Assessing the Measurement Model of Malaysian Students’ Ability on Emotional Intelligence When Dealing With Covid-19 Pandemic by Using Confirmatory Factor Analysis

Abstract

    The purpose of this exploratory study is to examine the emotional intelligence of university students as well as to investigate the influence on students’ emotional intelligent ability during the Covid-19 pandemic. A survey was conducted utilising a self-administered questionnaire as part of the study. The sample consisted of 300 undergraduate students who were enrolled at a public university located on students from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. at the time of the study. To evaluate the undergraduate students' emotional intelligence, we used the Schutte Emotional Intelligence Scale (SEIS), while the Student Attitude Scale was used to evaluate their attitudes. For the purpose of determining the factorial validity of the Emotional Intelligence construct, a Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) model was employed. It was discovered that emotional intelligence had only a somewhat favourable influence on dealing with Covid-19. Results from the regression analysis, particularly the relative weight analysis using the structural equation model (AMOS-26), revealed significant incremental variance in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, it is warranted for university students at the undergraduate level to play a role in responding to the pandemic with better psychological performance using emotional intelligence.