Development and psychometric evaluation of the Emotional Intelligence Test (EMI‐T) for social care and healthcare student selection

Abstract

Aim To develop an emotional intelligence (EI) test and evaluate its psychometrics for social and healthcare student selection. Design A cross‐sectional methodological design. Methods The test was developed based on a systematic review and focus group interviews. Content validity was evaluated with expert panels, and preliminary psychometrics with two pilot studies. Descriptive statistics, correlations and item response theory were used. Data Sources Search was conducted in six databases 2018. Focus group interviews were conducted with educators and professionals in 2019. Expert panels with doctoral students, researchers and educators were conducted in 2020. Pilot tests with students were conducted 2020–2021. The developed test was administered to 4808 applicants 2021. Results The test included four subscales. Correlations support the test's theoretical structure. The items were mainly easy. Conclusion The test assesses EI objectively and comprehensively. The item‐level distractor analysis can be used for further test development. Impacts Social care and healthcare students engage in clinical practice early in their studies, and these environments can be emotionally challenging. Assessing EI in student selection with adequate test can help the institutions of higher education to select the students with required abilities to succeed in the studies. The assessment of EI during student selection also provides information higher education institutions could use to develop and provide support interventions. The results may also encourage practice placements to include EI elements as learning objective. The results of this study and especially the use of IRT and detailed distractor analysis to evaluate the psychometric properties of EMI‐T can benefit researchers and educators that develop or evaluate objective assessment tools with multiple choice questions. Implications for the profession and/or patient care Emotional intelligence is important for students to enable professional interaction.

Propiedades Psicométricas de un Cuestionario para evaluar el desarrollo competencial de Auto Liderazgo Socio-Emocional en la Modalidad Online de la Formación Superior Universitaria

“…Los cuatro factores que se derivan de este estudio presentan todos correlaciones estadísticamente significativas entre sí, con un rango de índices (r) que se sitúan entre 0,55 y 0.74; valores de confiabilidad que según Gilar-Corbí et al, (2021) resultan adecuados. De manera comparada, el Emotional Intelligence Test (EMI-T), ideado para la evaluación inicial en formato digital de la selección de estudiantes de enfermería en modalidad presencial, presenta correlaciones claramente inferiores (0.21 < r < 0.27) (Pienimaa et al, 2023).…”

“…Aunque la fiabilidad de CLEO-U sea adecuada en su primera versión, se debería considerar la incorporación de nuevos ítems (adaptados unos de los modelos de referencia en presencial, y concebidos otros ad hoc para la formación online), lo que pudiera suponer un incremento de la fiabilidad del instrumento (Abad et al, 2015) a la vez que favorecer un mejor ajuste del constructo en cuestión. Además, también se debieran realizar nuevos estudios en distintos focus groups para así contar con una más amplia validación de la herramienta (Pienimaa et al, 2023)…”