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Emotional intelligence scale for medical students

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original A rticle

Emotional intelligence scale for medical students

Kalpana Srivastava,
Saumya Joshi1,
Arkojyoti Raichaudhuri1,
VSSR Ryali2, P. S. Bhat2,
R. Shashikumar2,
J. Prakash2, D. Basannar3
Department of Psychiatry,
Scientist 'F', 1Student,
2
Psychiatry, 3Preventive and
Social Medicine, Scientist 'E',
Armed Forces Medical College,
Pune, Maharashtra, India
Address for correspondence:
Dr. Kalpana Srivastava,
Department of Psychiatry,
Scientist ‘F‘ AFMC, Pune,
Maharashtra, India.
E-mail: kalpanasrivastava@
hotmail.com
A b s t r a c t
Background: Emotional Intelligence has been associated with positive outcome process
in varied professions. There is paucity of Indian literature on the subject; especially
involving medical undergraduates; and presently there is no scale available to measure
the same in the Indian scenario. Objective: To develop a scale to measure Emotional
Intelligence among medical undergraduates. Materials and Methods: Four domains of
Emotional intelligence were selected, viz. Self-Awareness, Self-Management, Social-
Awareness & Social-Skills and these were included for the purpose of domains of the
scale. On the basis of focused group discussions and in-depth deliberations with experts,
undergraduate and postgraduate medical students a pool of 50 items was generated. The
items were reduced to 27 based on expert consensus and on the basis of frequency of
endorsement by expert reviews. It was followed by a pilot study of 50 undergraduates.
This completed the preparation of the preliminary draft based on content analysis.
The questionnaire was then administered in 480 students and the data was analyzed
by appropriate statistical methods. For the purpose of concurrent validity, emotional
intelligence scale developed by Dr. Ekta was used. Results: The Cronbach’s Alpha for
Internal Consistency Reliability was 0.68. The EIS had a significant correlation with social
awareness domain of Emotional Intelligence Test (EIT) establishing Concurrent Validity.
Conclusion: Emotional Intelligence Scale for medical undergraduates was constructed.
Reliability and concurrent validity were also established for the same.
Keywords: Emotional intelligence, medical undergraduates, assessment

I mportance of Emotional Intelligence is increasingly

being recognized and assessed across various
professions. Managing emotions in social contexts are
of others, for motivating ourselves, and for managing
emotions both in us and in our relationships”.[5]

clearly important for success in a variety of interpersonal
as well as career-related domains.[1] According to much
recent academic work, a good deal or our successes and
failures in life are not attributable to our cognitive abilities
as measured by tests of IQ, but, rather are attributable
to our abilities to form and maintain social relationships,
portray ourselves positively, and manipulate how others
perceive us.[2,3] Those who lack such understanding may
be said to lack Emotional Intelligence (EI), a type of
intelligence that may be more important in reaching
one’s goals than traditional intelligence as measured by
tests of IQ.[4]
Goleman has defined Emotional Intelligence as “the
capacity of recognizing our own feelings and those
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Website: www.industrialpsychiatry.org
DOI: 10.4103/0972-6748.98413
The Emotional Competence Inventory (ECI) was
developed by Boyatzis et al.[6] ECI defines emotional
intelligence as, “the capacity for recognizing our own
feelings, and those of others, for motivating ourselves
and for managing emotions well in ourselves and our
relationships”. The ECI measures four aspects of
emotional intelligence, Self-Awareness, Self-Management,
Social-Awareness and Social-Skills. Accordingly these four
domains were considered relevant for the construct of
measuring emotional intelligence.
Students with higher trait EI are more likely to experience
stress during unfamiliar surgical scenarios but are also more
likely to recover better compared with their lower-trait-EI
peers. Trait EI has implications for the design of effective
stress management training tailored to individual needs
and potential applications to surgical trainee selection and
development.[7] Emotional intelligence (EI) is a type of
social intelligence that involves monitoring, discriminating
between and using emotions to guide thinking and actions.
EI is related to interpersonal and communication skills,
and is important in the assessment and training of medical
undergraduates.[8]

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Srivastava, et al.: Emotional intelligence scale
The selective processing of information remains central
to the concept of emotional intelligence and facilitates
patient care. But since the introduction of the concept
of EI, attempt has been made to measure the EI of
undergraduate medical students. The most recent index
which researchers have developed is the Mayer-Salovey-
Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test.[9] This test, which
provides 4 scores, is based on their revised model of EI,
which includes four 'branches' or abilities that are that are
described as emotional identification or perception, use of
emotions to facilitate thinking, understanding emotions
and managing emotions. Scores on the MSCEIT are
interpreted such that high scores represent the degree to
which participants answers mirror scores that are reflective
of the group (or expert) consensus. Other El frameworks
conceptualize and measure this construct as a combination
of mental abilities and personality traits. For instance,
Bar-On (current volume) conceptualizes EI as comprising
multiple dispositions relevant to emotional functioning,
such as optimism and empathy. The Emotional Quotient
Inventory (EQ-i) is designed to assess these dispositions
using self-report methods.[10] The base to construct this
test is provided by a joint self-report/observer rating scale,
the Emotional Competence Inventory better known as
ECI. ECI defines emotional intelligence as, “the capacity
for recognizing our own feelings, and those of others, for
motivating ourselves and for managing emotions well in
ourselves and our relationships”.[11] The ECI measures four
aspects of emotional intelligence, firstly self-awareness,
secondly self-management, thirdly social-awareness and
lastly social-skills. Presently there is no scale available to
measure the EI of medical undergraduates in the Indian
scenario. Some related studies are-Medical Students
Stressor Questionnaire by Dr. Sathidevi VK.[12] Emotional
Inventory Test (EIT) by Dr. Ekta Sharma.[13] Hence in
the background of absence of standard measure among
medical students, study was planned to develop the tool
of assessment of emotional Intelligence among medical
students and to develop a scale to measure Emotional
Intelligence among medical undergraduates. The present
study was planned to focus and evaluate the relevance of
EI as higher mental ability in medical students. Today all
over the world medical education has become sophisticated
enough to encompass numerous positive and negative
challenges.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
The preliminary development of scale followed the stages
to identify constructs based on theory of emotional
intelligence, item generation around those constructs
expert validation and development of questionnaire
after pilot study. As this was meant for undergraduate
Jan-Jun 2011 | Vol 20 | Issue 1 40
medical students the items were generated keeping in view
relevance of medical situation. Initially sample for pilot
study comprised of 50 students of first term including
male and female students. Sample for final administration
comprised of 480 undergraduate medical students (378
male students and 102 female students) of five consecutive
batches of Medical College. Informed consent was
obtained and those willing, participated in the study. The
items for assessment were generated centering around
the construct of four domains of emotional Intelligence
Scale namely Self-Awareness, Self-management, Social
awareness, Social Skills. Those who did not give consent
and students in irregular batches were excluded from study.
The Emotional Intelligence Scale (EIS) having 30 items was
Constructed. The theoretical background of the construct
was derived from Emotional Competence Inventory better
known as ECI. The Emotional Intelligence Scale (EIS)
addressed four domain of emotional intelligence, namely,
Self-Awareness, Self-Management, Social-Awareness and
Social-Skills. Accordingly these four domains were selected
for the construct.
Self-Awareness is considered to be having clear
perception of personality, including strengths, weaknesses,
thoughts, beliefs, motivation, and emotions. (1,10,18,19,
20,22,26)
Self-Management refers to methods, skills, and strategies
by which individuals can effectively direct their own
activities toward the achievement and includes goal setting.
Ability to handle situations which challenge interpersonal
relationships (6,8,11,13,14,16,25)
Social-Awareness the competencies associated with
being socially aware are, understanding the other
person’s emotions, needs and concern and the ability to
understand and meet the needs of others. Ability to take
decisions in situations demanding prioritization. (3,4,7,24,
27,28,29)
Social-Skills is any skill facilitating interaction and
communication with others. Ability to tolerate differences
and rejections in interpersonal situations (9,12,15,
17,21,23)
Item generation
The basis of item generation was formed by literature
review and various qualitative sources. A focused group
discussion was conducted with 30 undergraduate students.
In addition in-depth interviews of 10 postgraduate students
in the Department of Psychiatry were taken. Respondents
were requested to limit their suggestions to common
situations faced by medical undergraduates in personal and
professional sphere of life. Subsequently expert opinion
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Srivastava, et al.: Emotional intelligence scale

on the matter was obtained. Pool of 50 items was thus Scoring pattern: The total score ranges between 27 and
generated. These items were in the form of questions 108. A score below and equal to 47 is High Emotional
and options were generated around that situation. On the Intelligence, a score more than 47 but less than equal to
basis of the frequency of endorsement by expert reviews; 58 indicates Average Emotional Intelligence and a score
the items were reduced to 27. This was done for content more than 58 denotes Below Average Emotional
validation. The experts were requested to evaluate each Intelligence.
of the items in terms of their relevance to measure the
desired dimension as a part of the concept and domain RESULTS
of emotional intelligence.
Data was analyzed using SPSS version 17. Socio-
Suitable buffer questions were added to make a total of 30 demographic details are given in table [Table 1]. Mean and
items. Out of these 30 items, 22 were situational analysis standard deviations were calculated [Table 2]. Here lower
type of questions related with the usual situations faced
by students of undergraduate age group in a medical
120
college. Out of them, 5 questions were based upon medical
situations commonly faced by medical students in OPDs,
100
wards and ICUs. The items were worded considering the
reading level of the respondents avoiding ambiguity and
80
jargons. Finally, on the basis of frequency distribution

Frequency
and discrimination options were selected on likert type
rating scale. Each question had four options which are 60

having scores from 1 to 4. Choosing option with score

1 is the best response and 4 is the worst. Thus lower the 40

score better is the EI. The score was decided on the basis Mean = 54.52
Std. dev. = 6.764
of expert validation. This completed the preparation of 20
N = 480

the preliminary draft. First draft including 30 items was

prepared and administered to a sample of thirty students 0
50 75 100
for the purpose of pilot study. The questionnaire was Total score

then administered in 480 students and analyzed using Figure 1: Histogram showing distribution of data following a normal
appropriate statistical methods. Buffer questions were curve
also added but they were not included as part of the final
scoring. Construct validity was established by consulting
expert in the field. The items were deleted /modified as
required and suggested by experts.

Content Validity was established by expert opinion.

The Emotional Intelligence Test (EIT) developed by
Dr. Ekta Sharma was administered on 127 students and
EIS was also administered on same. The domain scores
of social awareness of EIS had a significant correlation
with EIT in social awareness domain. Total score did
not correlate as the items defining other domains were Figure 2: Self awareness - Bland Altman analysis between two tools
supposedly different, so as to match the requirement of
medical situation. In the statistical analysis lower score
is considered to be better. However for the purpose of
computing concurrent validity the EIT questionnaire by
Dr. Ekta Sharma was administered on 127 students and
scores of the present tool are reversed for the purpose of
compatibility of correlation between the two scales. Here
higher score is considered better. The data was analyzed
by Bland Altman Reliability Analysis. Correlations were
done domain wise for all four domains. Results are shown
in Figures 1-5. Figure 3: Self management - Bland Altman analysis between two tools

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Srivastava, et al.: Emotional intelligence scale

score was considered to be depicting good oral intelligence.

Reliability statistics: Internal Consistency is estimated by
Cronbach’s Alpha which came to be 0.632.

Age ranged from 17 to 25 years with mean age of 20.08

years.

ITEM DESCRIPTION
Figure 4: Social awareness - Bland Altman analysis
S. no. Domains No. of Question no.
items
1 Self awareness 7 1, 10, 18, 19, 20, 22, 26
2 Self management 7 6, 8, 11, 13, 14, 16, 25
3 Social awareness 7 3, 4, 7, 24, 27, 28, 29
4 Social skills 6 9, 12, 15, 17, 21, 23
5 Buffer questions 3 2, 5, 30
DISCUSSION

Emotional Intelligence has been considered to be playing

an important role in deciding success across varied
professions. High emotional Intelligence is considered to
be helpful in coping with problem situation. Emotional Figure 5: Social skills - Bland Altman analysis
Intelligence facilitates coping with negative emotions evoked
in stressful situation. It is found that people with higher Table 1: Sample characteristics
emotional intelligence tend to solve problem willingly.[14] Male 378
Hence, authors planned to assess emotional Intelligence Female 102
in the context of medical education . In the present study Total 480
questionnaire was developed with the help of experts, which
included situations centering on medical conditions. Total
Table 2: Four domains of EIS
sample comprised of 480 students. Among them 102 were
Self_AW Self_ MAN Social_AW Social_SK
females and 378 were males. Mean age of the sample was
Correlation
20.08 years. Reliability of these parameters is illustrated by
Self_AW 1.000 0.092 0.317 0.119
Cronbach’s Alfa [Table 3]. Mean value of four domains
Self_MAN 0.092 1.000 0.161 0.129
is given as under [Table 1]. Figure 1 has shown normal Social_AW 0.317 0.161 1.000 0.228
distribution of the data. Since these questions were exclusive Social_SK 0.119 0.129 0.228 1.000
to medical situation, the possible correlation between two The correlation between social awareness and self-awareness is i.e. 0.317. Which is
scales was not very good. Only social awareness showed good still low. However correlation between components should not be high as they are
measuring different subsets; EIS - Emotional intelligence scale
correlation between EIS and EIT [Figures 2-5]. Principal
Component’s analysis to identify the likely components or was actually not possible as there is no tool available
factors elicited loading on the 4 factors [Table 4]. There is a having content of medical situations, however construct
need to further modify the scale with added questions. The was analyzed and EIT was administered which revealed
scale is needed to be administered on larger sample. The moderate level of correlation between social awareness
correlation social awareness and self-awareness is maximum domains. The implication of emotional intelligence in
i.e. 0.317, which is still low. This is to be expected since medical training has been emphasized in other setting
when one is developing a scale the correlation between also. In fact Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical
variables(questions) of a component(factor) are to be high Education's Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio,
while the correlation between the components should not has identified six general competencies of professionalism.
be high. The relevance of having evaluated the emotional Professionalism is taught experientially through role
Intelligence construct among medical students cannot be modeling, which might have certain shortcomings. Authors
overemphasized. Present scale is the preliminary attempt proposed the model of emotional intelligence (EI) to define
in this direction. In fact internal consistency of the items key elements of professionalism and as the basis for their
was noted to be at moderate level. Concurrent validity proposed curriculum for teaching professionalism. EI is

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Table 3: Emotional intelligence scale

Mean Median Mode Std. deviation Skewness Std. error of skewness N
54.52 54.0 54 6.764 2.247 0.111 480
Self-awareness 13.90 14.0 13 3.098 0.384 0.111 480
Self-management 13.51 13.0 13 2.625 0.831 0.111 480
Social-awareness 11.72 12.0 11 2.156 0.760 0.111 480
Social-skills 11.04 11.0 11 2.247 0.642 0.111 480

Table 4: Rotated factor matrix(a)

Raw factor Rescaled factor
1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4
q14 0.417 -0.044 -0.221 0.088 0.481 -0.051 -0.255 0.101
q10 0.463 -0.257 0.114 -0.069 0.480 -0.266 0.118 -0.071
q15 0.268 -0.0027 0.025 -0.050 0.393 -0.040 0.036 -0.073
q16 0.319 0.116 -0.036 0.146 0.387 0.140 -0.043 0.177
q19 0.377 0.241 -0.054 0.001 0.375 0.240 -0.054 0.001
q11 0.229 0.024 -0.011 -0.025 0.352 0.036 -0.016 -0.039
q20 0.423 0.049 -0.103 0.170 0.348 0.040 -0.084 0.140
q17 0.196 0.164 0.049 0.012 0.337 0.282 0.083 0.021
q18 0.346 0.305 -0.229 -0.008 0.296 0.261 -0.196 -0.007
q9 0.196 0.052 0.031 -0.013 0.256 0.068 0.041 -0.016
q27 0.181 0.115 0.077 0.000 0.221 0.141 0.095 0.000
q7 0.120 0.065 0.106 0.112 0.193 0.105 0.170 0.180
q26 0.224 -0.029 -0.142 -0.184 0.179 -0.024 -0.114 -0.148
q13 0.208 0.210 0.025 -0.004 0.319 0.321 0.038 -0.006
q29 -0.014 0.279 -0.128 -0.077 -0.014 0.285 -0.131 -0.079
q23 0.009 0.191 0.068 0.178 0.011 0.223 0.079 0.207
q22 -0.009 0.209 0.023 0.061 -0.009 0.205 0.022 0.059
q24 0.076 0.181 0.037 -0.008 0.081 0.195 0.040 -0.009
q3 -0.110 -0.056 0.291 0.013 -0.112 -0.057 0.296 0.013
q28 0.095 -0.011 0.269 -0.251 0.090 -0.010 0.254 -0.237
q25 0.025 0.050 0.238 -0.019 0.027 0.053 0.252 -0.021
q12 -0.132 -0.008 0.217 -0.016 -0.129 -0.008 0.212 -0.016
q6 0.059 0.000 0.117 0.070 0.106 -0.001 0.210 0.126
q4 0.152 0.144 0.182 0.034 0.154 0.145 0.184 0.034
q8 -0.073 0.079 0.020 -0.530 -0.052 0.056 0.014 -0.376
q21 0.020 0.002 -0.040 0.320 0.016 0.002 -0.031 0.247
q1 0.038 -0.054 -0.044 -0.084 0.056 -0.080 -0.065 -0.125
Extraction method: Principal axis factoring. Rotation method: Varimax with Kaiser Normalization. Rotation converged in 6 iterations. Q no 1,4,6,7,8,9,10 do not appear to be
loading on the 4 factors hypothesized. There is a need to further develop the scale with added questions

a well-developed construct and consists of four types of
abilities: emotional self-awareness, self-management, social
awareness, and relationship management. EI abilities may
be a useful way of developing curricula for the critical
professionalism competency. [15] However, in Indian
scenario it has not been included as a part of training
as an explicit module, though integral training of roles
and responsibilities of a doctor might be instrumental in
teaching this. Interestingly different tools have been used
to assess Emotional Intelligence. However, specific tool is
not available. Hence, this may be relevant in this context.
Medical postgraduates (150) from tertiary care hospital were
assessed on emotional quotient self-assessment checklist
and Multidimensional empathy Scale and Clinical Anger
Scale were also administered authors found more than 70%
had poor emotional intelligence. Good control of emotions
was associated with good relationship with superiors and
colleagues.[16] The studies have used varied assessment
procedures of emotional intelligence among undergraduates
and post graduates. However, in particular tool to measure
the same is not available.
Current work is the preliminary attempt in the direction
of developing the scale for assessment of emotional
intelligence among medical students. The preliminary level
draft is prepared for the same; further modifications may
be done to include larger sample size and elaborate details
in future study.

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Srivastava, et al.: Emotional intelligence scale
Acknowledgments
Authors are grateful to Dr. S. L. Jadhav, Professor Department
of Community Medicine, DY Patil Medical College, Pune, for
his technical evaluation.
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How to cite this article: Srivastava K, Joshi S, Raichaudhuri A, Ryali V,
Bhat PS, Shashikumar R, et al. Emotional intelligence scale for medical
students. Ind Psychiatry J 2011;20:39-44.
Source of Support: Nil. Conflict of Interest: None declared.
Industrial Psychiatry Journal