Arabic Emotional Creativity Scale Proves Reliable for Egyptian University Students

A shortened questionnaire designed to measure how creatively people experience and express emotions has been validated for use in Egypt, according to a study published in Scientific Reports. Researchers tested the Shortened Emotional Creativity Inventory (ECI-S) in an Arabic version with 1,084 undergraduate and postgraduate students drawn from several Egyptian universities, who completed the survey online. The results support the instrument's hypothesized three-dimensional structure and its internal consistency within this population.

To confirm that the Egyptian Arabic version preserves this structure, the team used confirmatory factor analysis, a statistical technique that tests whether observed responses fit a predefined model of latent traits. The three-factor model showed acceptable fit, with a comparative fit index of 0.953, a Tucker-Lewis index of 0.949, a standardized root mean square residual of 0.067, and a root mean square error of approximation of 0.012 with a 90% confidence interval of 0.000 to 0.028. Every item loaded significantly on its intended latent factor, providing evidence of factorial validity.

Reliability was evaluated using McDonald's omega coefficients, which indicated satisfactory internal consistency for each of the three subscales and for the total score. In addition, the subdimensions correlated substantially with the overall emotional creativity score, which the authors cite as further evidence of the scale's structural coherence. The study's scope and limitations are worth noting.

The findings apply to the Egyptian Arabic version of the ECI-S within the sampled university population; the authors state that the results support factorial validity and internal consistency in the current sample rather than establishing broader generalizability. The evaluation relied on self-reported online responses, and the analysis addressed measurement properties rather than testing any intervention or outcome. The authors suggest the scale can now be used in studies of emotional creativity among Egyptian students, with the caveat that conclusions from such studies will rest on the measurement quality demonstrated here.

Subject of Research: Psychometric validation of the Shortened Emotional Creativity Inventory among Egyptian university students

Article Title: Psychometric validation of the emotional creativity inventory in an Egyptian context

Article References: Helali, M. M., Elwakeel, S. A., Elharony, S. M., Abdelshafy, E. E., Aldawsari, H. K., Bukhamseen, A. M., Aboud, Y. Z., & Abdel-Sattar, R. M. (2026). Psychometric validation of the emotional creativity inventory in an Egyptian context. Scientific Reports. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-77814-w

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.1038/s41598-026-77814-w

Keywords: emotional creativity, psychometrics, confirmatory factor analysis, ECI-S, Arabic validation, Egyptian university students, McDonald's omega, reliability, factorial validity, Scientific Reports, Psychometric, validation