Construction and validation of the Scale of Willingness for Emotional Learning in a Chilean sample

Abstract

This study aimed to build and validate a self-reported measure to assess the construct willingness for emotional learning to study individual differences in the development of emotional competences. This scale was validated by expert raters and then administered to a sample of 320 adults, mostly from northern Chile. An adequate model fit of the theoretical structure was demonstrated using a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). The internal structure of the scale consists of two dimensions: (a) willingness to learn about the subjective aspects of emotions (feelings) and (b) external aspects of emotions (expression and recognition). They showed positive correlations with the three dimensions of perceived emotional intelligence and negative and positive associations with the three dimensions of alexithymia. The scale was also found to have adequate levels of internal consistency. Theoretical and practical implications of using the Scale of Willingness for Emotional Learning in the Chilean adult population are discussed.