Measuring emotions during epistemic activities: Psychometric validation of the Persian epistemic emotions scale

Abstract

As there are not enough measurement instruments to assess emotions during epistemic activities, this research aimed to evaluate the psychometric properties of the epistemic emotions scale among speakers of the Persian language. The scale has previously been used and studied in different cultural contexts. The present study sought to expand the application of this scale in the Iranian context. A total of 1153 students (58.6% women) within the age range of 17 to 29 years participated in this study. The mean and standard deviation of the age of the participants were 21.63 and 2.24, respectively. The data collection tools in this study were the Epistemic Emotions Scale, the Achievement Emotions Questionnaire, the Academic Buoyancy Scale, and the Academic Satisfaction Scale. CFA was performed to test the factorial structure (?2 = 1895.96, df = 394, GFI = .86, CFI = .97, IFI = .97, NFI = .97, NNFI = .96, SRMR = .069, and RMSEA = .086) and its validity and reliability were also evaluated. The seven-factor model of the Epistemic Emotions Scale was the same as that of the original scale version, and the Epistemic Emotions Scale showed good internal consistency with Cronbach's alpha for this scale ranging from .85 to .88.. The results showed that the EES scores also correlated in expected directions with measures of related constructs included in this study thus also supporting the external validity of this version of the scale. We can conclude that the Epistemic Emotions Scale is a valid and reliable tool for measuring students' epistemic emotions, and as a result, researchers can use this tool for research purposes.