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Spectra Undergraduate Research Journal

Category

Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences > Psychology > Emotional Intelligence

Received

May 24, 2022

Accepted

August 19, 2022

Published

August 31, 2022

Authors

Fitsum A. Ayele (FAA)1*, Orei Z. Odents (OZO)1, & Kimberly A. Barchard, Ph.D. (KAB)1

Author Affiliations

1Department of Psychology, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Las Vegas, NV, USA.

Corresponding Author

*Fitsum A. Ayele, fitsum.ayele14@gmail.com

Corresponding Author ORCID iD

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9411-8074

Author Contributions

FAA: Conceptualization, formal analysis, funding acquisition, methodology, resources, original draft writing, reviewing and editing, and visualization.

OZO: Conceptualization, formal analysis, resources, review and editing, and visualization.

KAB: Conceptualization, data curation, formal analysis, investigation, methodology, project administration, and review and editing.

Data Availability Statement

This data is confidential and secured on a closed server.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Ethical Considerations

This study was approved by the University of Nevada, Las Vegas Institutional Review Board for the use of human subjects. The study involved only minimal risk and no adverse consequences were expected as a result of participation.

Funding

This research was funded by the McNair Scholar’s Summer Research Institute.

Abstract

Meta-mood experience refers to the thoughts and feelings that serve to monitor, evaluate, and at times change mood. The Trait Meta-Mood Scale (TMMS) was designed to gauge meta-mood experience along three factors: Attention, Clarity, and Repair. Previous factor analyses have verified this three-factor structure. However, one study by Palmer and colleagues found strong support for a four-factor structure. In light of this discrepancy, the present study aimed to replicate Palmer and colleagues’ study in a new sample, comparing the models they used to determine which is best-fitting. We also aimed to correct the effect of data point censoring when estimating the factor models. Data point censoring occurs when researchers have only partial information about the value of a variable. Because no previous research has explored the TMMS while accounting for potential censoring, we aimed to test this idea in the current sample. A total of 202 undergraduates completed the TMMS during an online study. To compare the models, we relied on Akaike’s Information Criterion (AIC) and Bayesian Information Criterion (BIC). Results revealed that the four-factor model fit the data better than the three- and one-factor models tested. In the four-factor model, the first three factors corresponded to the previous Attention, Clarity, and Repair factors. We named the fourth factor Emotional Resilience because the items loading on this factor suggested resistance to negative emotional experiences. We suggest TMMS users calculate scale scores based on all four of these factors to provide a more detailed description of meta-mood experience.

Keywords

Emotional intelligence, meta-mood, Trait Meta-Mood Scale, factor structure, censoring, CFA

Submission Type

Primary research article

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