A CASE FOR EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE IN WORKPLACE WELLNESS

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A CASE FOR EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCEIN WORKPLACE
WELLNESS

• ANNETTE PRINS

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Introduction

• The changing world of work necessitates new
  approaches to managing organisations and
  employees together with a stronger focus on
  employee wellbeing. EI is one such an approach.
• Since employees represent many organisations
  only true competitive advantage, leaders need to
  manage and motivate their workforce to retain or
  enhance the organisations market share.
• The changing world of work includes
• an increasingly diverse workforce with needs,
  aspirations, and attitudes different from those
  of their managers, necessitating creativity and
  ingenuity from leaders.

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Meta-theoretical perspective Positive
psychology

• The current study niches in the emerging paradigm
  of positive psychology (Seligman, 1998c, 1999
  Seligman Csikszentmihalyi, 2000) as it finds
  application in both general and industrial
  psychology.

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Psychology

• General Psychology
• Human behaviour and experience has traditionally
  been dealt with from a pathogenic
  meta-perspective.
• This has led to an obsessive proclivity for
  deficit detecting to the exclusion of
  acknowledging strengths and resources (Barnard,
  1994, p.136).
• Organisational psychologyLuthans (2002) proposes
  that organisational psychology is still more
  concerned with what is wrong in organisations,
  teams, leaders and employees, than with what was
  right.
• According to him the field needs a proactive,
  positive approach emphasising strengths, rather
  than to fix weaknesses (p.695).

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The Cognitive Paradigm

• Simultaneous with the traditional paradigm, the
  cognitive approach was an equally influential
  line of thinking influencing the study of human
  behaviour.
• Whytes (1956) classic book The Organization Man
  depicted effective business people as logical,
  rational and reasoned decision makers.
• Emotions were seen as subtracting from
  objectivity and were therefore an unwanted
  influence, to be controlled since it reflected
  weakness and instability in the organisation man.
  
• This value system was long incubated by
  organisations and likewise adopted by
  researchers.

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The emergence of emotions as an explanatory model
for work behaviour

• Lewis (1993), in the seminal work Handbook of
  Emotions (Lewis Haviland, 1993) argues that, in
  order to understand human behaviour, emotions
  need to be understood.
• Muchinsky (2000) argues emotions are at the very
  core of human experience
• Industrial Organisational (I/O) psychology should
  take the lead in explaining the role of emotions
  at work, since we spend most of our time engaged
  in working rather than in other activities
• Emotions in the workplace are real, and
  individuals both feel and think.
• After a decade of recognising the complexity of
  cognitive processes, the next decade may witness
  the recognition of emotional processes in
  personnel selection and job performance.

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Affect in the workplace

• The organisation by which people are employed
  offers opportunities for experiencing numerous
  emotions affecting employees thoughts, feelings
  and actions
• both in the workplace and when they are away from
  it
• - Time pressures and
• - Pressures to be successful
• Link with work related stress and currently cause
  a huge problem with modern man on the run
• According to Muchinsky (2000) behaviour
  scientists now have to acknowledge emotions as a
  legitimate domain of scientific inquiry
  (p.803).

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Explanatory models applied in conceptualising
the current research

• Affective Events Theory (AET)
• (Weiss Cropanzano, 1996)
• AET claims that workplace conditions determine
  discrete affective events that lead to affective
  responses (moods and emotions) in workers.
• Such moods and emotions are considered mechanisms
  mediating stable features of the work environment
  (such as job design) and influence job attitudes
  and behaviour.
• A judgement-driven behaviour such as a decision
  to quit a job may, for example, flow from the
  aggregate of affective experiences and contribute
  to attitudes such as job dissatisfaction.

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Affective Events Theory(Adapted from Weiss
Cropanzano, 1996, p.12)
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The Broaden-and-Build Theory (Fredrickson, 1998
2001)

• Complements the Affective Events Theory
• Fredrickson carefully studied the role of
  positive and negative emotions and the gains that
  result when positive affect supersedes negative
  affect, including
• The building of a variety of enduring personal
  resources (Fredrickson, 2000, p.239).
• These include
• enhanced physical, intellectual, social and
  psychological resources.
• A broadening
• - of the thought-action repertoires
• - the scope of attention
• - cognition and action
• Positive emotions may furthermore serve to undo
  the effects of negative emotions
• - protect health, and
• fuel emotional resilience, all of which
  contribute to freeing up employee energy that may
  be channelled into work and other activities,
  thereby enhancing work engagement.

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Impetus for the current research

• Burke, Brief, George, Roberson, and Webster
  (1989 conclude that the influence of the work
  context on affective experience is largely
  unexplored.
• Fisher (2000) agrees that there are relatively
  few studies regarding emotions experienced at
  work, while Weiss and Cropanzano (1996) indicate
  that meaningfully distinct affective experiences
  at work have, in general, been ignored by
  researchers. Potential dysfunctions rather than
  functions of everyday emotions have been more
  salient to both managers and researchers
  (Ashforth Humphrey, 1995). These researchers
  argue that this pejorative view of emotion has
  blinded many scholars and practitioners to the
  value of emotions. For example, business schools
  and organisations would rather emphasise
  technical than social skills.

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Purpose and aim of the research

• One purpose of the research was to investigate
  whether employee emotional intelligence is
• related to psychological climate,
• affective experiences, and
• indices of work-related well-being
• Secondly, the researcher was interested in the
  process by which the proposed effect takes place
• Lastly, the measuring instruments were
  revalidated to ascertain their applicability in
  the particular South African population.

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Research

• DESIGN
• A cross sectional correlational design was used.
• PROCEDURES AND MEASURES
• The study was conducted among the employees of
  six private hospitals in South Africa who granted
  permission in this regard.
• Both rural and urban areas were included
• A total of 265 questionnaires were distributed
• 229 Members participated in the study
  constituting an overall response rate of 86
• After statistical control for missing data, 198
  participants remained in the study.
• Senior managers, nursing sisters in management
  positions, senior sisters, and group leaders of
  work teams were included together with
  subordinates

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Measuring instruments

• A biographical questionnaire was compiled to
  obtain information on gender, language, age,
  hospital section, type of career, management
  level, years of service with current employer,
  service period under current manager and
  educational level of respondent.
• The Swinburne University Emotional Intelligence
  Test (SUEIT self-report) by Palmer and Stough
  (2001), was applied to evaluate employees levels
  of emotional intelligence.
• The self-report Psychological Climate Inventory
  (Brown Leigh, 1996), was used to measure the
  first-order factors of psychological safety and
  psychological meaningfulness, with psychological
  climate as the second-order factor.
• The self-report Job Affect Scale (JAS) by Brief,
  Burke, George, Robbinson and Webster (1988), was
  used to measure positive and negative job affect.

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Measuring instruments

• The self-report Utrecht Work Engagement Scale
  (Schaufeli et al., 2002), was used to measure
  employees levels of work engagement, reflecting
  vigour, dedication and absorption.
• The self-report Maslach Burnout Inventory for
  workers in the human services by Maslach and
  Jackson (1986), was used to measure emotional
  exhaustion, depersonalisation, and lack of
  personal accomplishment.
• With regard to contemplated quitting, a
  self-developed Guttman scale in accordance with
  that suggested by Cohen (1993), was used.
• A self-compiled Health Questionnaire was
  constructed to probe the general physical and
  mental health of the respondent.

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Statistical analysis

• A priori models, depicting tentative causal
  relationships between emotionally intelligent
  employees, their perceived psychological (work)
  climate, job affect, work engagement, health,
  burnout and contemplated quitting, were
  investigated.
• Descriptive statistics, Product-moment
  correlations, multiple regressions, and
  structural equations modelling (SEM) were applied
  to analyse the data. SEM was used to test the
  goodness-of-fit indexes of the hypothesised model
  on the data. The subscales of the questionnaires
  served as manifest variables.

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Emotional intelligence (EI) Main Construct

• Paradigmatic shift
• Researchers currently look for characteristics
• predictive of successful living
• supportive of successful coping at work
• Discussions of EI proliferate and the EI model
  seems to be emerging as an influential framework
  in (organisational) psychology (Goleman, 2001)
• EI much debated topic
• Many claims made on behalf of the EI construct
• The current research aimed to put some of the
  claims to the test

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Emotional intelligence (EI)

• The internal environment of an organisation
  includes a social setting that requires continued
  and substantial interpersonal interaction among
  the employees and it is here that emotions form a
  core ingredient.
• EI literature propagates that an individuals
  ability to accurately perceive his/her emotions,
  to effectively control and regulate such emotions
  and interact effectively with others, will, to a
  large extent, influence the individuals
  workplace effectiveness (Bosman, 2003).
• EI competencies influence organisational
  effectiveness in areas such as employee
  recruitment and retention, development of talent,
  employee commitment, morale, and health (Bar-On,
  1997).

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EI Definitions

• Bar-On (1997)
• an array of non-cognitive capabilities,
  competencies, skills that influence ones ability
  to succeed in coping with environmental demands
  and pressures
• EI an NB predictor of success in life
• - directly influences general psychological
  well-being and health

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EI Definitions

• Goleman (2001) learned capability based on EI
  that results in outstanding performance at work
• Mayer, Salovey, Caruso (2000)
• argue EI represents a set of mental abilities,
  including the ability to
• Perceive emotions
• Access and generate emotions to assist thought
• Understand and reason about emotion,
• Reflectively regulate emotions to promote
  emotional and intellectual growth

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EI Models / Definitions

• Ability Mixed Personality

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Swinburne University Emotional Intelligence
Test (SUEIT) Palmer and Stough (2001)

• In order to determine the most definitive common
  elements constituting the EI construct, Palmer et
  al. (2003) performed a large factor analytic
  study including the six more prominent measures
  of emotional intelligence at the time.
• These include the MSCEIT Mayer et al. (1999)
  the BarOn Emotional Quotient Inventory (Bar-On,
  1997) the Trait Meta Mood Scale (Salovey et al.,
  1995) the twenty-item Toronto Alexithymia
  Scale-11 (TAS-30 Bagby, Taylor Parker, 1994)
  the Schutte et al. (1998) scale as well as the
  scale developed by Tett et al. (1997).
• This battery was highly representative of and
  covered all the measures of emotional
  intelligence available at the time. A lengthy
  process of statistical analyses (cf. Gardner and
  Stough, 2002)

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The following factors were derived

• Emotional Recognition and Expression (in
  oneself), that is, the ability to recognise ones
  emotions and the ability to express those
  emotions appropriately to others
• Understanding Emotions External, that is, the
  ability to perceive and understand the emotions
  of others and those inherent in the workplace
  environments (e.g., staff meetings, boardrooms
  etc.)
• Emotions Direct Cognition, that is, the extent to
  which emotions and emotional information are
  incorporated into reasoning and decision making
• Emotional Management, that is, the ability to
  manage both positive and negative moods within
  oneself and
• Emotional Control, that is the ability to
  effectively control strong, emotional states
  experienced at work such as anger, stress,
  anxiety, and frustration.
• Palmer et al. (2003, p.92)

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Mediators of employee well-being at work

• Psychological climate (PC)
• PC reflects how organisational environments are
  perceived and interpreted by its employees
  (James, James, Ashe, 1990).
• It is argued that a salubrious work climate
  should be promoted to facilitate the achievement
  of job satisfaction and organisational goals
  whilst simultaneously promoting wellness.

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DIMENSIONS OF PSYCHOLOGICAL CLIMATE

• PCg factor represents the employees total
  interpretation of the degree to which the
  environment is personally beneficial versus
  personally detrimental to ones sense of
  well-being.
• A. Psychological Safety
• Supportive management
• Clarity
• Self-expression
• B. Psychological Meaningfulness
• Perceived meaningfulness of contribution
• Recognition
• Challenge

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JOB AFFECTPositive and Negative affectThe
two-factor structure of affect by Watson
Telegen, 1985,p.221
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Indices of wellbeing

• These indices include
• Positive indices
• - work engagement
• - health
• Negative indices
• - burnout
• - contemplated quitting.

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Positive indicators of well-being

• WORK ENGAGEMENT
• Schaufeli et al. (2002) define engagement as a
  positive, fulfilling, work-related state of mind
  characterised by vigour, dedication, and
  absorption.
• Dimensions of work engagement
• Vigour, characterised by high levels of energy
  and mental resilience whilst working the
  willingness to invest effort in the work not
  fatiguing easily, and persisting even in the face
  of difficulties.
• Dedication, characterised by finding ones work
  significant feeling enthusiastic and proud about
  ones job, and by experiencing both challenge and
  inspiration in the work.
• Absorption, characterised by being happily and
  totally immersed in ones work whilst finding it
  difficult to detach oneself from it. Time passes
  quickly and one becomes oblivious of ones
  surroundings.

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Engagement vs BurnoutA taxonomy of well-being at
work (Schaufeli Bakker, 2001)
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POSITIVE INDICATORS OF WELL-BEING

• Health Indicators
• The World Health Organisation (WHO) views health
  not merely as the absence of disease but as
  physical, mental, and social well-being (Van
  Niekerk, 2005).
• Physical healthAn individuals body,
  experiencing chronic stress (for example when
  under constant deadline pressure), reacts with
  physical changes as if under acute stress
  According to (Pelletier, 1996). Catecholamines
  trigger a cascade of physiological changes that
  marshal the body to readiness Heart rate, blood
  pressure, and muscle tension all rise sharply
  the stomach and intestines become less active
  and the blood level of glucose or blood sugar,
  rises for quick energy (p.23).
• Mental Health
• A healthy mind includes but is not limited to a
  state of successful performance of mental
  function, resulting in productive activities,
  fulfilling relationships with people, and the
  ability to adapt to change and to cope with
  adversity (U.S. Department of Health and Human
  Sciences (in Keyes Lopez, 2002, p.55).

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NEGATIVE INDICATORS OF WELL-BEING AT WORK

• Burnout
• According to Maslach, Schaufeli and Leiter (2001,
  p. 397) Burnout is a prolonged response to
  chronic emotional and interpersonal stressors on
  the job, and is defined by the three dimensions
  of exhaustion, cynicism, and inefficacy. Burnout
  has become more widespread and is reaching
  epidemic proportions among North American workers
  (and globally) (Maslach Leiter, 1997).
• People values have become increasingly
  subordinate to economic ones. Economic forces
  have become the primary driving force, with other
  values being regarded as subsidiary.
• Profits are favoured over the welfare of people
  in the reengineering and downsising of
  organisations in a quest to increase profits
  (doing more with less) so that capable
  employees, rather than being rewarded for hard
  work, are set adrift (Turner et al., 2002).
  Increased profit, pursued at the cost of
  subordinates jobs, is eroding the concept of job
  security.

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Dimensions of burnout

• Emotional exhaustion - the draining of emotional
  resources resulting from demanding interpersonal
  contacts with others. Employees emotional
  resources are depleted and they no longer feel
  they can give of themselves at a psychological
  level. Employees feel overextended, both
  emotionally and physically. They struggle to
  unwind and recover. They are as tired when
  getting up as when they had gone to bed. They
  lack the energy to face another day.
• Depersonalisation/ cynicism - a negative,
  callous, and cynical attitude and feeling towards
  the recipients of the burnt out individuals care
  or services. The person develops a dehumanised
  perception of others and may even feel that
  his/her clients/patients deserve their troubles.
  According to Wills (1978), the described negative
  attitude towards clients in human service workers
  is well documented. Burnt out individuals take on
  a cold, distant attitude to their work and people
  involved, attempting to minimize their job
  involvement, and give up their ideals. They thus
  try to protect themselves from further exhaustion
  and disillusionment.
• Lack of personal accomplishment - the tendency to
  evaluate ones work with clients/patients
  negatively. Workers feel unhappy about themselves
  and are dissatisfied with their work
  accomplishments They experience a growing sense
  of inadequacy. All new projects seem
  overwhelming. They lose confidence in the belief
  that they can make a difference.

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CONTEMPLATED QUITTING

• Mood and turnover intentions
• It is argued that the affective context at work
  is instrumental in turnover.
• According to George (1989) mood provides the
  affective context for thought processes and
  behaviours, and Clark and Isen (1982, p. 76)
  state that feelings have an important effect on
  cognition and behaviour.
• Mood at work may best be conceptualised as
  determined by both situational factors and
  personality (Lewin, 1951). Individuals with
  higher levels of positive affectivity, are
  inclined to experience a sense of well-being and
  are more often pleasurably and effectively
  engaged at work (Tellegen, 1982).
• George (1989) suggests that situational factors
  may exert a greater influence on positive affect
  whilst negative effect seems more mediated by
  internal factors.

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A priori model

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Conclusion

• Emotions previously seen as illegitimate area of
  research
• - Viewed through cognitive lens
• - According to so-called norms of rationality
• Recent trends in neuroscience provide much
  support for the role of emotion in reasoning.
• EI exciting and developing research area in
  relation to organisational behaviour
• Measure of debate surrounding EI reflects healthy
  process in scientific research
• Neural plasticity allows for lifelong learning
  and adaptation, also in affective realm