This study, which
adopts an eclectic and holistic viewpoint, attempts to develop and test an
instrument to measure the emotional intelligence of international
students. Purposive sampling techniques
of greatest variation were used to collect data from a sample of international
undergraduate students (n=1560) enrolled in five Turkish state
universities. Two distinct groups of
international students participated in the analyses, which were carried out in
two successive phases. Exploratory
factor analysis (EFA) was used to find factor structure after a thorough data
clean-up and preliminary assessments for the assumptions of normality and
reliability. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used in the second step to
validate the scale structure that EFA had shown. The Emotional Intelligence Scale for
International Students' construct validity, model fit, and factor reliability
are all confirmed by the outcomes of a thorough and iterative scale development
procedure. As a multi-dimensional tool, the scale has 25 items on a five-point
Likert scale, with three factors labelled as understanding and regulation of
emotion, utilization of emotion and social awareness. The study includes the
scale's final form with psychometric properties, along with implications and
constraints for further research.
