Invariance of the trait emotional intelligence construct across populations and sociodemographic variables

Cultural, linguistic and sociodemographic peculiarities may influence trait Emotional Intelligence (trait EI). An instrument capable of assessing trait EI in different populations can foster cross-cultural research and make an important contribution to the construct's nomological network. Accordingly, the present study aimed to examine the relationship between trait EI and key sociodemographic variables through univariate analyses of variance and tests of multigroup measurement equivalence. We used datasets Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire (TEIQue-SF) datasets from four countries. Collectively, these datasets comprised 2228 participants, 23% from Brazil, 15% from Chile, 23% from Italy, and 39% from the United Kingdom. The sociodemographic variables that we used for trait EI comparisons were gender, age, educational level, civil and occupational status. Our results indicated significant global trait EI differences across countries for civil status, occupation, educational attainment, and age. Measurement invariance across the datasets was acceptable, especially for age, gender and education. In conclusion, the present psychometric evidence supports the suitability of the TEIQue-SF for the accurate assessment of trait EI in transcultural research.