Reliability and Construct Validity Assessment of Wong and Law Emotional Intelligence Scale and Satisfaction With Life Scale in the Indian Hospitality Industry

Abstract

Background: Organizations today require employees who are well at managing emotional intelligence and using their emotions in a constructive process. The present study considered the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS) and Wong and Law Emotional Intelligence Scale (WLEIS) for the study. WLEIS has four factors: self-emotional appraisal (SEA), other’s emotional appraisal (OEA), regulation of emotion (ROE), and use of emotions (UOE). These scales help to manage emotions that result in satisfaction with life. Purpose: The purpose of the study is to validate WLEIS and SWLS because this scale has been validated across many countries but very few studies have been conducted in the Indian context. Apart from that, the current study also incorporated SWLS to validate constructs and measurement models. Methods: A sample of 238 participants working in the hospitality industry have been considered for the study. Exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis were used to validate all the constructs and measurement models. Results: The three factors of WLEIS and SWLS showed Cronbach’s α more than 0.8 that showed excellent internal consistency except for SEA. The results of exploratory factor analysis found that eigenvalue ranged from 2.8 to 5.9, and the total variance explained by constructs was 65.9%. Confirmatory factor analysis showed average variance explained of each construct to be 0.5, and composite reliability to be more than 0.7, which shows excellent construct validity of scales in the Indian hospitality sector. The study also validates measurement research model of WLEIS and SWLS on the basis of model fit index (chi-square/df = 4.83, RMSEA = 0.10, GFI = 0.94, and CFI = 0.90). Conclusion: The strong validity and reliability of the WLEIS and SWLS have proved that neuroscience can apply these scales to measure emotional intelligence in order to understand others’ emotions and apply emotions in a constructive process that may lead to satisfaction with life.