Table 7.
Review of selected studies on psychometric properties of the STEU and STEM.
| Citation and country | Participants (N, age, occupation, gender ratio etc.) | Study design | Reliability and validity evidence | Critique/limitations |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| STEU and STEM MacCann and Roberts (2008) Australia |
Non clinical Study 1: N = 207 Sample: Psychology undergraduate students. Participants were drawn from both a rural campus and urban campus of Sydney University. Gender: 140 female. Age: Average age was 21.1 years. Study 2: N = 149 Sample: Volunteers recruited from the Sydney area via advertising. Gender: 107 females. Age: Aged 18–59 with an average age of 35 years. Education: 68% of the sample had postsecondary school qualifications. |
Study 1—Quasi-experimental design using self-rated scenario questionnaires in which 2 groups of participants completed two different tests. Three emotion-related criteria were also used in the study including alexithymia, life satisfaction and academic achievement. Additional measures were used to test the validity and reliability of the scale including personality and depression and anxiety. Items for the STEU were developed using Roseman's (2001) emotional appraisal theory. Items for STEM were developed through semi-structured interviews assessing emotional situations individuals had recently experienced. The items were then tested on 2 groups: undergraduate students and a community sample. |
Internal consistency: Study 1—Cronbach's alpha for the STEU was 0.71, STEM (multiple choice) was 0.68 and STEM (rate the extent) was 0.92. Study 2—Cronbach's alpha for the STEU was 0.42 and STEM (30 item) was 0.61. Construct validity: Relationships were established between STEU/STEM and vocabulary and university grades. Study 2—The STEU correlated with Anxiety (r = −0.25, p < 0.01) and Stress (r = −0.17, p < 0.05), but not with Depression (r = −0.15, ns). The STEM correlated with Anxiety (r = −0.27, p < 0.01), Stress (r = −0.26, p < 0.01), and Depression (r = −0.17, p < 0.05). Predictive validity: Both the STEU and STEM incrementally predicted students' psychology grades, and the STEU also incrementally predicted students' overall grades. |
The validation had some issues. Further validation of the measures is need such as against the full MSCEIT scale. The author suggests that a video or audio based version (rather than text) would also be useful to determine whether relationships of EI to intelligence are due to cognitive processing of emotional information rather than to the verbal ability required to comprehend the text-based items. |
| Austin (2010) UK |
Non clinical N = 339 Sample: Undergraduate students Gender: 238 females, 101 males. Age: Average age was 21.96 years. |
The aim of the research was to assess the STEM and STEU measures against other ability measures such as MSCEIT. Participants were recruited via a website advertising research participation. Participant were divided into 2 groups (G1 = 104; G2 = 135) and completed a number of different EI ability measures with group 1 also being assessed on the TEIQue EI trait measure. |
Internal consistency: Cronbach's alpha for STEM was 0.67 and 0.48 for STEU. | The study used an undergraduate student sample therefore generalizability to the working population may be limited. The reliability for the STEM was considered adequate however the reliability for the STEU was quite low, especially when compared to the MSCEIT Cronbach's alpha of 0.90 shown in the study. |
| Grant (2013) USA |
Non clinical N = 100 Sample: employees at an optometry company headquarters. Positions: managers (25%), patient services representatives (19%), optical consultants and sales representatives (18%), technicians (17%), doctors (14%) and administration staff (7%). Gender: 77% were female. Age: average age was 33 years. Tenure: average tenure in the organization was 4.21 years and in their current position of 3.95 years. Education: The majority had attended college (71%) and the remaining employees had attended high school (14%) or graduate school (15%). |
Self-report questionnaire design. Emails were sent to all 209 full-time employees which provided a link to an initial survey containing self-report measures of emotional labor strategies and personality traits. Once completed a second survey was sent assessing emotion regulation (EI) knowledge (on average completed 3 weeks later). Employees were assessed on their emotional regulation knowledge (measured by STEM), as well as measures such as emotional labor strategies, voice and performance evaluation, helping and extraversion. |
Internal consistency: Cronbach's alpha for the STEM was reported at 0.73. | Due to the correlational nature of the study, it makes it difficult to rule out alternative explanations for the relationships or to predict causality. Additionally, because the employees were tested for their emotional regulation knowledge (STEM) after the other constructs, this may influence the causality direction or relationship. Contextual factors were also not measured in the study that may impact the emotional regulation knowledge and strategies. Self-report measure. |
Note some of the studies reviewed in this table utilize student samples. As specified in the inclusion criteria section we targeted non-student samples and only utilized student samples where others were not available or not appropriate.