First Evidence of Validity of the Leaders Emotional Intelligence

Abstract

The study aimed to build and evaluate first evidence of validity of the Leader Emotional Intelligence Scale (LEIS), a measure that expects to measure four emotional intelligence abilities. Studies were conducted to seek evidence of content validity and internal structure through the use of item agreement indices, exploratory factor analysis, and confirmatory factor analysis. Parallel analysis, Cronbach's alpha, McDonald's omega, and item-total correlation were used. In an initial version, 49 items were applied to 647 leaders. Four factors were obtained, as predicted theoretically, with good internal structure (α = 0.810; ω = 0.738). Ultimately, 48 items achieved a good result in the face of the analyses used and constituted the final version of the instrument. The application of EIEL in scientific research is indicated. Further studies are suggested to validate its factorial structure. The lack of greater control in relation to the bias of social desirability is highlighted.

Keywords

• validity evidence
• emotional intelligence
• leadership