Emotional intelligence (EI) in organisations has grown immensely over the past two decades. Considerable research regarding this concept and the advantages it poses for the individual as well as the organisation has been conducted; however, one aspect that has not been explored sufficiently is the extent to which EI can be viewed as a culturally relevant concept. The presumption that emotions can be explained in the same way across different culture cannot be made; therefore measuring EI across cultures becomes important and challenging. Language can be viewed as a vehicle of culture, and emotions are shaped by the language spoken in the specific culture. A quantitative research design was used in this study. The sample consisted of mid-level miners from the Gauteng and North West Province (N = 357). Stratified sampling was used to include the West-Germanic (English and Afrikaans; n = 158) and Sotho group (North Sotho, South Sotho, and Setswana; n = 199). Questionnaires were distributed amongst the participants from the different mines, were completed within a set time, and collected immediately afterwards. The first objective of the study was to determine whether the Greek Emotional Intelligence Scale (GEIS) is a reliable test when measuring West-Germanic (English and Afrikaans) and Sotho (Northern Sotho, Southern Sotho, and Setswana) languages. A four-factor model on the combined sample as well as the two language groups was tested. The four factor model of the West-Germanic group showed poor alphas. (Expression and Recognition of Emotions = 0.66; Caring and Empathy = 0.63; Control of Emotions = 0.80 and Use of Emotions to Facilitate Thinking = 0.62.) Several items from the expression and recognition scale cross-loaded on the other three factors, and it was decided to test a three-factor model. The three factor model indicated the best goodness-of-fit indices and showed acceptable alpha coefficients (Use of Emotion to Facilitate Thinking = 0.83; Caring and Empathy = 0.83 and Control of Emotions = 0.77). The second objective was to determine if the Greek Emotional Intelligence Scale is an equivalent measuring instrument when measuring the West-Germanic (English and Afrikaans) and Sotho (Northern Sotho, Southern Sotho, and Setswana) languages. Goodness-of-fit was tested on the total population as well as the two language family groups. The four factors are Expression and Recognition of Emotions, Caring and Empathy, Control of Emotions and Use of Emotions. The model indices (GFI, CFI and RMSEA) were satisfactory on the total population as well as the Sotho groups, but there were problems noted when testing the goodness-of-fit for the West- Germanic language group. It was therefore decided to test a three factor model (Use of Emotions, Caring and Empathy and Control of Emotions). These problems could possibly be explained by the cultural differences between the two language groups. The final research objective was to investigate whether the items of the Greek Emotional Intelligence Scale are unbiased when measuring West-Germanic (English and Afrikaans) and Sotho (Northern Sotho, Southern Sotho, and Setswana) languages. Firstly, ANOVAS were produced to determine the mean differences between the groups. There weren’t many differences, indicating none or little biasness between the groups. Then, the uniform and non-uniform biasness was tested by means of Ordinal Logistic Regression to asses Differential Item Functioning. The majority of the items did not have both uniform and non-uniform biasness. The few that did however, (41, 37, 36, 14 and 18) can be explained by the different ways in which cultures interpret emotions as proven in the literature. Recommendations were made for future research. / Thesis (MCom (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013

Emotional intelligence (EI) in organisations has grown immensely over the past two decades. Considerable research regarding this concept and the advantages it poses for the individual as well as the organisation has been conducted; however, one aspect that has not been explored sufficiently is the extent to which EI can be viewed as a culturally relevant concept. The presumption that emotions can be explained in the same way across different culture cannot be made; therefore measuring EI across cultures becomes important and challenging. Language can be viewed as a vehicle of culture, and emotions are shaped by the language spoken in the specific culture. A quantitative research design was used in this study. The sample consisted of mid-level miners from the Gauteng and North West Province (N = 357). Stratified sampling was used to include the West-Germanic (English and Afrikaans; n = 158) and Sotho group (North Sotho, South Sotho, and Setswana; n = 199). Questionnaires were distributed amongst the participants from the different mines, were completed within a set time, and collected immediately afterwards. The first objective of the study was to determine whether the Greek Emotional Intelligence Scale (GEIS) is a reliable test when measuring West-Germanic (English and Afrikaans) and Sotho (Northern Sotho, Southern Sotho, and Setswana) languages. A four-factor model on the combined sample as well as the two language groups was tested. The four factor model of the West-Germanic group showed poor alphas. (Expression and Recognition of Emotions = 0.66; Caring and Empathy = 0.63; Control of Emotions = 0.80 and Use of Emotions to Facilitate Thinking = 0.62.) Several items from the expression and recognition scale cross-loaded on the other three factors, and it was decided to test a three-factor model. The three factor model indicated the best goodness-of-fit indices and showed acceptable alpha coefficients (Use of Emotion to Facilitate Thinking = 0.83; Caring and Empathy = 0.83 and Control of Emotions = 0.77). The second objective was to determine if the Greek Emotional Intelligence Scale is an equivalent measuring instrument when measuring the West-Germanic (English and Afrikaans) and Sotho (Northern Sotho, Southern Sotho, and Setswana) languages. Goodness-of-fit was tested on the total population as well as the two language family groups. The four factors are Expression and Recognition of Emotions, Caring and Empathy, Control of Emotions and Use of Emotions. The model indices (GFI, CFI and RMSEA) were satisfactory on the total population as well as the Sotho groups, but there were problems noted when testing the goodness-of-fit for the West- Germanic language group. It was therefore decided to test a three factor model (Use of Emotions, Caring and Empathy and Control of Emotions). These problems could possibly be explained by the cultural differences between the two language groups. The final research objective was to investigate whether the items of the Greek Emotional Intelligence Scale are unbiased when measuring West-Germanic (English and Afrikaans) and Sotho (Northern Sotho, Southern Sotho, and Setswana) languages. Firstly, ANOVAS were produced to determine the mean differences between the groups. There weren’t many differences, indicating none or little biasness between the groups. Then, the uniform and non-uniform biasness was tested by means of Ordinal Logistic Regression to asses Differential Item Functioning. The majority of the items did not have both uniform and non-uniform biasness. The few that did however, (41, 37, 36, 14 and 18) can be explained by the different ways in which cultures interpret emotions as proven in the literature. Recommendations were made for future research. / Thesis (MCom (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013