Validation of the Schutte Self Report Emotional Intelligence Scale in a Zambian Context

This study aimed at determining and validating the Schutte Self-Report Emotional Intelligence Test (SSEIT) in a Zambian context. It examined the feasibility of its use in this cultural context. Additionally, the study aimed at examining the reliability of the instrument when used in the same context. The participants were drawn from two cohorts (2016/2017 and 2017/2018 academic years) of first year students from the Department of Mathematic sand Science Education at the Copperbelt University in Zambia. One hundred and seven (25 females and 82 males) students from the 2016/2017 cohort and 138 (47 females and 91males) students from the 2017/2018 cohort participated in the study. The process of validating the instrument involved factor analysis. Using Principal Components Analysis (PCA), the Monte Carlo PCA for Parallel Analysis and Varimax methods for both cohorts, a four factor structure model of the SSEIT was reported. The instrument was reliable with a Cronbach coefficient of 0.79 in the 2016/2017 Cohort and 0.74 in the 2017/2018 Cohort. The study concluded that the SSEIT is a reliable and valid tool to measure the emotional intelligence of first year students from the Department of Mathematic sand Science Education at the Copperbelt University in Zambia.