadings were invariant across age
groups.
Taking together, these results suggest that configural, metric and
scalar invariance hold across gender and age groups.
3.3. Testing for latent mean differences
To estimate the mean differences between different groups, one
of the groups is selected as a reference group and its latent mean is
fixed to zero. Latent mean for the other group(s) is freely estimated. In
this study, the male, teenage, and youth groups were selected as refer-
ence groups, respectively. The results revealed that females had lower
scores than males on Self-Emotion Appraisals (Z = 2.75, p < 0.05),
Use of Emotion (Z = 2.99, p < 0.05), and Regulation of Emotion
(Z = 6.49, p < 0.05). Furthermore, significant age differences in la
 Personality and Individual Differences xxx (2017) xxx-xxx
tent means were also obtained. Specifically, youths had higher mean
scores than teenagers on Self-Emotion Appraisals (Z = 2.55, p < 0.05),
and Use of Emotion (Z = 3.60, p < 0.05). Adults had higher mean
scores than teenagers on Use of Emotion (Z = 3.31, p < 0.05). No
significant differences were obtained between the youth and adult
groups.
4. Discussion
The present study aimed at examining measurement invariance of
the Chinese WLEIS across gender and age. As expected, the results
showed that the four-factor structure was replicated in Chinese pop-
ulations. Importantly, the MGCFA results revealed that configural,
metric and scalar invariance existed across gender and age. These
findings suggest that the WLEIS can be reliably applied to individu-
als from the gender and age groups. To our knowledge, this is the first
study to demonstrate measurement invariance of the Chinese WLEIS
across gender and age.
Despite of measurement invariance of the WLEIS, our findings re-
vealed that the latent means for the WLEIS subscales differed across
groups. Specifically, relative to females, males had higher scores on
Self-Emotion Appraisals, Use of Emotion, and Regulation of Emo-
tion, which is consistent with the previous studies (Kong & Zhao,
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2013; Kong et al., 2012; Mikolajczak et al., 2007; Saklofske et al.,
2003). These findings fit well with the fact that the divergent social-
ization of emotion serves as a function of gender (e.g., Boys don't
cry). However, they contradict the finding that relative to males,
females score higher on TEI (Besharat, 2007; Mikolajczak et al.,
2007; Saklofske et al., 2003). The inconsistency may result from
the choice of measurement instruments of TEI. For example, us-
CT
ing the Schutte Emotional Intelligence Scale (SEIS), females had
higher scores on Appraisal of Emotions but lower scores on Uti-
lization of Emotions (Besharat, 2007; Saklofske et al., 2003). Using
the Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire (TEIQ), females had
higher scores on Emotionality but lower scores on Self-Control and
Sociability (Mikolajczak et al., 2007).
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With regard to age groups, the results showed that youths had
higher mean scores on Self-Emotion Appraisals and Use of Emotion
than teenagers. Additionally, adults had higher mean scores on Use
of Emotion than teenagers. No significant differences were obtained
between the youth and adult groups. These results are consistent with
the studies previously reporting the significant age differences in TEI
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(Luebbers et al., 2007; Sliter et al., 2013; Van Rooy et al., 2005). For
example, Luebbers et al. (2007) found that among the dimensions of
TEI, the ability to use emotions to facilitate performance showed the
strongest correlation with age. These findings fit well with the notion
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that EI is an adaptive ability developing along with cognitive and so-
cial skills (Mayer et al., 1999).
In summary, the present findings provided new insights in the EI
literature. Specifically, we found that the WLEIS has configural, met-
ric and scalar invariance across male and female groups as well as
three age groups (i.e., teenagers, youths and adults). Moreover, tests
of latent mean differences provide more precise estimates regarding
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group differences than t-tests and ANOVA, since these traditional ap-
proaches don't take into account the influence of measurement errors.
Despite of these strengths, two limitations need to be considered. First,
this study used a Chinese sample, so it is unclear whether measure-
ment invariance of WLEIS can be obtained in other cultural popula-
tions, which should be tested for further research. Second, the study
used only cross-sectional data, so we can't confirm whether measure-
ment invariance still holds across different time points. Thus, testing
the measurement invariance for longitudinal data is also needed in fu-
ture studies.
View publication stats
3
Acknowledgments
This study was funded by the Research Foundation for Advanced
Talents of Shaanxi Normal University (1110010805) and the
Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities
(GK201703090).
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