Adaptation and validation of the emotional intelligence scale in the physical education and sport Arabic context: a gender and type of sport invariance analysis

Background: Cross-validity and cultural testing are crucial in ensuring the validity of psychological assessments, as language and cultural context can significantly influence the interpretation of test items and their outcomes. An estimated 400 million people speak Arabic with very little research specific on that population. Emotions are a cultural universal. This study examined the psychometric proper ties of the Arabic version of the Emotional Intelligence Scale (A-EIS) in Tunisian physical education and spor t students, focusing on its latent structure, measurement invariance across gender and spor t type, and reliability. Methods: Two samples of volunteer physical education and spor t students (males, n= 369 and females, n= 282; Age range: 21.11±1.53 years and training experience: 7.18±4.18 years) completed the A-EIS. Translation involved forward-backward methods and a pilot study (n=35). Results: Exploratory factor analysis (n= 223, 34.25%) identified a five-factor model: appraisal of others’ emotions, appraisal of own emotions, regulation, social skills, and utilization of emotions. Confirmatory factor analysis (n= 428, 65.13%) confirmed the model’s fit (CFI= 0.98; TLI = 0.98; GFI = 0.97; RMSEA= 0.029). The structure showed measurement invariance across gender and spor t type. Cronbach’s alpha exceeded 0.70, indicating good reliability. Invariance analysis results indicate that gender has no main effect on any of the variables. Conclusions: The A-EIS is a valid and reliable tool for assessing emotional intelligence in Arabic-speaking physical education and sport students.

Citation

Yahyaoui R, Ouergui I, Marzouki H, Selmi O, Quansah F, Hagan Jr JE, Guelmemi N, Chen YS, Lane AM, Jarraya M: Adaptation and Validation of The Emotional Intelligence Scale in The Physical Education and Sport Arabic Context: A Gender and Type of Sport Invariance Analysis. Journal of Kinesiology and Exercise Sciences. 2025; 110 (35): 40-53.

Type

Journal article

Language

en

Description

© 2025 The Authors, published by Index Copernicus Ltd. This is an open access article available under a Creative Commons licence. The published version can be accessed at the following link on the publisher’s website: https://jkes.eu/article/548522/en

ISSN

2956-4581

EISSN

2956-4581

Collections

Sport and Physical Activity Research Centre