There is little doubt that currently trait EI (Trait emotional intelligence) theory and their measures have been found valid and reliable in several research and application settings. This research provides psychometric evidence of the TEIQue-SF in Chilean general and clinical population sample (n₁ = 335, n₂ = 120). The results confirmed the factor structure of the instrument and supported its multidimensionality. Hierarchical and bi-factor CFA models with the Spanish-Chilean-TEIQue-SF analysed its internal structure in the R environment, following the assessment of bi-factor ESEM models in Mplus. We performed these analyses both at the global and factorlevel. CFA models did not reach acceptable fit statistics for the models, whereas ESEM models reached good to excellent fit for the bi-factor models proposed. We also implemented measurement invariance analyses, which provided evidence for full measurement invariance between the original UK validation sample and the Chilean samples up to the scalar level. Also, the means for the global trait EI factor and the four factors (Well-being, Self-control, Emotionality and Sociability) were alike previous psychometric research with the questionnaire. The results highlight the importance of performing multidimensional factor analysis through ESEM following a bi-factor interpretation of the TEIQue-SF internal structure. 3 THE SPANISH-CHILEAN-TEIQUE-SF The study of Emotional Intelligence (EI) in Chile and Latin-America Although some studies have addressed EI in Chile, either their nature do not fit with the taxonomies already in place, or they suffer from methodological flaws. Therefore, addressing EI scientifically, with well-defined construct operationalisations, is eventually the only pathway for assessing the subjectivity of emotional experience (Petrides, 2009). Current research on emotional intelligence in Chile and Latin-America has usually not responded to psychometrically founded constructs such as trait EI. At most, local research has relied on trait EI scales of which no previous supporting psychometric evidence has been reported in the country. The latter is a serious limitation for assessing trait EI accurately not only in Chile but also in the region. For instance, some studies in the country have relied on the Spanish adaptation of the TMMS-48 (Trait Meta-Mood Scale-Spanish translation), performed in the late nineties in Spain (Fernández-Berrocal et al., 1998). Fernández-Berrocal, Salovey, Vera, Ramos and Extremera (2001) conducted a study based on this questionnaire four measures of emotional stability, where participants of U.S.A., Spain and Chile were compared cross-culturally regarding their trait EI and emotional stability. The authors concluded that the Spanish sample had a significantly lowest mean for trait EI compared to the U.S.A. and the Chilean samples. This latter also obtained the highest score for emotional balance. Although these authors did not inform measurement invariance between the samples, it can be deducted from the significant differenc...
