Can social intelligence be measured? Psychometric properties of the Tromsø Social Intelligence Scale – English Version

Abstract

Despite its intuitive appeal as a construct relevant to a number of psychological outcomes, adequate operationalisation of social intelligence has been problematic for researchers. This research aimed to extend the understanding of the measurement of social intelligence by investigating the psychometric properties of the English version of Tromso Social Intelligence Scale by Silvera, Martinussen and Dahl. Factor analysis (N=328; Maximum Likelihood with Promax rotation) revealed three clear factors that paralleled the original Norwegian measure: social skills, social information processing and social awareness. Construct validity was also examined (N=116). As predicted, social intelligence was strongly and significantly related to political skill, emotional intelligence (EI) and empathy in both males and females. In addition, as predicted, there were weak relationships with social desirability; however, for males, there was no relationship between social intelligence and social desirability. Internal relia...