Emotional Intelligence of freshers at workplace: Exploring its effect on occupational stress

By Immaculate Divya Surya Lincy Sonia

Submitted For Psychometry Class Assignment

LOYOLA INSTITUTE OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION LOYOLA COLLEGE, CHENNAI

Acknowledgements

We thank our professor Fr. Emmanuel who helped us come up with questionnaire for the study undertaken. We would also like to thank our friends and classmates who took time to fill out the questionnaire.

Surya Lincy Immaculate Divya Sonia

Executive Summary

This study investigates the effect of emotional intelligence on work stress. With a sample of 200 freshers (employees with less than 2 years of experience at work), it is found that employees with higher emotional intelligence perceive less stress at work. Employees perception of stress is negatively related to their job satisfaction and organizational commitment. In addition employees with higher emotional intelligence are prone to be more satisfied with their jobs and more committed to their organization. The findings suggest that the provision of relevant training programs and selection of employees with higher EI are conducive to reducing the level of perceived stress, and thus enhancing greater job satisfaction and affective commitment on employees.

Contents Acknowledgements Executive Summary Chapter 1 Introduction and overview of project Chapter 2 Literature Review Chapter 3 Participants and Procedures Chapter 4 Data Analysis Chapter 5 Results Chapter 6 Limitations and Recommendations Appendix

Chapter 1

Introduction and Overview of the project

Emotions, as an inseparable part of everyday life, affect individuals and organizations in a profound fashion. Employees carry emotions with them working every day. The way they perceive, express and manage their emotions (i.e., their emotional intelligence) is regarded as a strong predictor of a successful life, of psychological health, and of job performance (Bar-On, 2001; Law et al., 2004; Goleman, 1995, 1998). EI incorporates a set of related psychological processes (e.g., emotional assessment, expression, and regulation), in handling the affective information (Mayer and Geher, 1996; Mayer and Salovey, 1997; Salovey and Mayer, 1990, 1994). Joseph and Newman (2010) contend that the emotion regulation process enables employees to induce and sustain a positive affective state, which subsequently promotes extra-role behavior, job motivation, and ultimately job performance.

Recent research confirms that positive emotions are important facilitators in helping individuals to recover from stressful life events (Fredrickson, 2001; Fredrickson et al., 2003; Zautra et al., 2005; Ong et al., 2006). Slaski and Cartwright (2002) maintain that individuals with higher EI tend to perceive less stress and perform better than those with lower EI.

Emotions, however, can be disruptive as they interrupt employees attention and impede organizational effectiveness. Along with the ever-changing organizational dynamics, employees face a tremendous amount of pressure to keep up with emerging, unexpected events. Organizational spontaneity might inflict a great deal of stress on them. The way individuals appraise and perceive their relationships with the environment can lead to a difference in their perceived levels of stress or negative emotions (Lazarus 1976; Slaski and Cartwright, 2002, 2003).

Chapter 2

Literature Review and Hypothesis

Base theory: We have based our study on the Taxonomic seven-factor model of emotional intelligence identified by Dr Benjamin Palmer and Professor Con Stough from Swinburne University who developed the Genos EI model based on it. The Genos definition: Emotional Intelligence (EI) is best defined as the capacity to perceive, express, understand, and manage one's own and others' emotions in an appropriate, professional, and effective manner at work. The Genos EI measures BEHAVIOR in 7 dimensions that have been determined through research to be the definitive core of EI: Emotional Self-Awareness Emotional Expression Emotional Awareness of Others Emotional Reasoning Emotional Self-Management Emotional Management of Others Emotional Self-Control

Conceptualized as an ability to perceive, understand, and regulate the emotions from others, EI is regarded as a significant factor in predicting interpersonal interactions in the work context (Mayer and Salovey, 1997; Mayer et al., 2000). In the four-branch ability model, Mayer et al. (2004) categorize the abilities and skills of EI into four dimensions: the ability to (a) perceive emotion (branch 1), (b) use emotion to facilitate thought (branch 2), (c) understand emotions, (branch 3), and (d) manage emotion (branch 4). Instead of being an Innate ability, EI is to be learned and enhanced through training (Selye, 1956; Pellitteri, 2002; Wong et al., 2004). An individual with a high EI level is proficient at regulating

personal emotions to respond appropriately towards emotional situations (Wong and Law, 2002). It is found that employees with higher EI tend to perceive a lower level of pressure, maintain better psychological health to devote them to work, and thus outperform those with lower EI (Slaski and Cartwright, 2002). EI can help people accurately recognize their own emotions and keep them in control (McBride and Maitland, 2002). According to Parkinson and Totterdell (1999), individuals will adopt different strategies to maintain their emotions in response to the affect information received through cognitive monitoring. Positive emotions are argued to have profound effects on individuals (Lyubomirsky et al., 2005; Ong et al., 2006). Fredrickson and Branigan (2005) indicate that positive emotions will promote individuals flexibility in thinking and problem solving. The experience of positive emotions may contribute to their belief of stress when they are surrounded by challenges and adversity. In addition to the effect of offsetting the immediate adverse consequences of stress, positive emotions also play an important role in recovery processes (Ong et al., 2006).

Drawing on these prior arguments, this study proposes this first hypothesis: H1: Emotional intelligence is negatively related to employees work stress

Chapter 3

Participants and Procedures Participants consisted of 200 employees working in various organizations having less than 2 years of work experience. A note was attached to each questionnaire described the objectives of the survey ingeneral terms and assured respondents of confidentiality as well as the voluntary nature of participation in the survey. The questionnaire was administered online using the tool of Google docs. Of these, we discarded returned questionnaires with excessive missing data. After the deletion of invalid responses, 179 valid copies were obtained. Participants were primarily male (62%) and single (98%), possessing bachelors degrees (77%), and 25% were in the 30 to 39 year-old age bracket. 100% of the participants had less than 2 years of work experience.

Questionnaire Design The Genos EI measures BEHAVIOR in 7 dimensions that have been determined through research to be the definitive core of EI:

Emotional Self-Awareness ( High scores indicate a frequent awareness of ones emotions at work, their causes, as well as the impacts of emotions on ones thoughts, decisions and behaviour at work) At work, I always get along with others around me I am ready to take up any job assigned to me in a group I am able to make sound decisions despite uncertainty and pressure I am aware of both my strengths and weaknesses At work, I have given up on tasks when I did not really care for them

Emotional Expression ( High scores indicate a frequent demonstration of effective emotional expression at work, such as feelings of happiness, frustration, as well as feedback to colleagues)

At work, there have been occasions where I have become angry when I have not gotten my own way

I am happy when I my boss appreciates me I will not be able to any work if my boss shouts at me I freely express my grievances to my boss At work, I have said the wrong thing to another person and not really minded

Emotional Awareness of Others (High scores indicate a frequent and accurate identification of the emotions of others at work, as well as their causes) I understand the things that make people feel optimistic at work I can find out if a colleague is not at his best I know if my boss is in a good mood or not I know if my colleague is having problems in his personal life I am attentive to emotional cues

Emotional Reasoning (High scores indicate a frequent consideration of ones own and others emotions when making decisions at work, as well as expressing that such consideration has taken place) At work, I am always right with the decisions I make. At work, there have been occasions where I have asked others to do something I myself would not do. At work, I dont self-promote at the expense of a colleague I gain team members commitment to decisions I make at work I do not give room for emotions when taking a decision

Emotional Self-Management (High scores indicate a frequent engagement of activities that facilitate the positive development of emotions in oneself, as well as a relative absence of dwelling on negative emotions) I help find effective ways of responding to upsetting events At work, I have never tried to get back at someone who has wronged me

I harbour ill feelings on colleagues who have been against me I feel happy when my peer gets rewarded for a good job I am ready to make personal or group sacrifices to meet larger organizational goal

Emotional Management of Others (High scores indicate a frequent engagement in the creation of emotionally positive work environments for others, as well as effectively helping colleagues resolve issues that may be affecting their performance adversely) I motivate others toward work related goals I help people deal with issues that cause them frustration at work I do not mind lending a helping hand to a colleague in need I willingly lend my ear to a colleagues woes I am not biased in giving feedback to my colleague who has not performed well

Emotional Self-Control ( High scores indicate a frequently demonstrated capacity to remain focused when anxious or disappointed at work, as well as the demonstrated ability to not lose ones temper) I feel angry when my colleagues take credit for the work I have done When my day is bad I tend to show that to my family At work, there have been instances where I have felt like breaking something I stay composed even in trying moments I always argue to prove my point

The respondents will answer the above questions on a 5 point Likert scale. (1-Strongly disagree 2-Disagree 3-Neither agree nor disagree 4- Agree 5-Strongly disagree)

Factors relating to perceived stress at work The response range is from 1 (Does not occur), 2 (rarely) 3(sometimes), 4(Most of the times) to 5 (irritates me all the time) Work overload Lack of rewards Uncertainty in workplace Social relations Threat Physical burdens Unpleasant work conditions Lack of control Lack of support Responsibility General health status Somatic complaints Anxiety Depression symptoms

Chapter 4

Data Analysis

Chapter 5

Results

Chapter 6

Limitations and Recommendations This study has a number of limitations which needs to be highlighted. In the first instance, this study considers freshers as those with less than 3 years of experience which was based on our own understanding of who a fresher is which may not be true in all aspects. Secondly some of the responses were partially filled due to the length of the questionnaire and hence had to be discarded. Finally, this study mainly examines the effects of EI on perceived stress on employees work attitudes. Various organizational and outcome variables may be incorporated in future research for further verification.

References

Bar-On, R., "Emotional Intelligence and Self-Actualization", in J. Ciarrochi, J.P. Forgas and J.D. Mayer (Eds), Emotional Intelligence in Everyday life: A Scientific Inquiry, Philadelphia, PA: Psychology Press, 2001, pp. 82-97 Carmeli, A., "The Relationship between Emotional Intelligence and Work Attitudes, Behavior and Outcomes: An Examination among Senior Managers", Journal of Managerial Psychology, 18(7/8), 2003, pp. 788-813 Goleman, D., "Emotional Intelligence", New York: Bantam Books, 1995 Goleman, D., "Working with Emotional Intelligence", New York: Bantam Books Jamal, M., "Job Stress and Job Performance Controversy: An Empirical Assessment", Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, 33(1), 1984, pp. 1-21

Appendix Name: Age: Gender: No. of years of experience: At work, I always get along with others around me I am ready to take up any job assigned to me in a group I am able to make sound decisions despite uncertainty and pressure I am aware of both my strengths and weaknesses At work, I have given up on tasks when I did not really care for them At work, there have been occasions where I have become angry when I have not gotten my own way I am happy when I my boss appreciates me I will not be able to any work if my boss shouts at me I freely express my grievances to my boss At work, I have said the wrong thing to another person and not really minded

I understand the things that make people feel optimistic at work I can find out if a colleague is not at his best I know if my boss is in a good mood or not I know if my colleague is having problems in his personal life

I am attentive to emotional cues At work, I am always right with the decisions I make. At work, there have been occasions where I have asked others to do something I myself would not do. At work, I dont self-promote at the expense of a colleague I gain team members commitment to decisions I make at work I do not give room for emotions when taking a decision

I help find effective ways of responding to upsetting events At work, I have never tried to get back at someone who has wronged me I harbour ill feelings on colleagues who have been against me I feel happy when my peer gets rewarded for a good job I am ready to make personal or group sacrifices to meet larger organizational goal I motivate others toward work related goals I help people deal with issues that cause them frustration at work I do not mind lending a helping hand to a colleague in need I willingly lend my ear to a colleagues woes I am not biased in giving feedback to my colleague who has not performed well I feel angry when my colleagues take credit for the work I have done When my day is bad I tend to show that to my family At work, there have been instances where I have felt like breaking something I stay composed even in trying moments I always argue to prove my point (1-Strongly disagree 2-Disagree 3-Neither agree nor disagree 4- Agree 5-Strongly disagree)

Perceived stress at work questions

The response range is from 1 (Does not occur), 2 (rarely) 3(sometimes), 4(Most of the times) to 5 (irritates me all the time) Work overload Lack of rewards Uncertainty in workplace Social relations Threat Physical burdens Unpleasant work conditions Lack of control Lack of support Responsibility General health status Somatic complaints Anxiety Depression symptoms