The relationship betweenemotional intelligence and

work attitudes behavior andoutcomes

An examination among senior managersAbraham Carmeli

Graduate School of Business Administration Department of PoliticalScience Bar-Ilan University Ramat-Gan Israel

Keywords Job commitment Job satisfaction Altruism Family friendly organizations

Abstract The literature suggests that managerial skills in general and emotional intelligence inparticular play a signiregcant role in the success of senior managers in the workplace This argumentdespite its popularity remains elusive This can be attributed to the fact that although a few studieshave provided evidence to support this argument it has not received an appropriate empiricalinvestigation This study attempts to narrow this gap by empirically examining the extent to whichsenior managers with a high emotional intelligence employed in public sector organizations developpositive work attitudes behavior and outcomes The results indicate that emotional intelligenceaugments positive work attitudes altruistic behavior and work outcomes and moderates the effect ofwork-family conmacrict on career commitment but not the effect on job satisfaction

IntroductionWhat makes a senior manager successful has been a central research questionof organizational scientists for decades Underlying this interest is theassumption or observation regarding the impact of upper-echelon managers onimportant issues of strategic vision strategic positioning strategic and tacticalmoves among others aimed at improving overall organizational performance(Finkelstein and Hambrick 1996 Hambrick and Mason 1984) Although overthe years we have been exposed to various approaches (eg management style)for studying this elusive question it still remains unanswered

Studying managerial skills however seems to be one promising stream ofresearch that has potential for providing answers or at least shedding somelight on this enigma As Whetten and Cameron (2001 p 6) noted ordfmanagementskills form the vehicle by which management strategy management practicetools and techniques personality attributes and style work to produce effectiveoutcomes in organizationsordm

The Emerald Research Register for this journal is available at The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at

httpwwwemeraldinsightcomresearchregister httpwwwemeraldinsightcom0268-3946htm

The author wishes to thank Sidika Nihal Colakoglu for her assistance the editor and twoanonymous reviewers of this journal for their valuable comments and suggestions and theparticipants who made this study a reality The study was supported in part by a grant fromSchnitzer Foundation of the Faculty of Social Science at Bar-Ilan University

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Journal of Managerial PsychologyVol 18 No 8 2003pp 788-813

q MCB UP Limited0268-3946DOI 10110802683940310511881

In the last decade or so we have been witness to a particular growing bodyof research regarding the importance of emotional intelligence for successfulleadership Underlying this research interest is the view that people with highemotional intelligence competencies are more likely than less emotionallyintelligent people to gain success in the workplace Particularly scholars havenoted that social skills are essential for executive level leaders as individualsascend the organizational hierarchy social intelligence becomes anincreasingly relevant determinant of who will and will not be successful(Hooijberg et al 1997 Zaccaro 2001) Though growing evidence indicates thatemotional intelligence competency has the potential to improve performance onboth personal and organizational levels we are still only in the initial phase ofunderstanding the extent to which members with high emotional intelligencewould be more valued assets than less emotionally intelligent members of theirorganization As Cherniss (2000) pointed out ordfit is more useful and interestingto consider how important it is for effective performance at workordmFurthermore one of the criticisms of the inmacruential work of Goleman (19951998) is that the main argument stating that managers with high emotionalintelligence competencies are likely to provide their organizations with aunique contribution has not yet received much empirical attention and supportparticularly with regard to various important work-related attitudes behaviorand outcomes that may serve as good indexes for such investigation AsDulewicz and Higgs (2000 p 341 and p 351) indicate ordflittle research has beenconducted in an organizational contextordm and ordfthere is a need for rigorousresearch to underpin the assertion in an organizational settingordm

This study attempts to narrow this gap by empirically testing the degree towhich emotionally intelligent senior managers employed in public sectororganizations develop high job satisfaction career commitment jobinvolvement and effective commitment diminish continuance commitmentand work-family conmacrict display altruistic behavior withdrawal intentionsand better job performance In addition this study examines the moderatingrole of emotional intelligence for the relationship between work-family conmacrictand job satisfaction and career commitment

This article is organized as follows the next section presents the importanceof managerial skills and stresses the concept of emotional intelligence and itskey components followed by the development of the research hypotheses Theresearch method is presented in the following section and the results of thisstudy follow Finally the studyrsquos results and limitations are summarized

Theory and hypothesesEmotional intelligenceScholars tend to view emotional intelligence as a factor which has a potential tocontribute to more positive attitudes behaviors and outcomes At the sametime as Schutte et al (2002) note ordfevidence exists that emotional intelligence

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can be conceptualized as either ability (Ciarrochi et al 2000 Mayer et al 1999)or a personality trait (Schutte and Malouff 1999 Schutte et al 1998)ordm The mostcomprehensive discussion about this issue is provided by a recent study ofMayer et al (2000) As indicated however this issue has not yet resolved Inthis study I rather view emotional intelligence as a competency that isexpected to augment positive attitudes toward work and drive positivebehaviors and better outcomes

The concept of emotional Intelligence goes back to early studies in the 1920s(for a review see Bar-On and Parker 2000) In the early 1980s scholars beganto systematically conceptualize the idea of emotional intelligence NotablyGardnerrsquos (1983) conceptualization of intrapersonal intelligence andinterpersonal intelligence and Steiner (1984) work on emotional literacy werethe building blocks of what Salovey and Mayer (1989-1990) regrst termed asemotional intelligence Based on Bar-Onrsquos previous work Bar-On et al (2000p 1108) view emotional intelligence as a noncognitive intelligence which isderegned as an array of emotional personal and social abilities and skills thatinmacruence an individualrsquos ability to cope effectively with environmentaldemands and pressuresordm This study focuses on the conceptualizationsuggested by Salovey and Mayer (1989-1990) and formulated in 1997 (Mayerand Salovey 1997)

Salovey and Mayer (1989-1990 p 189) deregned emotional intelligence as ordfthesubset of social intelligence that involves the ability to monitor onersquos own andothersrsquo feelings and emotions to discriminate among them and to use thisinformation to guide onersquos thinking and actionsordm Later on they reregned andderegned emotional intelligence as ordfthe ability to perceive emotions to accessand generate emotions so as to assist thoughts to understand emotions andemotional knowledge and to remacrectively regulate emotions so as to promoteemotional and intellectual growthordm (Mayer and Salovey 1997 p 5) A keyconstruct in their deregnition that we need to explain is ordfemotionsordm According toVan Maanen and Kunda (1989 p 53) emotions are ordfineffable feelings of theself-referential sortordm and are comprehensively deregned as ordfself-referentialfeelings an actor (employee) experiences or at least claims to experience inregard to the performances he or she brings off in the social worldordm States offeeling refer to basic emotions (eg joy love anger) and social emotions (egshame guilt jealousy envy) as well as to related constructs as affectsentiments and moods (Ashforth and Humphrey 1995)

Salovey and Mayer (1989-1990) argued that there is a set of threeconceptually related mental processes - appraising and expressing emotionsin the self and others regulating emotion in the self and others and usingemotions in adaptive ways - involving emotional information The followingsare brief descriptions of the content and importance of these mental processes

(1) Appraising and expressing emotions in the self and others Individualsdiffer in the degree to which they are aware of their emotions (appraisal)and the degree to which the latter are verbally and non-verbally being

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expressed (George 2000) Individuals who accurately appraise andexpress (perceive and respond to) their emotions are likely to be betterunderstood by the people they work with and they also have thepotential to better lead and manage people when they are able toperceive the emotions of the people around them and to developempathy - the ability to comprehend anotherrsquos feelings and tore-experience them oneself (Salovey and Mayer 1989-1990)

(2) Regulating emotion in the self and others People differ in their ability tomanage (monitor evaluate and adjust to changing moods) theiremotions as well as in their ability to regulate and alter the affectivereactions of others (Salovey and Mayer 1989-1990) Regulation of onersquosown emotions and moods results in positive and negative affectivestates Emotionally intelligent individuals are adept at placingthemselves in positive affective states and are able to experiencenegative affective states that have insigniregcant destructiveconsequences Emotionally astute people can induce a positive affectin others that results in a powerful social inmacruence (charisma) animportant component of leadership (Wasielewski 1985)

(3) Using emotions in adaptive ways Individuals also differ in the ways(functional vs dysfunctional) in which they utilize their emotionsEmotions can help in generating multiple future plans (macrexible planning) improve the decision-making process due to a better understanding of

onersquos emotional reaction (creative thinking) facilitate cognitive processes such as creativity on the one hand and

punctuality on the other hand (mood redirected attention) and enhance persistence regarding challenging tasks (motivating

emotions) (Salovey and Mayer 1989-1990)

Emotionally astute managersUntil the early 1990s the concept of emotional intelligence received very littleresearch attention The major focus of researchers at that time was on theimportance of cognitive intelligence (eg problem solving capabilities)Nowadays researchers and practitioners recognize the importance of bothcognitive and emotional intelligences for gaining success It seems thatresearchers however attribute to emotional intelligence a signiregcant power ofexplanation of variance in performance As Cary Cherniss puts it ordfIf yoursquore ascientist you probably needed an IQ of 120 or so simply to get a doctorate and ajob But then it is more important to be able to persist in the face of difregcultyand to get along well with colleagues and subordinates than it is to have anextra 10 or 15 points of IQ The same is true in many other occupationsordm(Emphases are not in the original text)

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791

Scholars have also focused on relating emotional intelligence to leadership(George 2000) or showing how components of emotional intelligence such asempathy are important traits that contribute to leadership (Kellett et al 2002Wolff et al 2002) In addition a growing body of research has been concernedwith the degree to which emotional intelligence can make the differencebetween good and poor leaders This stream of research is also of great interestto many organizations that seek to better understand the variance inemployeesrsquo performance Inspired by Daniel Golemanrsquos article ordfWhat Makes aLeaderordm published in The Harvard Business Review in 1998 the topmanagement team of Johnson and Johnson decided to fund a study that ordfwouldassess the importance of Emotional Intelligence in leadership success acrossthe JandJ Consumer Companiesordm The study which was conducted by KathleenCavallo and Dottie Brienza on a randomly selected 358 managers found ordfastrong relationship between superior performing leaders and emotionalcompetence Leaders who received performance ratings of 41 or greater on a5-point scale were rated signiregcantly higher than other participants in all fourof the emotional intelligence dimensions of self-awareness self-managementsocial awareness and social skills by supervisors and subordinatesordm

The growing body of empirical work in the leadership domain has beenmainly devoted to examining the effects of emotional intelligence on theperformance of senior executives The problem with this work is that it hardlyexamines important behavioral attitudes behavior and outcomes that areessential for evaluating whether one can be viewed as an effective manager andleader In this study emotional intelligence was examined with respect to a setof work attitudes work behavior and work outcomes

Emotional intelligence and work attitudesEmotional intelligence and job satisfaction Locke (1969 p 314) deregned jobsatisfaction and dissatisfaction as ordfcomplex emotional reactions to the jobordmConceptualizing job satisfaction as ordffeeling or affective responses to facets ofthe situationordm (Smith et al 1969 p 6) suggests that job satisfaction ispositively associated with the construct of emotional intelligence In additionjob satisfaction is often considered as a proxy for an employeersquos well being atwork (Grandey 2000) Intelligent individuals with high emotional intelligencethrough the above described set of three conceptually related mental processesexperience continuous positive moods and feelings that generate higher levelsof satisfaction and well-being compared to individuals who experience suchfeelings and moods as disappointment depression and anger because they canreach a higher level of general satisfaction and fulregllment We suggest thefollowing hypothesis

H1 There is a positive relationship between emotional intelligence and jobsatisfaction of senior managers

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Emotional intelligence and work commitment Work commitment is amultidimensional construct that comprises various forms Themultidimensionality of work commitment has been established byresearchers who argued that employees develop more than one type of workcommitment (Becker 1960) and that types are in accordance with theemployeesrsquo own beneregts (Ritzer and Trice 1969) This approach has beensigniregcantly advanced by Morrow (1983 1993) who was the regrst to attemptmapping theoretically universal forms of work commitment that are relevant toas many employees as possible (Morrow 1993 p 160) Morrow advocatedconcentrating a research effort on regve universal forms of work commitment asfollows work ethic endorsement career commitment affective organizationalcommitment continuance organizational commitment and job involvement Ina series of studies it has been shown that in addition to most commoncomponents of organizational commitment - affective and continuance - athird component normative commitment should be investigated as well(Meyer and Allen 1997)

This study investigates all of these forms except for work ethicendorsement Work ethic endorsement is the extent to which one believesthat hard work is important and that leisure and excess money are detrimental(Blood 1969 Furnham 1990 Mirels and Garrett 1971 Morrow 1993) It is aordfrelatively regxed attribute over the life courseordm (Morrow 1983 p 495)

The research on emotional intelligence and work commitment hasconcentrated thus far on organizational commitment The latter wasinvestigated (Abraham 1999) in the context with which it has traditionallybeen deregned as ordfthe relative strength of an individualrsquos identiregcation andinvolvement in a particular organizationordm (Mowday et al 1982 p 27) Howeverthis is still a somewhat narrow approach that limits our understanding not onlyof the relationship between emotional intelligence and organizationalcommitment (a concept that comprises three distinct constructs) but alsoregarding how the former is related to work commitment forms such as careercommitment and job involvement

Emotional intelligence and organizational commitment The concept oforganizational commitment incorporates three distinct constructs affectivecontinuance and normative commitment Continuance commitment is deregnedas ordfthe extent to which employees feel committed to their organizations byvirtue of the costs that they feel are associated with leavingordm (Meyer and Allen1984 p 375) Affective commitment is ordfpositive feelings of identiregcation withattachment to and involvement in the work organizationordm (Meyer and Allen1984 p 375) Normative commitment refers to ordfcommitment based on a senseof obligation to the organizationordm (Allen and Meyer 1996 p 253) Employeeswith strong affective commitment remain because they want to employeeswith strong continuance commitment remain because they need to employeeswith strong normative commitment remain because they feel ought to do so

Emotionalintelligence

793

(Allen and Meyer 1990) In this study we examined the relationship betweenemotional intelligence and two forms of organizational commitment - affectiveand continuance

Emotionally intelligent individuals are ordfoptimisticordm a trait that enables themto focus on the resolution rather than the reasoning (who is at fault) The workin any given organization imposes difregculties that may result in feelings offrustration Emotionally intelligent individuals would know not to hold theorganization responsible for every feeling of frustration (Abraham 1999) asthey are adept at placing themselves in positive affective states and able toexperience negative affective states that have insigniregcant destructiveconsequences (Salovey and Mayer 1989-1990) This is especially true forsenior managers who have to reconcile the feelings of frustration of conmacrictinginterest groups within and outside the organization This can be doneeffectively only when they are able to place themselves in a positive state ofmind In addition emotionally intelligent individuals would know how to avoiddysfunctional emotions and use them in adaptive ways to alleviate feelings offrustration Furthermore on the fundamental level people are motivated notonly by the rational exchange approach (Vroom 1964) but also by the extent towhich they are connected emotionally to their work and by the extent to whichits contents provide them with such experiences as joy excitement surpriseand frustration (Ashforth and Humphrey 1995) Thus emotional intelligence isexpected to augment a higher level of affective commitment to the organizationand diminish the level of continuance commitment The following hypothesesare suggested

H2a There is a positive relationship between emotional intelligence andaffective organizational commitment of senior managers

H2b There is a negative relationship between emotional intelligence andcontinuance organizational commitment of senior managers

Emotional intelligence and career commitment Career commitment is deregnedas ordfonersquos attitude toward onersquos profession or vocationordm (Blau 1985 p 20)Employees may encounter difregculties of many kinds in pursuing a career thatmay result in dysfunctional emotions Emotionally intelligent individuals areexpected to recognize manage and use their emotions to eliminate theseobstacles and advance their career horizon better than people with lowemotional intelligence This is especially true when the profession incorporateshigh levels of complexity Highly complex managerial work can be verydemanding and lead to high levels of stress Emotional intelligence enablespeople to control this stress effectively and prevent its negative effects on onersquosattitude towards her profession The following hypothesis is suggested

H3 There is a positive relationship between emotional intelligence andcareer commitment of senior managers

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Emotional intelligence and job involvement Job involvement is ordfa beliefdescriptive of the present job and tends to be a function of how much the jobcan satisfy onersquos present needsordm (Kanungo 1982 p 342) As indicated aboveemployees do not get involved in the job only for self-rational interestfulregllment they also get involved in the job because they let their emotionsplay a role Becoming highly involved in the job is oftentimes a response toemotional rather than rational needs Ashforth and Humphrey (1995) cited inFinersquos (1998) work the quotes of a cook discussing the centrality of beingemotionally involved in the job ordfI just love the activity I concentrate totallyso I donrsquot know how I feel itrsquos like another sense takes overordm People aresocial creatures who through job involvement regll the need for emotionalexperience Managerial work is often complex and challenging and seniormanagers with a high emotional intelligence often get extremely involved inchallenging experiences and complex situations that may not occur elsewhereSenior managers for example often remain beyond the required workinghours They do this not for economic reward but because it allows them to copewith those complexities that yield an intense emotional experience Thefollowing hypothesis is suggested

H4 There is a positive relationship between emotional intelligence and jobinvolvement of senior managers

Emotional intelligence and work-family conmacrict Work-family conmacrict is deregnedas ordfa form of inter-role conmacrict in which the role pressures from work andfamily domains are mutually incompatible in some respect That isparticipation in the work (family) role is made more difregcult by virtue ofparticipation in the family (work) roleordm (Greenhaus and Beutell 1985 p 77)Because this study attempted to explore the role of emotional intelligence in theworkplace we concentrated on family interference with work exploring acombination of three forms of work-family conmacrict (time strain and behavior)suggested by Carlson et al (2000) The form of time-based family interferencemay occur when time devoted to one role makes it difregcult to get involved inanother role The form of strain-based family interference proposes that strainin one role intrudes into and interferes with participation in another roleBehavior family interference with work occurs when speciregc behaviorsrequired in one role are incompatible with behavioral expectations in anotherrole (Carlson et al 2000)

Eliminating work-family conmacrict is the responsibility of both theorganization and its employees Keith H Hammonds (1996) quoted EllenGalinsky saying that ordfCompanies are seeing they have all these programs (iework-family policies) but people are still really stressed out Certainlyemployees bear some responsibility for determining their own family balanceBut they need help Companies that recognize the need and adapt work topeoplesrsquo lives will win workersrsquo loyalty - and with that a competitive edge

Emotionalintelligence

795

With respect to the role of the individuals one may expect that a highemotional intelligence would help them balance family interference with workIn fact they may be more capable of preventing work-family conmacrict from thebeginning due to their emotional astuteness incorporates the recognition of thedegree to which the family plays an emotional role for them and thoseconnected to them the insight as to how these emotions should be managedand the ability to improve the decision-making process The followinghypothesis is suggested

H5 There is a negative relationship between emotional intelligence andwork-family conmacrict (family interference with work) of seniormanagers

Emotional intelligence and organizational citizenship behavior Organizationalcitizenship behavior (OCB) is an extra-role behavior that goes beyond formalrole requirements (Smith et al 1983) Emotional intelligence may enhancealtruistic behavior as it enables employees to comprehend their co-workersrsquofeelings and to respond better than employees with low emotional intelligencebecause of their ability to easily shift from negative to positive moods(Abraham 1999) Staw et al (1994) suggested three explanations for theengagement of an emotionally intelligent individual in altruistic behaviorFirst being in a good mood is reinforcing and displaying altruism is rewardingin the sense that it enables employees to also maintain this state of mindSecond people in good moods may be more socially interactive Third whenemployees are more satisreged (having positive emotional reactions to the job)they are more likely to be engaged in helpful behavior The followinghypothesis is suggested

H6 There is a positive relationship between emotional intelligence andorganizational citizenship behavior - altruism of senior managers

Emotional intelligence and work outcomesEmotional intelligence and withdrawal intentions from the organizationWithdrawal of employees is a process (Mobley 1977 1982a b Mobley et al1978) which comprises constructs of withdrawal intentions (thinking ofquitting intention to search and intention to quit) as well as constructs ofwithdrawal behaviors (actually quitting absence) (Miller et al 1979 Mobleyet al 1978) A recent meta-analysis used the constructs of intention to quitthinking of quitting withdrawal cognitions and expected utility of withdrawalas the components of withdrawal intentions (Griffeth et al 2000) In this studywe assess the withdrawal intentions process of senior managers

Emotional intelligence may signiregcantly diminish employeesrsquo withdrawalintentions because of the ability to better regulate emotions Emotionallyintelligent individuals are adept at putting themselves in positive affective

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states and although they may experience negative affective states at timesthese do not have signiregcant destructive consequences Being in positiveaffective states is of importance in the sense of not becoming despondent in theface of daily and even more profound obstacles occurring in organizational lifeRather the individuals are likely to see the positive side of things and use theiremotions for example to enhance persistence at challenging times andfacilitate creativity for resolving difregculties To a certain degree emotionallyintelligent individuals perceive themselves as part of the solution As suchthey feel a high level of identiregcation and are less likely to develop withdrawalintentions This is especially true for senior managers who must deal with theirown difregculties as well as those of others Those with high emotionalintelligence will be inclined to stay and deal with difregculties in adaptive waysThis however is not to say that emotionally intelligent individuals do not facedifregculties when encountering job stress and changes in their job and careerrather they have more and better capabilities than low emotionally individualsto cope with it and thus are likely develop lower withdrawal intentions Thefollowing hypothesis is suggested

H7 There is a negative relationship between emotional intelligence andwithdrawal intentions of senior managers from the organization

Emotional intelligence and job performance Evidence supports a positive effectof emotional intelligence on the success of the individual at work (for a reviewsee Goleman 2001) This is of particularly importance if we believe thatordfmanagement skills lie at the heart of leadershipordm (Whetten and Cameron 2001p 15) and speciregcally recognize the need to develop and acquire skills formanaging people and that emotional intelligence may have a critical role in thecreation of effective leadership A notable study conducted by George (2000)showed how the aspects of emotional intelligence - appraisal and expressionof emotions use of emotion to enhance cognitive processing and decisionmaking knowledge about emotions and management of emotions - contributeto effective leadership For the purpose of this study it is important to note thatalthough it is theoretically signiregcant to show how each aspect affectsperformance it is more accurate to recognize that skills come in groups andclusters and that they support one another (Goleman 2001) The concept ofemotional intelligence seems to encompass this ordfcritical massordm of skills(Boyatzis et al 2000 Goleman 2001) The following hypothesis is suggested

H8 There is a positive relationship between emotional intelligence and jobperformance of senior managers

The moderator role of emotional intelligenceThe literature suggests that the negative effect of work-family conmacrict on workattitudes may be moderated by several variables (see for example Martins

Emotionalintelligence

797

et al 2002) In this study emotional intelligence is expected to moderate therelationship between work-family conmacrict and job satisfaction and therelationship between work-family conmacrict and career commitment

Family interference with work may have some negative consequences on theextent which an employee will be satisreged with her work and committed to hercareer However emotionally intelligent individuals are likely to have the abilityto control for such interferences or at least moderate them to an acceptable levelOn the basis of this logic the following hypotheses are suggested

H9 Emotional intelligence will moderate the relationship betweenwork-family conmacrict and job satisfaction of senior managersSpeciregcally there will be more negative relationship betweenwork-family conmacrict and job satisfaction for senior managers whoare low on emotional intelligence than for those who are high onemotional intelligence

H10 Emotional intelligence will moderate the relationship betweenwork-family conmacrict and career commitment of senior managersSpeciregcally for low emotionally intelligent senior managers there willbe a strong positive relationship between work-conmacrict family andcareer commitment and for highly emotional intelligent seniormanagers there will be a moderate negative relationship betweenwork-conmacrict family and career commitment

MethodologyRespondents and data collectionThe population of this study was senior managers employed as chief regnancialofregcers in the local government authorities in Israel A direct-mailquestionnaire was sent to 262 senior managers The questionnaire wasmailed from and returned to a university address using a self-addressed replyenvelope Ninety-eight usable questionnaires were returned The respondentsrsquoaverage age was 466 years (SD 924) 11 were women and 794 percent held atleast bachelorrsquos degree Their average tenure in their present organization was1147 (SD 913) The average income of the respondents was 256 (SD 054)(1 = up to 10000 New Israeli Shekel (NIS) 2 = 10001 to 20000 and 3 = 20001and above) Note that annual average value of US$ 1 and 1 Euro in 2001 was4205 NIS and 37644 NIS respectively The average size of the organizations(measured by the number of permanent residents for which the organization isresponsible to provide services see Carmeli 2002) was 24729 (SD 5425937)

Dependent variablesWork outcomes Job performance and withdrawal intentions from theorganization were used to assess employeersquos work outcomes

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(1) Job performance This measure was evaluated by a scale developed byPearce and Porter (1986) and used by Black and Porter (1991) andHochwarter et al (1999) This measure contains regve items (overallperformance ability to get along with others completing tasks on timequality of performance and achievement of work goals) that wereassessed on a seven-point scale (ranging from 1 = strongly disagree to7 = strongly agree) Although such difregculties as self-enhancement andobjectivity and reliability may be encountered Mabe and West (1982)showed that self-evaluation measures were more valid than pointed outin prior research (Hochwarter et al (1999) The Cronbachrsquos alpha for thisscale was 087

(2) Withdrawal intentions from the organization This measure was drawnfrom the measure examined by Mobley et al (1978) and widely used inthe literature (Michaels and Spector 1982 Miller et al 1979) It assesseswithdrawal intentions of an employee from hisher organization andconsists of three items I think a lot about leaving the organization I am actively searching for an alternative to the organization and As soon as it is possible I will leave the organization

This measure was assessed on a 5-point scale from 1 = strongly disagree to5 = strongly agree The Cronbachrsquos alpha for this scale was 090

Work behavior

(1) Altruistic behavior This variable was drawn from the multi-dimensionalscale of organizational citizenship behavior developed by Podsakoff andMacKenzie (1989) and modireged and validated by Podsakoff et al (1990)Altruistic behavior was measured using three items that were assessedon a regve-point scale ranging from 1 = strongly disagree to 5 = stronglyagree Sample items are ordfI help others who have heavy workloadsordm ordfIhelp others who have been absentordm The Cronbachrsquos alpha for this scalewas 082

Work attitudesFour work commitment forms (career commitment jobinvolvement affective commitment and continuance commitment) and jobsatisfaction were used to assess employeersquos work attitudes In additionwork-family conmacrict was examined as follows

(1) Career commitment This measure was assessed by a scale developed byBlau (1985) Sample items are ordfI like this profession too much to give itupordm and ordfI am disappointed with being a CEOordm (reverse scored) Themeasure was assessed on a regve-point scale (ranging from 1 = stronglydisagree to 5 = strongly agree) The Cronbachrsquos alpha for this scalewas 074

Emotionalintelligence

799

(2) Job involvement This measure is based on a 10-item scale developed byKanungo (1982) Sample items are ordfThe most important things thathappen to me involve my present jobordm and ordfMost of my personal lifegoals are job-orientedordm The measure was assessed on a seven-pointscale ranging from 1 = strongly disagree to 7 = strongly agree TheCronbachrsquos alpha for this scale was 082

(3) Affective organizational commitmentThis measure is based on the scaledeveloped and validated by Allen and Meyer (1990) Sample items are ordfIreally feel as if this organizationrsquos problems are my ownordm and ordfI do not feellike ordfpart of the familyordm at my organizationordm (reversed item) The measurewas assessed on a seven-point scale (ranging from 1 = strongly disagreeto 7 = strongly agree) The Cronbachrsquos alpha for this scale was 073

(4) Continuance organizational commitmentThis measure is based on thescale developed and validated by Allen and Meyer (1990) Sample itemsare ordfRight now staying with my organization is a matter of necessity asmuch as desireordm and ordfToo much in my life would be disrupted if Idecided I wanted to leave my organization nowordm The measure wasassessed on a seven-point scale (ranging from 1 = strongly disagree to7 = strongly agree) The Cronbachrsquos alpha for this scale was 082

(5) Job satisfaction This measure was estimated by a 6-items scaleemployed by Tsui et al (1992) Sample items are ordfHow satisreged are youwith the nature of the work you performordm and ordfConsidering everythinghow satisreged are you with your current job situationordm The measure wasassessed on a regve-point scale (ranging from 1 = very dissatisreged to5 = very satisreged) The Cronbachrsquos alpha for this scale was 068

(6) Work-family conmacrict This measure was based on a measure developedand validated by Carlson et al 2000) Since this study examines the role ofemotional intelligence in the workplace we concentrated on familyinterference with work exploring a combination of three forms ofwork-family conmacrict (time strain and behavior) which consisted of threeitems each Sample items are ordfThe time I spend on family responsibilitiesoften interferes with my work responsibilitiesordm (time-based familyinterference) ordfDue to stress at home I am often preoccupied with familymatters at workordm (strain-based family interference) ordfThe behaviors thatwork for me at home do not seem to be effective at workordm (behavior-basedfamily interference) All items were ranged from 1 = strongly disagree to5 = strongly agree (5 = presents high conmacrict) The nine items wereloaded onto a single factor The Cronbachrsquos alpha for this scale was 079

Independentmoderator variableEmotional intelligence Over the years considerable research effort resulted invarious instruments for measuring emotional intelligence (EQi of Bar-On 1996

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Executive EQ of Cooper and Sawaf 1997 EIQ Dulewicz and Higgs 1999MSCEIT of Mayer et al 2000 ECI of Boyatzis and Goleman 1998)

In this study emotional intelligence was measured with the self-reportmeasure of emotional intelligence developed by Schutte et al (1998) for severalreasons First this measure is based on the framework of emotional intelligencedeveloped by Salovey and Mayer 1989-1990 and later formulated (Mayer andSalovey 1997)[1] Second previous study found some limitations in earlyself-report measures of emotional intelligence such as insufregcient reliabilityand connections with personality factors (Davies et al 1998) Third studiesthat evaluated the measure of Schutte and her colleagues (1998) in both adultand adolescents population indicate that this measure seems to overcome theobserved difregculties in other measures of emotional intelligence (Ciarrochi et al2000 Ciarrochi et al 2001) Finally in macro level studies self report measureof emotional intelligence which is brief validated and based on a cohesive andcomprehensive model of emotional intelligence (Salovey and Mayer 1989-1990Mayer and Salovey 1997) is very useful

The measure used in this study consists of 33 items Sample items are ordfIknow when to speak about my personal problems to othersordm and ordfI am awareof my emotions as I experience themordm (appraisal and expression of emotion) ordfIpresent myself in a way that makes a good impression on othersordm and I havecontrol over my emotionsordm (regulation of emotion) ordfwhen I feel a change inemotions I tend to come up with new ideasordm and I use good moods to helpmyself keep trying in the face of obstaclesordm (utilization) All items were rangedfrom 1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree The Cronbachrsquos alpha forthis scale was 090

Control variablesWe control for

(1) Organizational size Measured by the number of permanent residents forwhich the organization is responsible for provision of services (Carmeli2002)

(2) Tenure in the organization Measured by the number of years therespondent is employed in the current organization

(3) Gross income (1 = up to 10000 NIS New Israeli Shekel 2 = 10001 to20000 NIS 3 = 20001 to 30000 NIS 4 = 30001 to 40000 NIS and4 = above 40000 NIS)

(4) Respondentsrsquo age

Because the vast majority of the respondents were male differences betweenmale and female respondents could not be established

Data analysisTo assess the relationship between emotional intelligence and work attitudesbehavior and outcomes we performed a series of separate hierarchical

Emotionalintelligence

801

regression analyses Each model had two steps The regrst step involvedentering the control variables and the second step involved entering theindependent variable

To examine the interaction hypotheses the variables were entered into theregression equations in three steps The control variables were entered in theregrst step In the second step we entered the ordfmain effectsordm (work-familyconmacrict and emotional intelligence) Finally the work-family conmacrict Xemotional intelligence product term variable was entered in the third step Bothvariables were mean-centered as is suggested for variables that are to beconstituents of product terms (Aiken and West 1991)

ResultsTable I reports the means standard deviations and correlation coefregcients ofvariables used in the analysis Though several variables are related Table Iindicates no severe problems of multicolinearity as none of the related variablesexceeded the value of 060 Furthermore we performed separate hierarchicalregressions for the effect of emotional intelligence on each one of the dependentvariables Table I also provides a preliminary support for the signiregcantrelationships between emotional intelligence and work attitudes workbehavior and work outcomes

Table II presents the results of hierarchical regression Emotionalintelligence was positively and signiregcantly related to job satisfaction(b = 032 p 001) supporting H1 This regnding is consistent with theargument according to which emotionally intelligent individuals are likely todisplay higher overall satisfaction in the workplace

Supporting H2a we provide evidence that when senior managers have highemotional intelligence they tend to develop high affective commitment(emotional attachment) to the organization for which they work (b = 023p 005) H2b on the other hand was not supported as the relationshipbetween emotional intelligence and continuance commitment was notsigniregcant (b = 2 012 p = ns) The beta coefregcient though not statisticallysigniregcant was in the expected direction

We found support for H3 Emotionally intelligent senior managers develophigh commitment toward their career (b = 034 p 0001) However contraryto H4 emotional intelligence was statistically unrelated to job involvement Itmay be that the involvement of senior managers is more complex than weassumed and is affected by other important factors not examined here Thoughno prediction was made we found that job involvement was signiregcantlyrelated to tenure in the organization (b = 020 p 010) as well as to grossincome (b = 025 p 005)

The results support H5 stating that senior managers who have highemotional intelligence are more likely to effectively control work-family conmacrict(b = 2 031 p 001) Compared to low and middle-level position employees

JMP188

802

Mea

ns

d

12

34

56

78

910

1112

13

Job

per

form

ance

561

078

100

Wit

hdra

wal

inte

nti

ons

from

an

organ

izat

ion

218

094

20

18

Alt

ruis

tic

beh

avio

r3

780

630

32

0

11

Car

eer

com

mit

men

t3

590

600

22

20

47

0

07

Job

invol

vem

ent

440

089

003

20

130

160

24

Aff

ecti

ve

com

mit

men

t4

730

880

31

20

39

0

160

42

0

48

Con

tinuan

ce

com

mit

men

t3

871

172

030

2

005

20

28

20

100

022

007

Job

sati

sfac

tion

374

051

045

2

038

031

0

39

0

27

055

2

029

Wor

k-f

amily

conmacr

ict

212

049

20

190

042

015

20

152

001

20

190

34

2

011

Em

otio

nal

inte

llig

ence

371

037

032

2

020

0

38

0

38

0

140

24

20

070

27

20

27

Org

aniz

atio

nal

size

247

2954

259

20

012

001

20

010

050

21

011

005

008

021

2

007

Ten

ure

in

organ

izat

ion

114

79

130

022

024

0

120

21

017

006

005

004

010

20

050

03

Age

466

39

242

001

20

190

030

120

31

021

0

150

170

150

100

170

43

Inco

me

256

054

014

20

020

26

006

031

0

172

010

022

2

011

001

016

013

025

Note

saT

wo-

tailed

test

s

p

005

p

001

p

0

001

Table IMeans standard

deviations andcorrelationsa

Emotionalintelligence

803

Job

per

form

Wit

hdrw

l

inte

nt

Alt

ruis

tic

beh

avio

r

Car

eer

com

mit

Job

invol

ve

Aff

ecti

ve

com

mit

Con

tin

com

mit

Job

sati

sfac

tion

Wor

k

fam

ily

conmacr

ict

b(t)

b(t

)b

(t)

b(t)

b(t

)b

(t)

b(t)

b(t)

b(t

)

Ste

p1

Org

aniz

a-

tion

alsi

ze0

00(0

01)

20

01(0

93)

001

(00

7)0

07(0

73)

015

(14

7)0

09(0

83)

005

(04

3)0

06(0

56)

019

(19

3)

Ten

ure

in

organ

iza-

tion

al2

009

(20

75)

20

10(2

087

)2

009

(20

87)

20

03(2

023

)0

20(1

76

)0

15(1

24)

019

(15

8)0

12(1

06)

018

(16

2)

Inco

me

016

(15

4)0

03(0

31)

018

(19

1)

005

(04

5)0

25(2

43

)

011

(10

8)2

016

(21

48)

013

(12

1)2

016

(21

59)

Age

006

(05

8)2

022

(21

94)

008

(08

7)0

27(2

53

)

006

(05

7)0

00(2

004

)0

00(0

00)

20

04(2

036

)2

003

(20

29)

R2

003

80

068

005

50

082

019

30

064

005

10

058

009

3

Ste

p2

Em

otio

nal

inte

llig

ence

032

(30

8)

20

20(2

193

)

054

(60

3)

034

(34

4)

004

(04

5)0

23(2

21

)

20

12(2

111

)0

32(3

12

)2

031

(23

20 )

DR

20

090

039

028

60

113

000

20

050

001

40

098

009

6

Ffo

rD

R2

949

371

36

41

118

3

019

487

123

970

991

R2

for

tota

l

equat

ion

013

50

107

034

10

195

019

50

114

006

50

155

018

9

Note

s

p

010

p

005

p

001

p

000

1

Table IIResults of hierarchicalregression analysis theinmacruence of emotionalintelligence on workattitudes behavior andoutcomes

JMP188

804

senior managers may encounter a higher level of job demands that result inwork-family conmacrict The results indicate that senior managers who have highemotional intelligence may better and more carefully handle the inherentwork-family conmacrict than those who have low emotional intelligence

H6 which states that emotionally intelligent senior managers will displayhigher levels of altruistic behavior was strongly supported (b = 054p 0001) In addition H7 which states that emotional intelligence will benegatively related to withdrawal intentions from the organization and H8which states that emotionally intelligent senior managers will perform the jobbetter than senior managers with low emotional intelligence were supported(b = 2 020 p 010 b = 032 p 001 respectively) These results indicatethat emotional intelligence is an important predictor of both contextualperformance and task performance Note however that H9 which states thatthe higher a senior manager is on emotional intelligence the weaker will be thenegative effect of work-family conmacrict on job satisfaction was not supported(see Table III) The interactive effect of work-family conmacrict and emotionalintelligence on job satisfaction was not signiregcant (b = 003 p = ns)

H10 postulated that the higher a senior manager is on emotionalintelligence the weaker will be the negative effect of work-family conmacrict oncareer commitment The interactive effect of work-family conmacrict andemotional intelligence on career commitment was signiregcant at the 005 level(see Table III) and explained an additional 34 percent of explained variance inthe career commitment

In accordance with convention for plotting interactions (Aiken and West1991 Cohen and Cohen 1983) the cut values for the high and low states on themoderator variable (emotional intelligence) were plus and minus one standarddeviation from the mean Figure 1 presents the interaction of work-familyconmacrict and emotional intelligence in predicting career commitment As shown

Job satisfaction Career commitmentb R 2 DR 2 b R 2 DR 2

Step 1Organizational size 003 004Tenure in organization 014 002Income 016 002

Age 2 005 0058 0058 020 0048 0048Step 2Work-family conmacrict (WF) 2 005 2 009Emotional intelligence (EI) 030 0157 0097 037 0205 0156

Step 3EI pound WF 003 0158 0001 021 0239 0034

Notes p 010 p 005 p 001 p 0001

Table IIIResults of the

moderating role ofemotional intelligence

(EI)

Emotionalintelligence

805

in Figure 1 the interaction of emotional intelligence with work-family conmacrictaffects both the strength and direction of this relationship For senior managerswho are low on emotional intelligence there is a strong positive relationshipand for those who are high on emotional intelligence there is a moderatenegative relationship That is when senior managers with low emotionalintelligence experience high work-family conmacrict they manage to maintainhigh career commitment When highly emotionally intelligent senior managersexperience high work-conmacrict they reduce their career commitment to a morereasonable level to deal with work-family conmacrict

DiscussionThe major goal of this study was to examine the extent to which a criticalcomponent of managerial skills - emotional intelligence - augments positivework attitudes and the contextual and task performance of senior managersemployed in a public sector setting This study advances the literaturepertaining to emotional intelligence by empirically demonstrating theimportance of emotional intelligence for developing positive work-relatedattitudes and contextual and task performance

These regndings are especially of importance for organizations whichrecognize the critical role the top management team plays in their success (seeFinkelstein and Hambrick 1996 Hambrick and Mason 1984) Theeffectiveness of the top management team is a function inter alia of themanagement skills (Whetten and Cameron 2001) possessed by the seniormanagers from which it is comprised Skills of managing people are of uniqueimportance for the creation of effective management and leadership andemotional intelligence as ordfthe subset of social intelligenceordm (Salovey and Mayer1989-1990) may be the most critical component of this class of skills Hencehaving senior executives with high emotional intelligence is a necessity forattaining sustainable results

This study went beyond the simple premise of the importance of emotionalintelligence to demonstrate the extent to which the latter augments favorableattitudes and outcomes The results indicate for example that emotionallyintelligent senior managers develop emotional attachment to their

Figure 1Interaction betweenemotional intelligence(EI) and work-familyconmacrict (WF) predictingcareer commitment (CC)

JMP188

806

organizations and are also more committed to their career In addition regndingsalso indicate that emotionally intelligent senior managers tend to be moresatisreged with their work Retaining talented and knowledgeable seniormanagers becomes a major concern for many organizations Selecting seniormanagers who have high emotional intelligence may have a positive impact onthe extent to which an organization succeeds in retaining its most criticalworkforce Research regndings revealed that occupational commitment (Lee et al2000) and organizational commitment (Mathieu and Zajac 1990) aresigniregcantly related to withdrawal intentions and that job satisfaction andorganizational commitment are by far the main predictors of turnover (Griffethet al 2000) Interestingly however emotional intelligence was not signiregcantlyassociated with job involvement It may be that senior managers exhibit highinvolvement in their jobs because of the role itself which demands much timeand effort Another possible explanation is manifested by the relationshipbetween income and job involvement (b = 025 p 005) suggesting thateconomic factors inmacruence the subjective felt of job involvement Emotionalintelligence may help an individual to better handle demanding managerialwork Nevertheless we are still in need of further investigation regarding thefactors that foster an individualrsquos high level of involvement in her job (Brown1996)

Another important relationship examined in this study is the relationshipbetween emotional intelligence and work-family conmacrict Work-family policiesadopted and implemented by an organization may not provide the wholesolution especially with respect to family interference with work simplybecause employees have some responsibility in determining their own familybalance The results of this study advance the literature by indicating thatemotionally intelligent employees may better handle this conmacrict Anintegration of work-family programs and an emotionally intelligentworkforce can better attain the desired balance This study indicates thatcompared to emotionally intelligent senior managers low-emotionallyintelligent senior managers are not less able to be sensitive enough toacknowledge how work is affected by family matters and thus feel no need toreduce their career commitment Senior managers who are high on emotionalintelligence recognize having important responsibilities at work and at thesame time realize that they may neglect their family and their needs In otherwords they are equally sensitive to what they feel when they are consumedwith my work all the time This recognition help them balance their careercommitment to a healthy mid point (not very high but not very low either)Further examination of the interactive effect of work-family conmacrict andemotional intelligence on career commitment and job satisfaction revealed thatemotional intelligence moderated only the negative inmacruence of work-family oncareer commitment Clearly this regnding should receive further investigation

Emotionalintelligence

807

but it illuminate the kind of role emotional intelligence may play in therelationship of ordfwork stressordm and work attitudes

We found a direct and signiregcant relationship between emotionalintelligence and withdrawal intentions from the organization This intensiregesthe important role that emotional intelligence may have in retaining valuableorganization members The results of this study also indicate that emotionalintelligence augments both contextual (altruistic citizenship behavior) and taskperformance Contextual performance of senior managers is valued becausethe latter oftentimes serves as a ordfrole modelordm and ordfcharacterordm for theorganizationrsquos members to follow This process may have a positive effect onthe organization since organizational citizenship behavior has the potential forexample to enhance co-worker and managerial productivity freeing themanagement from work-related problems so that it can deal with moreproductive tasks and enhancing the sustainability of the organizationrsquosperformance In addition the regnding that emotionally intelligent seniormanagers perform better on the job provides clear evidence to the questionasked by Cherniss (2000) regarding ordfhow important it (emotional intelligence)is for effective performance at workordm and is consistent with Cavallo andBrienzarsquos regndings of a ordfstrong relationship between superior performingleaders and emotional competenceordm

Limitation and directions for future researchSeveral limitations constrain the interpretation and application of the studyrsquosregndings The aim of this study to explore the role of emotional intelligenceamong senior managers is also a weakness because it has not includednon-managerial employees Future studies may be beneregted from anexploration of a wider range of employees at different organizational levelsOne should also be cautious while generalizing the results of this study to othercultures or sectors Prospective research should be directed to exploredifferences among for-proregt governmental and not-for-proregt organizations

Validated and usable measures were employed to reduce the possibility ofbias in general method variance and data was collected from a large number oforganizational units to allow for better external validity and increasedgenerality of the results (Cook and Campbell 1979) Still the reader is cautionedto recognize the limitations of relying on self-reported data This may carry abias of general method variance As can be seen results of hierarchicalregressions provided a relatively small proportion of the explained variance ofthe dependent variables We also compared subjective-reported data toobjective data on organizational size and the comparison yielded no differenceAnd as Xie (1996) indicated there is no theoretical foundation to expect thatinteractions are associated with common method variance Future studies maybeneregt from a longitudinal research design One however must recognize thatcollecting data from a large number of organizations is problematic Finally

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808

this study used a relatively new measure of emotional intelligence and thoughstudies reported good reliability and evidence of validity it would be useful toconduct a study which compare results of this study with those used otheracceptable measures of emotional intelligence

Note

1 When this study was conducted the MSCEIT instrument was not available to the author

References

Abraham R (1999) ordfEmotional intelligence in organizations a conceptualizationordm GeneticSocial and General Psychology Monographs Vol 125 No 2 pp 209-24

Aiken LS and West SG (1991) Multiple Regression Testing and Interpreting InteractionsSage Newbury Park CA

Allen NJ and Meyer JP (1990) ordfThe measurement and antecedents of affective continuanceand normative commitment to the organizationordm Journal of Occupational PsychologyVol 63 pp 1-18

Allen NJ and Meyer JP (1996) ordfAffective continuance and normative commitment to theorganization an examination of construct validityordm Journal of Vocational Behavior Vol 49No 3 pp 252-76

Ashforth BE and Humphrey RH (1995) ordfEmotion in the workplace a reappraisalordm HumanRelations Vol 48 No 2 pp 97-125

Bar-On R (1996) The Emotional Quotient Inventory (EQ-i) A Test of Emotional IntelligenceMulti-Health Systems Toronto

Bar-On R and Parker JDA (2000) The Handbook of Emotional Intelligence TheoryDevelopment Assessment and Application at Home School and in the WorkplaceJossey-Bass San Francisco CA

Bar-On R Brown JM Kirkcaldy BD and Thome EP (2000) ordfEmotional expression andimplications for occupational stress an applicationordm Personality and IndividualDifferences Vol 28 pp 1107-18

Becker HS (1960) ordfNotes on the concept of commitmentordm American Journal of Sociology Vol 66No 1 pp 33-42

Black J and Porter L (1991) ordfManagerial behavior and job performance a successful managerin Los Angeles may not succeed in Hong Kongordm Journal of International Business StudiesVol 22 pp 99-114

Blau GJ (1985) ordfThe measurement and prediction of career commitmentordm Journal ofOccupational Psychology Vol 58 pp 277-88

Blood MR (1969) ordfWork values and job satisfactionordm Journal of Applied Psychology Vol 53pp 456-9

Boyatzis R Goleman D and Rhee K (2000) ordfClustering competence in emotional intelligenceinsights from the emotional competence inventory (ECI)ordm in Bar-On R and Parker JDA(Eds) Handbook of Emotional Intelligence Jossey-Bass San Francisco CA

Brown SP (1996) ordfA meta-analysis and review of organizational research on job involvementordmPsychological Bulletin Vol 120 No 2 pp 235-55

Carlson DS Kacmar MK and Williams LJ (2000) ordfConstruction and initial validations of amultidimensional measure of work-family conmacrictordm Journal of Vocational BehaviorVol 56 pp 249-76

Emotionalintelligence

809

Carmeli A (2002) ordfA conceptual and practical framework of measuring performance of localauthorities in regnancial terms analysing the case of Israelordm Local Government StudiesVol 28 No 1 pp 21-36

Cherniss C (2000) ordfordfEmotional intelligence what it is and why it mattersordm paper presented atthe Annual Meeting of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology NewOrleans LA April p 15

Ciarrochi J Chan AYC and Bajgar J (2001) ordfMeasuring emotional intelligence inadolescentsordm Personality and Individual Differences Vol 31 pp 1105-19

Ciarrochi J Chan AYC and Caputi P (2000) ordfA critical evaluation of the emotionalintelligence constructordm Personality and Individual Differences Vol 28 pp 539-61

Cohen J and Cohen P (1983) Applied Multiple RegressionCorrelation Analysis for theBehavioral Sciences Lawrence Erlbaum Hillsdale NJ

Cook TD and Campbell TD (1979) Quasi-Experimentation Design and Analytical Issues forField Settings Rand-McNally Chicago IL

Cooper RK and Sawaf A (1997) Executive EQ Emotional Intelligence in Leadership andOrganizations GrossetPutnam New York NY

Davies M Stankov L and Roberts R (1998) ordfEmotional intelligence in search of an elusiveconstructordm Journal of Personality and Social Psychology Vol 75 pp 989-1015

Dulewicz V and Higgs MJ (1999) Usersrsquo Guide for the Emotional Intelligence QuestionnaireNFER-Nelson Windsor

Dulewicz V and Higgs MJ (2000) ordfEmotional intelligence a review and evaluation studyordmJournal of Managerial Psychology Vol 15 No 4 pp 341-72

Finkelstein S and Hambrick D (1996) Strategic Leadership Top Executives and Their Effectson Organizations West Publishing Company St Paul MN

Furnham A (1990) The Protestant Work Ethic The Psychology of Work-Related Beliefs andBehaviors Routledge New York NY

GardnerH (1983) Frames of Mind The Theory of Multiple Intelligences Basic Books New YorkNY

George JM (2000) ordfEmotions and leadership the role of emotional intelligenceordm HumanRelations Vol 53 No 8 pp 1027-55

Goleman D (1995) Emotional Intelligence Why It Can Matter More than IQ Bantam BooksNew York NY

Goleman D (1998) Working with Emotional Intelligence Bantam Books New York NY

Goleman D (2001) ordfAn EI-based theory of performanceordm in Cherniss C and Goleman D (Eds)The Emotionally Intelligent Workplace How to Select for Measure and Improve EmotionalIntelligence in Individuals Groups and Organizations Jossey-Bass San Francisco CApp 27-44

Grandey AA (2000) ordfEmotion regulation in the workplace a new way to conceptualizeemotional laborordm Journal of Occupational Health Psychology Vol 5 No 1 pp 95-110

Greenhaus JH and Beutell NJ (1985) ordfSources of conmacrict between work and family rolesordmAcademy of Management Review Vol 10 No 1 pp 76-88

Griffeth RW Hom PW and Gaertner S (2000) ordfA meta-analysis of antecedents and correlatesof employee turnover update moderator test and research implications for the nextmillenniumordm Journal of Management Vol 26 No 3 pp 463-88

Hambrick DC and Mason PA (1984) ordfUpper echelons the organization as a remacrection of itstop managementordm Academy of Management Review Vol 9 pp 193-206

JMP188

810

can be conceptualized as either ability (Ciarrochi et al 2000 Mayer et al 1999)or a personality trait (Schutte and Malouff 1999 Schutte et al 1998)ordm The mostcomprehensive discussion about this issue is provided by a recent study ofMayer et al (2000) As indicated however this issue has not yet resolved Inthis study I rather view emotional intelligence as a competency that isexpected to augment positive attitudes toward work and drive positivebehaviors and better outcomes

The concept of emotional Intelligence goes back to early studies in the 1920s(for a review see Bar-On and Parker 2000) In the early 1980s scholars beganto systematically conceptualize the idea of emotional intelligence NotablyGardnerrsquos (1983) conceptualization of intrapersonal intelligence andinterpersonal intelligence and Steiner (1984) work on emotional literacy werethe building blocks of what Salovey and Mayer (1989-1990) regrst termed asemotional intelligence Based on Bar-Onrsquos previous work Bar-On et al (2000p 1108) view emotional intelligence as a noncognitive intelligence which isderegned as an array of emotional personal and social abilities and skills thatinmacruence an individualrsquos ability to cope effectively with environmentaldemands and pressuresordm This study focuses on the conceptualizationsuggested by Salovey and Mayer (1989-1990) and formulated in 1997 (Mayerand Salovey 1997)

Salovey and Mayer (1989-1990 p 189) deregned emotional intelligence as ordfthesubset of social intelligence that involves the ability to monitor onersquos own andothersrsquo feelings and emotions to discriminate among them and to use thisinformation to guide onersquos thinking and actionsordm Later on they reregned andderegned emotional intelligence as ordfthe ability to perceive emotions to accessand generate emotions so as to assist thoughts to understand emotions andemotional knowledge and to remacrectively regulate emotions so as to promoteemotional and intellectual growthordm (Mayer and Salovey 1997 p 5) A keyconstruct in their deregnition that we need to explain is ordfemotionsordm According toVan Maanen and Kunda (1989 p 53) emotions are ordfineffable feelings of theself-referential sortordm and are comprehensively deregned as ordfself-referentialfeelings an actor (employee) experiences or at least claims to experience inregard to the performances he or she brings off in the social worldordm States offeeling refer to basic emotions (eg joy love anger) and social emotions (egshame guilt jealousy envy) as well as to related constructs as affectsentiments and moods (Ashforth and Humphrey 1995)

Salovey and Mayer (1989-1990) argued that there is a set of threeconceptually related mental processes - appraising and expressing emotionsin the self and others regulating emotion in the self and others and usingemotions in adaptive ways - involving emotional information The followingsare brief descriptions of the content and importance of these mental processes

(1) Appraising and expressing emotions in the self and others Individualsdiffer in the degree to which they are aware of their emotions (appraisal)and the degree to which the latter are verbally and non-verbally being

JMP188

790

expressed (George 2000) Individuals who accurately appraise andexpress (perceive and respond to) their emotions are likely to be betterunderstood by the people they work with and they also have thepotential to better lead and manage people when they are able toperceive the emotions of the people around them and to developempathy - the ability to comprehend anotherrsquos feelings and tore-experience them oneself (Salovey and Mayer 1989-1990)

(2) Regulating emotion in the self and others People differ in their ability tomanage (monitor evaluate and adjust to changing moods) theiremotions as well as in their ability to regulate and alter the affectivereactions of others (Salovey and Mayer 1989-1990) Regulation of onersquosown emotions and moods results in positive and negative affectivestates Emotionally intelligent individuals are adept at placingthemselves in positive affective states and are able to experiencenegative affective states that have insigniregcant destructiveconsequences Emotionally astute people can induce a positive affectin others that results in a powerful social inmacruence (charisma) animportant component of leadership (Wasielewski 1985)

(3) Using emotions in adaptive ways Individuals also differ in the ways(functional vs dysfunctional) in which they utilize their emotionsEmotions can help in generating multiple future plans (macrexible planning) improve the decision-making process due to a better understanding of

onersquos emotional reaction (creative thinking) facilitate cognitive processes such as creativity on the one hand and

punctuality on the other hand (mood redirected attention) and enhance persistence regarding challenging tasks (motivating

emotions) (Salovey and Mayer 1989-1990)

Emotionally astute managersUntil the early 1990s the concept of emotional intelligence received very littleresearch attention The major focus of researchers at that time was on theimportance of cognitive intelligence (eg problem solving capabilities)Nowadays researchers and practitioners recognize the importance of bothcognitive and emotional intelligences for gaining success It seems thatresearchers however attribute to emotional intelligence a signiregcant power ofexplanation of variance in performance As Cary Cherniss puts it ordfIf yoursquore ascientist you probably needed an IQ of 120 or so simply to get a doctorate and ajob But then it is more important to be able to persist in the face of difregcultyand to get along well with colleagues and subordinates than it is to have anextra 10 or 15 points of IQ The same is true in many other occupationsordm(Emphases are not in the original text)

Emotionalintelligence

791

Scholars have also focused on relating emotional intelligence to leadership(George 2000) or showing how components of emotional intelligence such asempathy are important traits that contribute to leadership (Kellett et al 2002Wolff et al 2002) In addition a growing body of research has been concernedwith the degree to which emotional intelligence can make the differencebetween good and poor leaders This stream of research is also of great interestto many organizations that seek to better understand the variance inemployeesrsquo performance Inspired by Daniel Golemanrsquos article ordfWhat Makes aLeaderordm published in The Harvard Business Review in 1998 the topmanagement team of Johnson and Johnson decided to fund a study that ordfwouldassess the importance of Emotional Intelligence in leadership success acrossthe JandJ Consumer Companiesordm The study which was conducted by KathleenCavallo and Dottie Brienza on a randomly selected 358 managers found ordfastrong relationship between superior performing leaders and emotionalcompetence Leaders who received performance ratings of 41 or greater on a5-point scale were rated signiregcantly higher than other participants in all fourof the emotional intelligence dimensions of self-awareness self-managementsocial awareness and social skills by supervisors and subordinatesordm

The growing body of empirical work in the leadership domain has beenmainly devoted to examining the effects of emotional intelligence on theperformance of senior executives The problem with this work is that it hardlyexamines important behavioral attitudes behavior and outcomes that areessential for evaluating whether one can be viewed as an effective manager andleader In this study emotional intelligence was examined with respect to a setof work attitudes work behavior and work outcomes

Emotional intelligence and work attitudesEmotional intelligence and job satisfaction Locke (1969 p 314) deregned jobsatisfaction and dissatisfaction as ordfcomplex emotional reactions to the jobordmConceptualizing job satisfaction as ordffeeling or affective responses to facets ofthe situationordm (Smith et al 1969 p 6) suggests that job satisfaction ispositively associated with the construct of emotional intelligence In additionjob satisfaction is often considered as a proxy for an employeersquos well being atwork (Grandey 2000) Intelligent individuals with high emotional intelligencethrough the above described set of three conceptually related mental processesexperience continuous positive moods and feelings that generate higher levelsof satisfaction and well-being compared to individuals who experience suchfeelings and moods as disappointment depression and anger because they canreach a higher level of general satisfaction and fulregllment We suggest thefollowing hypothesis

H1 There is a positive relationship between emotional intelligence and jobsatisfaction of senior managers

JMP188

792

Emotional intelligence and work commitment Work commitment is amultidimensional construct that comprises various forms Themultidimensionality of work commitment has been established byresearchers who argued that employees develop more than one type of workcommitment (Becker 1960) and that types are in accordance with theemployeesrsquo own beneregts (Ritzer and Trice 1969) This approach has beensigniregcantly advanced by Morrow (1983 1993) who was the regrst to attemptmapping theoretically universal forms of work commitment that are relevant toas many employees as possible (Morrow 1993 p 160) Morrow advocatedconcentrating a research effort on regve universal forms of work commitment asfollows work ethic endorsement career commitment affective organizationalcommitment continuance organizational commitment and job involvement Ina series of studies it has been shown that in addition to most commoncomponents of organizational commitment - affective and continuance - athird component normative commitment should be investigated as well(Meyer and Allen 1997)

This study investigates all of these forms except for work ethicendorsement Work ethic endorsement is the extent to which one believesthat hard work is important and that leisure and excess money are detrimental(Blood 1969 Furnham 1990 Mirels and Garrett 1971 Morrow 1993) It is aordfrelatively regxed attribute over the life courseordm (Morrow 1983 p 495)

The research on emotional intelligence and work commitment hasconcentrated thus far on organizational commitment The latter wasinvestigated (Abraham 1999) in the context with which it has traditionallybeen deregned as ordfthe relative strength of an individualrsquos identiregcation andinvolvement in a particular organizationordm (Mowday et al 1982 p 27) Howeverthis is still a somewhat narrow approach that limits our understanding not onlyof the relationship between emotional intelligence and organizationalcommitment (a concept that comprises three distinct constructs) but alsoregarding how the former is related to work commitment forms such as careercommitment and job involvement

Emotional intelligence and organizational commitment The concept oforganizational commitment incorporates three distinct constructs affectivecontinuance and normative commitment Continuance commitment is deregnedas ordfthe extent to which employees feel committed to their organizations byvirtue of the costs that they feel are associated with leavingordm (Meyer and Allen1984 p 375) Affective commitment is ordfpositive feelings of identiregcation withattachment to and involvement in the work organizationordm (Meyer and Allen1984 p 375) Normative commitment refers to ordfcommitment based on a senseof obligation to the organizationordm (Allen and Meyer 1996 p 253) Employeeswith strong affective commitment remain because they want to employeeswith strong continuance commitment remain because they need to employeeswith strong normative commitment remain because they feel ought to do so

Emotionalintelligence

793

(Allen and Meyer 1990) In this study we examined the relationship betweenemotional intelligence and two forms of organizational commitment - affectiveand continuance

Emotionally intelligent individuals are ordfoptimisticordm a trait that enables themto focus on the resolution rather than the reasoning (who is at fault) The workin any given organization imposes difregculties that may result in feelings offrustration Emotionally intelligent individuals would know not to hold theorganization responsible for every feeling of frustration (Abraham 1999) asthey are adept at placing themselves in positive affective states and able toexperience negative affective states that have insigniregcant destructiveconsequences (Salovey and Mayer 1989-1990) This is especially true forsenior managers who have to reconcile the feelings of frustration of conmacrictinginterest groups within and outside the organization This can be doneeffectively only when they are able to place themselves in a positive state ofmind In addition emotionally intelligent individuals would know how to avoiddysfunctional emotions and use them in adaptive ways to alleviate feelings offrustration Furthermore on the fundamental level people are motivated notonly by the rational exchange approach (Vroom 1964) but also by the extent towhich they are connected emotionally to their work and by the extent to whichits contents provide them with such experiences as joy excitement surpriseand frustration (Ashforth and Humphrey 1995) Thus emotional intelligence isexpected to augment a higher level of affective commitment to the organizationand diminish the level of continuance commitment The following hypothesesare suggested

H2a There is a positive relationship between emotional intelligence andaffective organizational commitment of senior managers

H2b There is a negative relationship between emotional intelligence andcontinuance organizational commitment of senior managers

Emotional intelligence and career commitment Career commitment is deregnedas ordfonersquos attitude toward onersquos profession or vocationordm (Blau 1985 p 20)Employees may encounter difregculties of many kinds in pursuing a career thatmay result in dysfunctional emotions Emotionally intelligent individuals areexpected to recognize manage and use their emotions to eliminate theseobstacles and advance their career horizon better than people with lowemotional intelligence This is especially true when the profession incorporateshigh levels of complexity Highly complex managerial work can be verydemanding and lead to high levels of stress Emotional intelligence enablespeople to control this stress effectively and prevent its negative effects on onersquosattitude towards her profession The following hypothesis is suggested

H3 There is a positive relationship between emotional intelligence andcareer commitment of senior managers

JMP188

794

Emotional intelligence and job involvement Job involvement is ordfa beliefdescriptive of the present job and tends to be a function of how much the jobcan satisfy onersquos present needsordm (Kanungo 1982 p 342) As indicated aboveemployees do not get involved in the job only for self-rational interestfulregllment they also get involved in the job because they let their emotionsplay a role Becoming highly involved in the job is oftentimes a response toemotional rather than rational needs Ashforth and Humphrey (1995) cited inFinersquos (1998) work the quotes of a cook discussing the centrality of beingemotionally involved in the job ordfI just love the activity I concentrate totallyso I donrsquot know how I feel itrsquos like another sense takes overordm People aresocial creatures who through job involvement regll the need for emotionalexperience Managerial work is often complex and challenging and seniormanagers with a high emotional intelligence often get extremely involved inchallenging experiences and complex situations that may not occur elsewhereSenior managers for example often remain beyond the required workinghours They do this not for economic reward but because it allows them to copewith those complexities that yield an intense emotional experience Thefollowing hypothesis is suggested

H4 There is a positive relationship between emotional intelligence and jobinvolvement of senior managers

Emotional intelligence and work-family conmacrict Work-family conmacrict is deregnedas ordfa form of inter-role conmacrict in which the role pressures from work andfamily domains are mutually incompatible in some respect That isparticipation in the work (family) role is made more difregcult by virtue ofparticipation in the family (work) roleordm (Greenhaus and Beutell 1985 p 77)Because this study attempted to explore the role of emotional intelligence in theworkplace we concentrated on family interference with work exploring acombination of three forms of work-family conmacrict (time strain and behavior)suggested by Carlson et al (2000) The form of time-based family interferencemay occur when time devoted to one role makes it difregcult to get involved inanother role The form of strain-based family interference proposes that strainin one role intrudes into and interferes with participation in another roleBehavior family interference with work occurs when speciregc behaviorsrequired in one role are incompatible with behavioral expectations in anotherrole (Carlson et al 2000)

Eliminating work-family conmacrict is the responsibility of both theorganization and its employees Keith H Hammonds (1996) quoted EllenGalinsky saying that ordfCompanies are seeing they have all these programs (iework-family policies) but people are still really stressed out Certainlyemployees bear some responsibility for determining their own family balanceBut they need help Companies that recognize the need and adapt work topeoplesrsquo lives will win workersrsquo loyalty - and with that a competitive edge

Emotionalintelligence

795

With respect to the role of the individuals one may expect that a highemotional intelligence would help them balance family interference with workIn fact they may be more capable of preventing work-family conmacrict from thebeginning due to their emotional astuteness incorporates the recognition of thedegree to which the family plays an emotional role for them and thoseconnected to them the insight as to how these emotions should be managedand the ability to improve the decision-making process The followinghypothesis is suggested

H5 There is a negative relationship between emotional intelligence andwork-family conmacrict (family interference with work) of seniormanagers

Emotional intelligence and organizational citizenship behavior Organizationalcitizenship behavior (OCB) is an extra-role behavior that goes beyond formalrole requirements (Smith et al 1983) Emotional intelligence may enhancealtruistic behavior as it enables employees to comprehend their co-workersrsquofeelings and to respond better than employees with low emotional intelligencebecause of their ability to easily shift from negative to positive moods(Abraham 1999) Staw et al (1994) suggested three explanations for theengagement of an emotionally intelligent individual in altruistic behaviorFirst being in a good mood is reinforcing and displaying altruism is rewardingin the sense that it enables employees to also maintain this state of mindSecond people in good moods may be more socially interactive Third whenemployees are more satisreged (having positive emotional reactions to the job)they are more likely to be engaged in helpful behavior The followinghypothesis is suggested

H6 There is a positive relationship between emotional intelligence andorganizational citizenship behavior - altruism of senior managers

Emotional intelligence and work outcomesEmotional intelligence and withdrawal intentions from the organizationWithdrawal of employees is a process (Mobley 1977 1982a b Mobley et al1978) which comprises constructs of withdrawal intentions (thinking ofquitting intention to search and intention to quit) as well as constructs ofwithdrawal behaviors (actually quitting absence) (Miller et al 1979 Mobleyet al 1978) A recent meta-analysis used the constructs of intention to quitthinking of quitting withdrawal cognitions and expected utility of withdrawalas the components of withdrawal intentions (Griffeth et al 2000) In this studywe assess the withdrawal intentions process of senior managers

Emotional intelligence may signiregcantly diminish employeesrsquo withdrawalintentions because of the ability to better regulate emotions Emotionallyintelligent individuals are adept at putting themselves in positive affective

JMP188

796

states and although they may experience negative affective states at timesthese do not have signiregcant destructive consequences Being in positiveaffective states is of importance in the sense of not becoming despondent in theface of daily and even more profound obstacles occurring in organizational lifeRather the individuals are likely to see the positive side of things and use theiremotions for example to enhance persistence at challenging times andfacilitate creativity for resolving difregculties To a certain degree emotionallyintelligent individuals perceive themselves as part of the solution As suchthey feel a high level of identiregcation and are less likely to develop withdrawalintentions This is especially true for senior managers who must deal with theirown difregculties as well as those of others Those with high emotionalintelligence will be inclined to stay and deal with difregculties in adaptive waysThis however is not to say that emotionally intelligent individuals do not facedifregculties when encountering job stress and changes in their job and careerrather they have more and better capabilities than low emotionally individualsto cope with it and thus are likely develop lower withdrawal intentions Thefollowing hypothesis is suggested

H7 There is a negative relationship between emotional intelligence andwithdrawal intentions of senior managers from the organization

Emotional intelligence and job performance Evidence supports a positive effectof emotional intelligence on the success of the individual at work (for a reviewsee Goleman 2001) This is of particularly importance if we believe thatordfmanagement skills lie at the heart of leadershipordm (Whetten and Cameron 2001p 15) and speciregcally recognize the need to develop and acquire skills formanaging people and that emotional intelligence may have a critical role in thecreation of effective leadership A notable study conducted by George (2000)showed how the aspects of emotional intelligence - appraisal and expressionof emotions use of emotion to enhance cognitive processing and decisionmaking knowledge about emotions and management of emotions - contributeto effective leadership For the purpose of this study it is important to note thatalthough it is theoretically signiregcant to show how each aspect affectsperformance it is more accurate to recognize that skills come in groups andclusters and that they support one another (Goleman 2001) The concept ofemotional intelligence seems to encompass this ordfcritical massordm of skills(Boyatzis et al 2000 Goleman 2001) The following hypothesis is suggested

H8 There is a positive relationship between emotional intelligence and jobperformance of senior managers

The moderator role of emotional intelligenceThe literature suggests that the negative effect of work-family conmacrict on workattitudes may be moderated by several variables (see for example Martins

Emotionalintelligence

797

et al 2002) In this study emotional intelligence is expected to moderate therelationship between work-family conmacrict and job satisfaction and therelationship between work-family conmacrict and career commitment

Family interference with work may have some negative consequences on theextent which an employee will be satisreged with her work and committed to hercareer However emotionally intelligent individuals are likely to have the abilityto control for such interferences or at least moderate them to an acceptable levelOn the basis of this logic the following hypotheses are suggested

H9 Emotional intelligence will moderate the relationship betweenwork-family conmacrict and job satisfaction of senior managersSpeciregcally there will be more negative relationship betweenwork-family conmacrict and job satisfaction for senior managers whoare low on emotional intelligence than for those who are high onemotional intelligence

H10 Emotional intelligence will moderate the relationship betweenwork-family conmacrict and career commitment of senior managersSpeciregcally for low emotionally intelligent senior managers there willbe a strong positive relationship between work-conmacrict family andcareer commitment and for highly emotional intelligent seniormanagers there will be a moderate negative relationship betweenwork-conmacrict family and career commitment

MethodologyRespondents and data collectionThe population of this study was senior managers employed as chief regnancialofregcers in the local government authorities in Israel A direct-mailquestionnaire was sent to 262 senior managers The questionnaire wasmailed from and returned to a university address using a self-addressed replyenvelope Ninety-eight usable questionnaires were returned The respondentsrsquoaverage age was 466 years (SD 924) 11 were women and 794 percent held atleast bachelorrsquos degree Their average tenure in their present organization was1147 (SD 913) The average income of the respondents was 256 (SD 054)(1 = up to 10000 New Israeli Shekel (NIS) 2 = 10001 to 20000 and 3 = 20001and above) Note that annual average value of US$ 1 and 1 Euro in 2001 was4205 NIS and 37644 NIS respectively The average size of the organizations(measured by the number of permanent residents for which the organization isresponsible to provide services see Carmeli 2002) was 24729 (SD 5425937)

Dependent variablesWork outcomes Job performance and withdrawal intentions from theorganization were used to assess employeersquos work outcomes

JMP188

798

(1) Job performance This measure was evaluated by a scale developed byPearce and Porter (1986) and used by Black and Porter (1991) andHochwarter et al (1999) This measure contains regve items (overallperformance ability to get along with others completing tasks on timequality of performance and achievement of work goals) that wereassessed on a seven-point scale (ranging from 1 = strongly disagree to7 = strongly agree) Although such difregculties as self-enhancement andobjectivity and reliability may be encountered Mabe and West (1982)showed that self-evaluation measures were more valid than pointed outin prior research (Hochwarter et al (1999) The Cronbachrsquos alpha for thisscale was 087

(2) Withdrawal intentions from the organization This measure was drawnfrom the measure examined by Mobley et al (1978) and widely used inthe literature (Michaels and Spector 1982 Miller et al 1979) It assesseswithdrawal intentions of an employee from hisher organization andconsists of three items I think a lot about leaving the organization I am actively searching for an alternative to the organization and As soon as it is possible I will leave the organization

This measure was assessed on a 5-point scale from 1 = strongly disagree to5 = strongly agree The Cronbachrsquos alpha for this scale was 090

Work behavior

(1) Altruistic behavior This variable was drawn from the multi-dimensionalscale of organizational citizenship behavior developed by Podsakoff andMacKenzie (1989) and modireged and validated by Podsakoff et al (1990)Altruistic behavior was measured using three items that were assessedon a regve-point scale ranging from 1 = strongly disagree to 5 = stronglyagree Sample items are ordfI help others who have heavy workloadsordm ordfIhelp others who have been absentordm The Cronbachrsquos alpha for this scalewas 082

Work attitudesFour work commitment forms (career commitment jobinvolvement affective commitment and continuance commitment) and jobsatisfaction were used to assess employeersquos work attitudes In additionwork-family conmacrict was examined as follows

(1) Career commitment This measure was assessed by a scale developed byBlau (1985) Sample items are ordfI like this profession too much to give itupordm and ordfI am disappointed with being a CEOordm (reverse scored) Themeasure was assessed on a regve-point scale (ranging from 1 = stronglydisagree to 5 = strongly agree) The Cronbachrsquos alpha for this scalewas 074

Emotionalintelligence

799

(2) Job involvement This measure is based on a 10-item scale developed byKanungo (1982) Sample items are ordfThe most important things thathappen to me involve my present jobordm and ordfMost of my personal lifegoals are job-orientedordm The measure was assessed on a seven-pointscale ranging from 1 = strongly disagree to 7 = strongly agree TheCronbachrsquos alpha for this scale was 082

(3) Affective organizational commitmentThis measure is based on the scaledeveloped and validated by Allen and Meyer (1990) Sample items are ordfIreally feel as if this organizationrsquos problems are my ownordm and ordfI do not feellike ordfpart of the familyordm at my organizationordm (reversed item) The measurewas assessed on a seven-point scale (ranging from 1 = strongly disagreeto 7 = strongly agree) The Cronbachrsquos alpha for this scale was 073

(4) Continuance organizational commitmentThis measure is based on thescale developed and validated by Allen and Meyer (1990) Sample itemsare ordfRight now staying with my organization is a matter of necessity asmuch as desireordm and ordfToo much in my life would be disrupted if Idecided I wanted to leave my organization nowordm The measure wasassessed on a seven-point scale (ranging from 1 = strongly disagree to7 = strongly agree) The Cronbachrsquos alpha for this scale was 082

(5) Job satisfaction This measure was estimated by a 6-items scaleemployed by Tsui et al (1992) Sample items are ordfHow satisreged are youwith the nature of the work you performordm and ordfConsidering everythinghow satisreged are you with your current job situationordm The measure wasassessed on a regve-point scale (ranging from 1 = very dissatisreged to5 = very satisreged) The Cronbachrsquos alpha for this scale was 068

(6) Work-family conmacrict This measure was based on a measure developedand validated by Carlson et al 2000) Since this study examines the role ofemotional intelligence in the workplace we concentrated on familyinterference with work exploring a combination of three forms ofwork-family conmacrict (time strain and behavior) which consisted of threeitems each Sample items are ordfThe time I spend on family responsibilitiesoften interferes with my work responsibilitiesordm (time-based familyinterference) ordfDue to stress at home I am often preoccupied with familymatters at workordm (strain-based family interference) ordfThe behaviors thatwork for me at home do not seem to be effective at workordm (behavior-basedfamily interference) All items were ranged from 1 = strongly disagree to5 = strongly agree (5 = presents high conmacrict) The nine items wereloaded onto a single factor The Cronbachrsquos alpha for this scale was 079

Independentmoderator variableEmotional intelligence Over the years considerable research effort resulted invarious instruments for measuring emotional intelligence (EQi of Bar-On 1996

JMP188

800

Executive EQ of Cooper and Sawaf 1997 EIQ Dulewicz and Higgs 1999MSCEIT of Mayer et al 2000 ECI of Boyatzis and Goleman 1998)

In this study emotional intelligence was measured with the self-reportmeasure of emotional intelligence developed by Schutte et al (1998) for severalreasons First this measure is based on the framework of emotional intelligencedeveloped by Salovey and Mayer 1989-1990 and later formulated (Mayer andSalovey 1997)[1] Second previous study found some limitations in earlyself-report measures of emotional intelligence such as insufregcient reliabilityand connections with personality factors (Davies et al 1998) Third studiesthat evaluated the measure of Schutte and her colleagues (1998) in both adultand adolescents population indicate that this measure seems to overcome theobserved difregculties in other measures of emotional intelligence (Ciarrochi et al2000 Ciarrochi et al 2001) Finally in macro level studies self report measureof emotional intelligence which is brief validated and based on a cohesive andcomprehensive model of emotional intelligence (Salovey and Mayer 1989-1990Mayer and Salovey 1997) is very useful

The measure used in this study consists of 33 items Sample items are ordfIknow when to speak about my personal problems to othersordm and ordfI am awareof my emotions as I experience themordm (appraisal and expression of emotion) ordfIpresent myself in a way that makes a good impression on othersordm and I havecontrol over my emotionsordm (regulation of emotion) ordfwhen I feel a change inemotions I tend to come up with new ideasordm and I use good moods to helpmyself keep trying in the face of obstaclesordm (utilization) All items were rangedfrom 1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree The Cronbachrsquos alpha forthis scale was 090

Control variablesWe control for

(1) Organizational size Measured by the number of permanent residents forwhich the organization is responsible for provision of services (Carmeli2002)

(2) Tenure in the organization Measured by the number of years therespondent is employed in the current organization

(3) Gross income (1 = up to 10000 NIS New Israeli Shekel 2 = 10001 to20000 NIS 3 = 20001 to 30000 NIS 4 = 30001 to 40000 NIS and4 = above 40000 NIS)

(4) Respondentsrsquo age

Because the vast majority of the respondents were male differences betweenmale and female respondents could not be established

Data analysisTo assess the relationship between emotional intelligence and work attitudesbehavior and outcomes we performed a series of separate hierarchical

Emotionalintelligence

801

regression analyses Each model had two steps The regrst step involvedentering the control variables and the second step involved entering theindependent variable

To examine the interaction hypotheses the variables were entered into theregression equations in three steps The control variables were entered in theregrst step In the second step we entered the ordfmain effectsordm (work-familyconmacrict and emotional intelligence) Finally the work-family conmacrict Xemotional intelligence product term variable was entered in the third step Bothvariables were mean-centered as is suggested for variables that are to beconstituents of product terms (Aiken and West 1991)

ResultsTable I reports the means standard deviations and correlation coefregcients ofvariables used in the analysis Though several variables are related Table Iindicates no severe problems of multicolinearity as none of the related variablesexceeded the value of 060 Furthermore we performed separate hierarchicalregressions for the effect of emotional intelligence on each one of the dependentvariables Table I also provides a preliminary support for the signiregcantrelationships between emotional intelligence and work attitudes workbehavior and work outcomes

Table II presents the results of hierarchical regression Emotionalintelligence was positively and signiregcantly related to job satisfaction(b = 032 p 001) supporting H1 This regnding is consistent with theargument according to which emotionally intelligent individuals are likely todisplay higher overall satisfaction in the workplace

Supporting H2a we provide evidence that when senior managers have highemotional intelligence they tend to develop high affective commitment(emotional attachment) to the organization for which they work (b = 023p 005) H2b on the other hand was not supported as the relationshipbetween emotional intelligence and continuance commitment was notsigniregcant (b = 2 012 p = ns) The beta coefregcient though not statisticallysigniregcant was in the expected direction

We found support for H3 Emotionally intelligent senior managers develophigh commitment toward their career (b = 034 p 0001) However contraryto H4 emotional intelligence was statistically unrelated to job involvement Itmay be that the involvement of senior managers is more complex than weassumed and is affected by other important factors not examined here Thoughno prediction was made we found that job involvement was signiregcantlyrelated to tenure in the organization (b = 020 p 010) as well as to grossincome (b = 025 p 005)

The results support H5 stating that senior managers who have highemotional intelligence are more likely to effectively control work-family conmacrict(b = 2 031 p 001) Compared to low and middle-level position employees

JMP188

802

Mea

ns

d

12

34

56

78

910

1112

13

Job

per

form

ance

561

078

100

Wit

hdra

wal

inte

nti

ons

from

an

organ

izat

ion

218

094

20

18

Alt

ruis

tic

beh

avio

r3

780

630

32

0

11

Car

eer

com

mit

men

t3

590

600

22

20

47

0

07

Job

invol

vem

ent

440

089

003

20

130

160

24

Aff

ecti

ve

com

mit

men

t4

730

880

31

20

39

0

160

42

0

48

Con

tinuan

ce

com

mit

men

t3

871

172

030

2

005

20

28

20

100

022

007

Job

sati

sfac

tion

374

051

045

2

038

031

0

39

0

27

055

2

029

Wor

k-f

amily

conmacr

ict

212

049

20

190

042

015

20

152

001

20

190

34

2

011

Em

otio

nal

inte

llig

ence

371

037

032

2

020

0

38

0

38

0

140

24

20

070

27

20

27

Org

aniz

atio

nal

size

247

2954

259

20

012

001

20

010

050

21

011

005

008

021

2

007

Ten

ure

in

organ

izat

ion

114

79

130

022

024

0

120

21

017

006

005

004

010

20

050

03

Age

466

39

242

001

20

190

030

120

31

021

0

150

170

150

100

170

43

Inco

me

256

054

014

20

020

26

006

031

0

172

010

022

2

011

001

016

013

025

Note

saT

wo-

tailed

test

s

p

005

p

001

p

0

001

Table IMeans standard

deviations andcorrelationsa

Emotionalintelligence

803

Job

per

form

Wit

hdrw

l

inte

nt

Alt

ruis

tic

beh

avio

r

Car

eer

com

mit

Job

invol

ve

Aff

ecti

ve

com

mit

Con

tin

com

mit

Job

sati

sfac

tion

Wor

k

fam

ily

conmacr

ict

b(t)

b(t

)b

(t)

b(t)

b(t

)b

(t)

b(t)

b(t)

b(t

)

Ste

p1

Org

aniz

a-

tion

alsi

ze0

00(0

01)

20

01(0

93)

001

(00

7)0

07(0

73)

015

(14

7)0

09(0

83)

005

(04

3)0

06(0

56)

019

(19

3)

Ten

ure

in

organ

iza-

tion

al2

009

(20

75)

20

10(2

087

)2

009

(20

87)

20

03(2

023

)0

20(1

76

)0

15(1

24)

019

(15

8)0

12(1

06)

018

(16

2)

Inco

me

016

(15

4)0

03(0

31)

018

(19

1)

005

(04

5)0

25(2

43

)

011

(10

8)2

016

(21

48)

013

(12

1)2

016

(21

59)

Age

006

(05

8)2

022

(21

94)

008

(08

7)0

27(2

53

)

006

(05

7)0

00(2

004

)0

00(0

00)

20

04(2

036

)2

003

(20

29)

R2

003

80

068

005

50

082

019

30

064

005

10

058

009

3

Ste

p2

Em

otio

nal

inte

llig

ence

032

(30

8)

20

20(2

193

)

054

(60

3)

034

(34

4)

004

(04

5)0

23(2

21

)

20

12(2

111

)0

32(3

12

)2

031

(23

20 )

DR

20

090

039

028

60

113

000

20

050

001

40

098

009

6

Ffo

rD

R2

949

371

36

41

118

3

019

487

123

970

991

R2

for

tota

l

equat

ion

013

50

107

034

10

195

019

50

114

006

50

155

018

9

Note

s

p

010

p

005

p

001

p

000

1

Table IIResults of hierarchicalregression analysis theinmacruence of emotionalintelligence on workattitudes behavior andoutcomes

JMP188

804

senior managers may encounter a higher level of job demands that result inwork-family conmacrict The results indicate that senior managers who have highemotional intelligence may better and more carefully handle the inherentwork-family conmacrict than those who have low emotional intelligence

H6 which states that emotionally intelligent senior managers will displayhigher levels of altruistic behavior was strongly supported (b = 054p 0001) In addition H7 which states that emotional intelligence will benegatively related to withdrawal intentions from the organization and H8which states that emotionally intelligent senior managers will perform the jobbetter than senior managers with low emotional intelligence were supported(b = 2 020 p 010 b = 032 p 001 respectively) These results indicatethat emotional intelligence is an important predictor of both contextualperformance and task performance Note however that H9 which states thatthe higher a senior manager is on emotional intelligence the weaker will be thenegative effect of work-family conmacrict on job satisfaction was not supported(see Table III) The interactive effect of work-family conmacrict and emotionalintelligence on job satisfaction was not signiregcant (b = 003 p = ns)

H10 postulated that the higher a senior manager is on emotionalintelligence the weaker will be the negative effect of work-family conmacrict oncareer commitment The interactive effect of work-family conmacrict andemotional intelligence on career commitment was signiregcant at the 005 level(see Table III) and explained an additional 34 percent of explained variance inthe career commitment

In accordance with convention for plotting interactions (Aiken and West1991 Cohen and Cohen 1983) the cut values for the high and low states on themoderator variable (emotional intelligence) were plus and minus one standarddeviation from the mean Figure 1 presents the interaction of work-familyconmacrict and emotional intelligence in predicting career commitment As shown

Job satisfaction Career commitmentb R 2 DR 2 b R 2 DR 2

Step 1Organizational size 003 004Tenure in organization 014 002Income 016 002

Age 2 005 0058 0058 020 0048 0048Step 2Work-family conmacrict (WF) 2 005 2 009Emotional intelligence (EI) 030 0157 0097 037 0205 0156

Step 3EI pound WF 003 0158 0001 021 0239 0034

Notes p 010 p 005 p 001 p 0001

Table IIIResults of the

moderating role ofemotional intelligence

(EI)

Emotionalintelligence

805

in Figure 1 the interaction of emotional intelligence with work-family conmacrictaffects both the strength and direction of this relationship For senior managerswho are low on emotional intelligence there is a strong positive relationshipand for those who are high on emotional intelligence there is a moderatenegative relationship That is when senior managers with low emotionalintelligence experience high work-family conmacrict they manage to maintainhigh career commitment When highly emotionally intelligent senior managersexperience high work-conmacrict they reduce their career commitment to a morereasonable level to deal with work-family conmacrict

DiscussionThe major goal of this study was to examine the extent to which a criticalcomponent of managerial skills - emotional intelligence - augments positivework attitudes and the contextual and task performance of senior managersemployed in a public sector setting This study advances the literaturepertaining to emotional intelligence by empirically demonstrating theimportance of emotional intelligence for developing positive work-relatedattitudes and contextual and task performance

These regndings are especially of importance for organizations whichrecognize the critical role the top management team plays in their success (seeFinkelstein and Hambrick 1996 Hambrick and Mason 1984) Theeffectiveness of the top management team is a function inter alia of themanagement skills (Whetten and Cameron 2001) possessed by the seniormanagers from which it is comprised Skills of managing people are of uniqueimportance for the creation of effective management and leadership andemotional intelligence as ordfthe subset of social intelligenceordm (Salovey and Mayer1989-1990) may be the most critical component of this class of skills Hencehaving senior executives with high emotional intelligence is a necessity forattaining sustainable results

This study went beyond the simple premise of the importance of emotionalintelligence to demonstrate the extent to which the latter augments favorableattitudes and outcomes The results indicate for example that emotionallyintelligent senior managers develop emotional attachment to their

Figure 1Interaction betweenemotional intelligence(EI) and work-familyconmacrict (WF) predictingcareer commitment (CC)

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organizations and are also more committed to their career In addition regndingsalso indicate that emotionally intelligent senior managers tend to be moresatisreged with their work Retaining talented and knowledgeable seniormanagers becomes a major concern for many organizations Selecting seniormanagers who have high emotional intelligence may have a positive impact onthe extent to which an organization succeeds in retaining its most criticalworkforce Research regndings revealed that occupational commitment (Lee et al2000) and organizational commitment (Mathieu and Zajac 1990) aresigniregcantly related to withdrawal intentions and that job satisfaction andorganizational commitment are by far the main predictors of turnover (Griffethet al 2000) Interestingly however emotional intelligence was not signiregcantlyassociated with job involvement It may be that senior managers exhibit highinvolvement in their jobs because of the role itself which demands much timeand effort Another possible explanation is manifested by the relationshipbetween income and job involvement (b = 025 p 005) suggesting thateconomic factors inmacruence the subjective felt of job involvement Emotionalintelligence may help an individual to better handle demanding managerialwork Nevertheless we are still in need of further investigation regarding thefactors that foster an individualrsquos high level of involvement in her job (Brown1996)

Another important relationship examined in this study is the relationshipbetween emotional intelligence and work-family conmacrict Work-family policiesadopted and implemented by an organization may not provide the wholesolution especially with respect to family interference with work simplybecause employees have some responsibility in determining their own familybalance The results of this study advance the literature by indicating thatemotionally intelligent employees may better handle this conmacrict Anintegration of work-family programs and an emotionally intelligentworkforce can better attain the desired balance This study indicates thatcompared to emotionally intelligent senior managers low-emotionallyintelligent senior managers are not less able to be sensitive enough toacknowledge how work is affected by family matters and thus feel no need toreduce their career commitment Senior managers who are high on emotionalintelligence recognize having important responsibilities at work and at thesame time realize that they may neglect their family and their needs In otherwords they are equally sensitive to what they feel when they are consumedwith my work all the time This recognition help them balance their careercommitment to a healthy mid point (not very high but not very low either)Further examination of the interactive effect of work-family conmacrict andemotional intelligence on career commitment and job satisfaction revealed thatemotional intelligence moderated only the negative inmacruence of work-family oncareer commitment Clearly this regnding should receive further investigation

Emotionalintelligence

807

but it illuminate the kind of role emotional intelligence may play in therelationship of ordfwork stressordm and work attitudes

We found a direct and signiregcant relationship between emotionalintelligence and withdrawal intentions from the organization This intensiregesthe important role that emotional intelligence may have in retaining valuableorganization members The results of this study also indicate that emotionalintelligence augments both contextual (altruistic citizenship behavior) and taskperformance Contextual performance of senior managers is valued becausethe latter oftentimes serves as a ordfrole modelordm and ordfcharacterordm for theorganizationrsquos members to follow This process may have a positive effect onthe organization since organizational citizenship behavior has the potential forexample to enhance co-worker and managerial productivity freeing themanagement from work-related problems so that it can deal with moreproductive tasks and enhancing the sustainability of the organizationrsquosperformance In addition the regnding that emotionally intelligent seniormanagers perform better on the job provides clear evidence to the questionasked by Cherniss (2000) regarding ordfhow important it (emotional intelligence)is for effective performance at workordm and is consistent with Cavallo andBrienzarsquos regndings of a ordfstrong relationship between superior performingleaders and emotional competenceordm

Limitation and directions for future researchSeveral limitations constrain the interpretation and application of the studyrsquosregndings The aim of this study to explore the role of emotional intelligenceamong senior managers is also a weakness because it has not includednon-managerial employees Future studies may be beneregted from anexploration of a wider range of employees at different organizational levelsOne should also be cautious while generalizing the results of this study to othercultures or sectors Prospective research should be directed to exploredifferences among for-proregt governmental and not-for-proregt organizations

Validated and usable measures were employed to reduce the possibility ofbias in general method variance and data was collected from a large number oforganizational units to allow for better external validity and increasedgenerality of the results (Cook and Campbell 1979) Still the reader is cautionedto recognize the limitations of relying on self-reported data This may carry abias of general method variance As can be seen results of hierarchicalregressions provided a relatively small proportion of the explained variance ofthe dependent variables We also compared subjective-reported data toobjective data on organizational size and the comparison yielded no differenceAnd as Xie (1996) indicated there is no theoretical foundation to expect thatinteractions are associated with common method variance Future studies maybeneregt from a longitudinal research design One however must recognize thatcollecting data from a large number of organizations is problematic Finally

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this study used a relatively new measure of emotional intelligence and thoughstudies reported good reliability and evidence of validity it would be useful toconduct a study which compare results of this study with those used otheracceptable measures of emotional intelligence

Note

1 When this study was conducted the MSCEIT instrument was not available to the author

References

Abraham R (1999) ordfEmotional intelligence in organizations a conceptualizationordm GeneticSocial and General Psychology Monographs Vol 125 No 2 pp 209-24

Aiken LS and West SG (1991) Multiple Regression Testing and Interpreting InteractionsSage Newbury Park CA

Allen NJ and Meyer JP (1990) ordfThe measurement and antecedents of affective continuanceand normative commitment to the organizationordm Journal of Occupational PsychologyVol 63 pp 1-18

Allen NJ and Meyer JP (1996) ordfAffective continuance and normative commitment to theorganization an examination of construct validityordm Journal of Vocational Behavior Vol 49No 3 pp 252-76

Ashforth BE and Humphrey RH (1995) ordfEmotion in the workplace a reappraisalordm HumanRelations Vol 48 No 2 pp 97-125

Bar-On R (1996) The Emotional Quotient Inventory (EQ-i) A Test of Emotional IntelligenceMulti-Health Systems Toronto

Bar-On R and Parker JDA (2000) The Handbook of Emotional Intelligence TheoryDevelopment Assessment and Application at Home School and in the WorkplaceJossey-Bass San Francisco CA

Bar-On R Brown JM Kirkcaldy BD and Thome EP (2000) ordfEmotional expression andimplications for occupational stress an applicationordm Personality and IndividualDifferences Vol 28 pp 1107-18

Becker HS (1960) ordfNotes on the concept of commitmentordm American Journal of Sociology Vol 66No 1 pp 33-42

Black J and Porter L (1991) ordfManagerial behavior and job performance a successful managerin Los Angeles may not succeed in Hong Kongordm Journal of International Business StudiesVol 22 pp 99-114

Blau GJ (1985) ordfThe measurement and prediction of career commitmentordm Journal ofOccupational Psychology Vol 58 pp 277-88

Blood MR (1969) ordfWork values and job satisfactionordm Journal of Applied Psychology Vol 53pp 456-9

Boyatzis R Goleman D and Rhee K (2000) ordfClustering competence in emotional intelligenceinsights from the emotional competence inventory (ECI)ordm in Bar-On R and Parker JDA(Eds) Handbook of Emotional Intelligence Jossey-Bass San Francisco CA

Brown SP (1996) ordfA meta-analysis and review of organizational research on job involvementordmPsychological Bulletin Vol 120 No 2 pp 235-55

Carlson DS Kacmar MK and Williams LJ (2000) ordfConstruction and initial validations of amultidimensional measure of work-family conmacrictordm Journal of Vocational BehaviorVol 56 pp 249-76

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809

Carmeli A (2002) ordfA conceptual and practical framework of measuring performance of localauthorities in regnancial terms analysing the case of Israelordm Local Government StudiesVol 28 No 1 pp 21-36

Cherniss C (2000) ordfordfEmotional intelligence what it is and why it mattersordm paper presented atthe Annual Meeting of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology NewOrleans LA April p 15

Ciarrochi J Chan AYC and Bajgar J (2001) ordfMeasuring emotional intelligence inadolescentsordm Personality and Individual Differences Vol 31 pp 1105-19

Ciarrochi J Chan AYC and Caputi P (2000) ordfA critical evaluation of the emotionalintelligence constructordm Personality and Individual Differences Vol 28 pp 539-61

Cohen J and Cohen P (1983) Applied Multiple RegressionCorrelation Analysis for theBehavioral Sciences Lawrence Erlbaum Hillsdale NJ

Cook TD and Campbell TD (1979) Quasi-Experimentation Design and Analytical Issues forField Settings Rand-McNally Chicago IL

Cooper RK and Sawaf A (1997) Executive EQ Emotional Intelligence in Leadership andOrganizations GrossetPutnam New York NY

Davies M Stankov L and Roberts R (1998) ordfEmotional intelligence in search of an elusiveconstructordm Journal of Personality and Social Psychology Vol 75 pp 989-1015

Dulewicz V and Higgs MJ (1999) Usersrsquo Guide for the Emotional Intelligence QuestionnaireNFER-Nelson Windsor

Dulewicz V and Higgs MJ (2000) ordfEmotional intelligence a review and evaluation studyordmJournal of Managerial Psychology Vol 15 No 4 pp 341-72

Finkelstein S and Hambrick D (1996) Strategic Leadership Top Executives and Their Effectson Organizations West Publishing Company St Paul MN

Furnham A (1990) The Protestant Work Ethic The Psychology of Work-Related Beliefs andBehaviors Routledge New York NY

GardnerH (1983) Frames of Mind The Theory of Multiple Intelligences Basic Books New YorkNY

George JM (2000) ordfEmotions and leadership the role of emotional intelligenceordm HumanRelations Vol 53 No 8 pp 1027-55

Goleman D (1995) Emotional Intelligence Why It Can Matter More than IQ Bantam BooksNew York NY

Goleman D (1998) Working with Emotional Intelligence Bantam Books New York NY

Goleman D (2001) ordfAn EI-based theory of performanceordm in Cherniss C and Goleman D (Eds)The Emotionally Intelligent Workplace How to Select for Measure and Improve EmotionalIntelligence in Individuals Groups and Organizations Jossey-Bass San Francisco CApp 27-44

Grandey AA (2000) ordfEmotion regulation in the workplace a new way to conceptualizeemotional laborordm Journal of Occupational Health Psychology Vol 5 No 1 pp 95-110

Greenhaus JH and Beutell NJ (1985) ordfSources of conmacrict between work and family rolesordmAcademy of Management Review Vol 10 No 1 pp 76-88

Griffeth RW Hom PW and Gaertner S (2000) ordfA meta-analysis of antecedents and correlatesof employee turnover update moderator test and research implications for the nextmillenniumordm Journal of Management Vol 26 No 3 pp 463-88

Hambrick DC and Mason PA (1984) ordfUpper echelons the organization as a remacrection of itstop managementordm Academy of Management Review Vol 9 pp 193-206

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expressed (George 2000) Individuals who accurately appraise andexpress (perceive and respond to) their emotions are likely to be betterunderstood by the people they work with and they also have thepotential to better lead and manage people when they are able toperceive the emotions of the people around them and to developempathy - the ability to comprehend anotherrsquos feelings and tore-experience them oneself (Salovey and Mayer 1989-1990)

(2) Regulating emotion in the self and others People differ in their ability tomanage (monitor evaluate and adjust to changing moods) theiremotions as well as in their ability to regulate and alter the affectivereactions of others (Salovey and Mayer 1989-1990) Regulation of onersquosown emotions and moods results in positive and negative affectivestates Emotionally intelligent individuals are adept at placingthemselves in positive affective states and are able to experiencenegative affective states that have insigniregcant destructiveconsequences Emotionally astute people can induce a positive affectin others that results in a powerful social inmacruence (charisma) animportant component of leadership (Wasielewski 1985)

(3) Using emotions in adaptive ways Individuals also differ in the ways(functional vs dysfunctional) in which they utilize their emotionsEmotions can help in generating multiple future plans (macrexible planning) improve the decision-making process due to a better understanding of

onersquos emotional reaction (creative thinking) facilitate cognitive processes such as creativity on the one hand and

punctuality on the other hand (mood redirected attention) and enhance persistence regarding challenging tasks (motivating

emotions) (Salovey and Mayer 1989-1990)

Emotionally astute managersUntil the early 1990s the concept of emotional intelligence received very littleresearch attention The major focus of researchers at that time was on theimportance of cognitive intelligence (eg problem solving capabilities)Nowadays researchers and practitioners recognize the importance of bothcognitive and emotional intelligences for gaining success It seems thatresearchers however attribute to emotional intelligence a signiregcant power ofexplanation of variance in performance As Cary Cherniss puts it ordfIf yoursquore ascientist you probably needed an IQ of 120 or so simply to get a doctorate and ajob But then it is more important to be able to persist in the face of difregcultyand to get along well with colleagues and subordinates than it is to have anextra 10 or 15 points of IQ The same is true in many other occupationsordm(Emphases are not in the original text)

Emotionalintelligence

791

Scholars have also focused on relating emotional intelligence to leadership(George 2000) or showing how components of emotional intelligence such asempathy are important traits that contribute to leadership (Kellett et al 2002Wolff et al 2002) In addition a growing body of research has been concernedwith the degree to which emotional intelligence can make the differencebetween good and poor leaders This stream of research is also of great interestto many organizations that seek to better understand the variance inemployeesrsquo performance Inspired by Daniel Golemanrsquos article ordfWhat Makes aLeaderordm published in The Harvard Business Review in 1998 the topmanagement team of Johnson and Johnson decided to fund a study that ordfwouldassess the importance of Emotional Intelligence in leadership success acrossthe JandJ Consumer Companiesordm The study which was conducted by KathleenCavallo and Dottie Brienza on a randomly selected 358 managers found ordfastrong relationship between superior performing leaders and emotionalcompetence Leaders who received performance ratings of 41 or greater on a5-point scale were rated signiregcantly higher than other participants in all fourof the emotional intelligence dimensions of self-awareness self-managementsocial awareness and social skills by supervisors and subordinatesordm

The growing body of empirical work in the leadership domain has beenmainly devoted to examining the effects of emotional intelligence on theperformance of senior executives The problem with this work is that it hardlyexamines important behavioral attitudes behavior and outcomes that areessential for evaluating whether one can be viewed as an effective manager andleader In this study emotional intelligence was examined with respect to a setof work attitudes work behavior and work outcomes

Emotional intelligence and work attitudesEmotional intelligence and job satisfaction Locke (1969 p 314) deregned jobsatisfaction and dissatisfaction as ordfcomplex emotional reactions to the jobordmConceptualizing job satisfaction as ordffeeling or affective responses to facets ofthe situationordm (Smith et al 1969 p 6) suggests that job satisfaction ispositively associated with the construct of emotional intelligence In additionjob satisfaction is often considered as a proxy for an employeersquos well being atwork (Grandey 2000) Intelligent individuals with high emotional intelligencethrough the above described set of three conceptually related mental processesexperience continuous positive moods and feelings that generate higher levelsof satisfaction and well-being compared to individuals who experience suchfeelings and moods as disappointment depression and anger because they canreach a higher level of general satisfaction and fulregllment We suggest thefollowing hypothesis

H1 There is a positive relationship between emotional intelligence and jobsatisfaction of senior managers

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792

Emotional intelligence and work commitment Work commitment is amultidimensional construct that comprises various forms Themultidimensionality of work commitment has been established byresearchers who argued that employees develop more than one type of workcommitment (Becker 1960) and that types are in accordance with theemployeesrsquo own beneregts (Ritzer and Trice 1969) This approach has beensigniregcantly advanced by Morrow (1983 1993) who was the regrst to attemptmapping theoretically universal forms of work commitment that are relevant toas many employees as possible (Morrow 1993 p 160) Morrow advocatedconcentrating a research effort on regve universal forms of work commitment asfollows work ethic endorsement career commitment affective organizationalcommitment continuance organizational commitment and job involvement Ina series of studies it has been shown that in addition to most commoncomponents of organizational commitment - affective and continuance - athird component normative commitment should be investigated as well(Meyer and Allen 1997)

This study investigates all of these forms except for work ethicendorsement Work ethic endorsement is the extent to which one believesthat hard work is important and that leisure and excess money are detrimental(Blood 1969 Furnham 1990 Mirels and Garrett 1971 Morrow 1993) It is aordfrelatively regxed attribute over the life courseordm (Morrow 1983 p 495)

The research on emotional intelligence and work commitment hasconcentrated thus far on organizational commitment The latter wasinvestigated (Abraham 1999) in the context with which it has traditionallybeen deregned as ordfthe relative strength of an individualrsquos identiregcation andinvolvement in a particular organizationordm (Mowday et al 1982 p 27) Howeverthis is still a somewhat narrow approach that limits our understanding not onlyof the relationship between emotional intelligence and organizationalcommitment (a concept that comprises three distinct constructs) but alsoregarding how the former is related to work commitment forms such as careercommitment and job involvement

Emotional intelligence and organizational commitment The concept oforganizational commitment incorporates three distinct constructs affectivecontinuance and normative commitment Continuance commitment is deregnedas ordfthe extent to which employees feel committed to their organizations byvirtue of the costs that they feel are associated with leavingordm (Meyer and Allen1984 p 375) Affective commitment is ordfpositive feelings of identiregcation withattachment to and involvement in the work organizationordm (Meyer and Allen1984 p 375) Normative commitment refers to ordfcommitment based on a senseof obligation to the organizationordm (Allen and Meyer 1996 p 253) Employeeswith strong affective commitment remain because they want to employeeswith strong continuance commitment remain because they need to employeeswith strong normative commitment remain because they feel ought to do so

Emotionalintelligence

793

(Allen and Meyer 1990) In this study we examined the relationship betweenemotional intelligence and two forms of organizational commitment - affectiveand continuance

Emotionally intelligent individuals are ordfoptimisticordm a trait that enables themto focus on the resolution rather than the reasoning (who is at fault) The workin any given organization imposes difregculties that may result in feelings offrustration Emotionally intelligent individuals would know not to hold theorganization responsible for every feeling of frustration (Abraham 1999) asthey are adept at placing themselves in positive affective states and able toexperience negative affective states that have insigniregcant destructiveconsequences (Salovey and Mayer 1989-1990) This is especially true forsenior managers who have to reconcile the feelings of frustration of conmacrictinginterest groups within and outside the organization This can be doneeffectively only when they are able to place themselves in a positive state ofmind In addition emotionally intelligent individuals would know how to avoiddysfunctional emotions and use them in adaptive ways to alleviate feelings offrustration Furthermore on the fundamental level people are motivated notonly by the rational exchange approach (Vroom 1964) but also by the extent towhich they are connected emotionally to their work and by the extent to whichits contents provide them with such experiences as joy excitement surpriseand frustration (Ashforth and Humphrey 1995) Thus emotional intelligence isexpected to augment a higher level of affective commitment to the organizationand diminish the level of continuance commitment The following hypothesesare suggested

H2a There is a positive relationship between emotional intelligence andaffective organizational commitment of senior managers

H2b There is a negative relationship between emotional intelligence andcontinuance organizational commitment of senior managers

Emotional intelligence and career commitment Career commitment is deregnedas ordfonersquos attitude toward onersquos profession or vocationordm (Blau 1985 p 20)Employees may encounter difregculties of many kinds in pursuing a career thatmay result in dysfunctional emotions Emotionally intelligent individuals areexpected to recognize manage and use their emotions to eliminate theseobstacles and advance their career horizon better than people with lowemotional intelligence This is especially true when the profession incorporateshigh levels of complexity Highly complex managerial work can be verydemanding and lead to high levels of stress Emotional intelligence enablespeople to control this stress effectively and prevent its negative effects on onersquosattitude towards her profession The following hypothesis is suggested

H3 There is a positive relationship between emotional intelligence andcareer commitment of senior managers

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794

Emotional intelligence and job involvement Job involvement is ordfa beliefdescriptive of the present job and tends to be a function of how much the jobcan satisfy onersquos present needsordm (Kanungo 1982 p 342) As indicated aboveemployees do not get involved in the job only for self-rational interestfulregllment they also get involved in the job because they let their emotionsplay a role Becoming highly involved in the job is oftentimes a response toemotional rather than rational needs Ashforth and Humphrey (1995) cited inFinersquos (1998) work the quotes of a cook discussing the centrality of beingemotionally involved in the job ordfI just love the activity I concentrate totallyso I donrsquot know how I feel itrsquos like another sense takes overordm People aresocial creatures who through job involvement regll the need for emotionalexperience Managerial work is often complex and challenging and seniormanagers with a high emotional intelligence often get extremely involved inchallenging experiences and complex situations that may not occur elsewhereSenior managers for example often remain beyond the required workinghours They do this not for economic reward but because it allows them to copewith those complexities that yield an intense emotional experience Thefollowing hypothesis is suggested

H4 There is a positive relationship between emotional intelligence and jobinvolvement of senior managers

Emotional intelligence and work-family conmacrict Work-family conmacrict is deregnedas ordfa form of inter-role conmacrict in which the role pressures from work andfamily domains are mutually incompatible in some respect That isparticipation in the work (family) role is made more difregcult by virtue ofparticipation in the family (work) roleordm (Greenhaus and Beutell 1985 p 77)Because this study attempted to explore the role of emotional intelligence in theworkplace we concentrated on family interference with work exploring acombination of three forms of work-family conmacrict (time strain and behavior)suggested by Carlson et al (2000) The form of time-based family interferencemay occur when time devoted to one role makes it difregcult to get involved inanother role The form of strain-based family interference proposes that strainin one role intrudes into and interferes with participation in another roleBehavior family interference with work occurs when speciregc behaviorsrequired in one role are incompatible with behavioral expectations in anotherrole (Carlson et al 2000)

Eliminating work-family conmacrict is the responsibility of both theorganization and its employees Keith H Hammonds (1996) quoted EllenGalinsky saying that ordfCompanies are seeing they have all these programs (iework-family policies) but people are still really stressed out Certainlyemployees bear some responsibility for determining their own family balanceBut they need help Companies that recognize the need and adapt work topeoplesrsquo lives will win workersrsquo loyalty - and with that a competitive edge

Emotionalintelligence

795

With respect to the role of the individuals one may expect that a highemotional intelligence would help them balance family interference with workIn fact they may be more capable of preventing work-family conmacrict from thebeginning due to their emotional astuteness incorporates the recognition of thedegree to which the family plays an emotional role for them and thoseconnected to them the insight as to how these emotions should be managedand the ability to improve the decision-making process The followinghypothesis is suggested

H5 There is a negative relationship between emotional intelligence andwork-family conmacrict (family interference with work) of seniormanagers

Emotional intelligence and organizational citizenship behavior Organizationalcitizenship behavior (OCB) is an extra-role behavior that goes beyond formalrole requirements (Smith et al 1983) Emotional intelligence may enhancealtruistic behavior as it enables employees to comprehend their co-workersrsquofeelings and to respond better than employees with low emotional intelligencebecause of their ability to easily shift from negative to positive moods(Abraham 1999) Staw et al (1994) suggested three explanations for theengagement of an emotionally intelligent individual in altruistic behaviorFirst being in a good mood is reinforcing and displaying altruism is rewardingin the sense that it enables employees to also maintain this state of mindSecond people in good moods may be more socially interactive Third whenemployees are more satisreged (having positive emotional reactions to the job)they are more likely to be engaged in helpful behavior The followinghypothesis is suggested

H6 There is a positive relationship between emotional intelligence andorganizational citizenship behavior - altruism of senior managers

Emotional intelligence and work outcomesEmotional intelligence and withdrawal intentions from the organizationWithdrawal of employees is a process (Mobley 1977 1982a b Mobley et al1978) which comprises constructs of withdrawal intentions (thinking ofquitting intention to search and intention to quit) as well as constructs ofwithdrawal behaviors (actually quitting absence) (Miller et al 1979 Mobleyet al 1978) A recent meta-analysis used the constructs of intention to quitthinking of quitting withdrawal cognitions and expected utility of withdrawalas the components of withdrawal intentions (Griffeth et al 2000) In this studywe assess the withdrawal intentions process of senior managers

Emotional intelligence may signiregcantly diminish employeesrsquo withdrawalintentions because of the ability to better regulate emotions Emotionallyintelligent individuals are adept at putting themselves in positive affective

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796

states and although they may experience negative affective states at timesthese do not have signiregcant destructive consequences Being in positiveaffective states is of importance in the sense of not becoming despondent in theface of daily and even more profound obstacles occurring in organizational lifeRather the individuals are likely to see the positive side of things and use theiremotions for example to enhance persistence at challenging times andfacilitate creativity for resolving difregculties To a certain degree emotionallyintelligent individuals perceive themselves as part of the solution As suchthey feel a high level of identiregcation and are less likely to develop withdrawalintentions This is especially true for senior managers who must deal with theirown difregculties as well as those of others Those with high emotionalintelligence will be inclined to stay and deal with difregculties in adaptive waysThis however is not to say that emotionally intelligent individuals do not facedifregculties when encountering job stress and changes in their job and careerrather they have more and better capabilities than low emotionally individualsto cope with it and thus are likely develop lower withdrawal intentions Thefollowing hypothesis is suggested

H7 There is a negative relationship between emotional intelligence andwithdrawal intentions of senior managers from the organization

Emotional intelligence and job performance Evidence supports a positive effectof emotional intelligence on the success of the individual at work (for a reviewsee Goleman 2001) This is of particularly importance if we believe thatordfmanagement skills lie at the heart of leadershipordm (Whetten and Cameron 2001p 15) and speciregcally recognize the need to develop and acquire skills formanaging people and that emotional intelligence may have a critical role in thecreation of effective leadership A notable study conducted by George (2000)showed how the aspects of emotional intelligence - appraisal and expressionof emotions use of emotion to enhance cognitive processing and decisionmaking knowledge about emotions and management of emotions - contributeto effective leadership For the purpose of this study it is important to note thatalthough it is theoretically signiregcant to show how each aspect affectsperformance it is more accurate to recognize that skills come in groups andclusters and that they support one another (Goleman 2001) The concept ofemotional intelligence seems to encompass this ordfcritical massordm of skills(Boyatzis et al 2000 Goleman 2001) The following hypothesis is suggested

H8 There is a positive relationship between emotional intelligence and jobperformance of senior managers

The moderator role of emotional intelligenceThe literature suggests that the negative effect of work-family conmacrict on workattitudes may be moderated by several variables (see for example Martins

Emotionalintelligence

797

et al 2002) In this study emotional intelligence is expected to moderate therelationship between work-family conmacrict and job satisfaction and therelationship between work-family conmacrict and career commitment

Family interference with work may have some negative consequences on theextent which an employee will be satisreged with her work and committed to hercareer However emotionally intelligent individuals are likely to have the abilityto control for such interferences or at least moderate them to an acceptable levelOn the basis of this logic the following hypotheses are suggested

H9 Emotional intelligence will moderate the relationship betweenwork-family conmacrict and job satisfaction of senior managersSpeciregcally there will be more negative relationship betweenwork-family conmacrict and job satisfaction for senior managers whoare low on emotional intelligence than for those who are high onemotional intelligence

H10 Emotional intelligence will moderate the relationship betweenwork-family conmacrict and career commitment of senior managersSpeciregcally for low emotionally intelligent senior managers there willbe a strong positive relationship between work-conmacrict family andcareer commitment and for highly emotional intelligent seniormanagers there will be a moderate negative relationship betweenwork-conmacrict family and career commitment

MethodologyRespondents and data collectionThe population of this study was senior managers employed as chief regnancialofregcers in the local government authorities in Israel A direct-mailquestionnaire was sent to 262 senior managers The questionnaire wasmailed from and returned to a university address using a self-addressed replyenvelope Ninety-eight usable questionnaires were returned The respondentsrsquoaverage age was 466 years (SD 924) 11 were women and 794 percent held atleast bachelorrsquos degree Their average tenure in their present organization was1147 (SD 913) The average income of the respondents was 256 (SD 054)(1 = up to 10000 New Israeli Shekel (NIS) 2 = 10001 to 20000 and 3 = 20001and above) Note that annual average value of US$ 1 and 1 Euro in 2001 was4205 NIS and 37644 NIS respectively The average size of the organizations(measured by the number of permanent residents for which the organization isresponsible to provide services see Carmeli 2002) was 24729 (SD 5425937)

Dependent variablesWork outcomes Job performance and withdrawal intentions from theorganization were used to assess employeersquos work outcomes

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798

(1) Job performance This measure was evaluated by a scale developed byPearce and Porter (1986) and used by Black and Porter (1991) andHochwarter et al (1999) This measure contains regve items (overallperformance ability to get along with others completing tasks on timequality of performance and achievement of work goals) that wereassessed on a seven-point scale (ranging from 1 = strongly disagree to7 = strongly agree) Although such difregculties as self-enhancement andobjectivity and reliability may be encountered Mabe and West (1982)showed that self-evaluation measures were more valid than pointed outin prior research (Hochwarter et al (1999) The Cronbachrsquos alpha for thisscale was 087

(2) Withdrawal intentions from the organization This measure was drawnfrom the measure examined by Mobley et al (1978) and widely used inthe literature (Michaels and Spector 1982 Miller et al 1979) It assesseswithdrawal intentions of an employee from hisher organization andconsists of three items I think a lot about leaving the organization I am actively searching for an alternative to the organization and As soon as it is possible I will leave the organization

This measure was assessed on a 5-point scale from 1 = strongly disagree to5 = strongly agree The Cronbachrsquos alpha for this scale was 090

Work behavior

(1) Altruistic behavior This variable was drawn from the multi-dimensionalscale of organizational citizenship behavior developed by Podsakoff andMacKenzie (1989) and modireged and validated by Podsakoff et al (1990)Altruistic behavior was measured using three items that were assessedon a regve-point scale ranging from 1 = strongly disagree to 5 = stronglyagree Sample items are ordfI help others who have heavy workloadsordm ordfIhelp others who have been absentordm The Cronbachrsquos alpha for this scalewas 082

Work attitudesFour work commitment forms (career commitment jobinvolvement affective commitment and continuance commitment) and jobsatisfaction were used to assess employeersquos work attitudes In additionwork-family conmacrict was examined as follows

(1) Career commitment This measure was assessed by a scale developed byBlau (1985) Sample items are ordfI like this profession too much to give itupordm and ordfI am disappointed with being a CEOordm (reverse scored) Themeasure was assessed on a regve-point scale (ranging from 1 = stronglydisagree to 5 = strongly agree) The Cronbachrsquos alpha for this scalewas 074

Emotionalintelligence

799

(2) Job involvement This measure is based on a 10-item scale developed byKanungo (1982) Sample items are ordfThe most important things thathappen to me involve my present jobordm and ordfMost of my personal lifegoals are job-orientedordm The measure was assessed on a seven-pointscale ranging from 1 = strongly disagree to 7 = strongly agree TheCronbachrsquos alpha for this scale was 082

(3) Affective organizational commitmentThis measure is based on the scaledeveloped and validated by Allen and Meyer (1990) Sample items are ordfIreally feel as if this organizationrsquos problems are my ownordm and ordfI do not feellike ordfpart of the familyordm at my organizationordm (reversed item) The measurewas assessed on a seven-point scale (ranging from 1 = strongly disagreeto 7 = strongly agree) The Cronbachrsquos alpha for this scale was 073

(4) Continuance organizational commitmentThis measure is based on thescale developed and validated by Allen and Meyer (1990) Sample itemsare ordfRight now staying with my organization is a matter of necessity asmuch as desireordm and ordfToo much in my life would be disrupted if Idecided I wanted to leave my organization nowordm The measure wasassessed on a seven-point scale (ranging from 1 = strongly disagree to7 = strongly agree) The Cronbachrsquos alpha for this scale was 082

(5) Job satisfaction This measure was estimated by a 6-items scaleemployed by Tsui et al (1992) Sample items are ordfHow satisreged are youwith the nature of the work you performordm and ordfConsidering everythinghow satisreged are you with your current job situationordm The measure wasassessed on a regve-point scale (ranging from 1 = very dissatisreged to5 = very satisreged) The Cronbachrsquos alpha for this scale was 068

(6) Work-family conmacrict This measure was based on a measure developedand validated by Carlson et al 2000) Since this study examines the role ofemotional intelligence in the workplace we concentrated on familyinterference with work exploring a combination of three forms ofwork-family conmacrict (time strain and behavior) which consisted of threeitems each Sample items are ordfThe time I spend on family responsibilitiesoften interferes with my work responsibilitiesordm (time-based familyinterference) ordfDue to stress at home I am often preoccupied with familymatters at workordm (strain-based family interference) ordfThe behaviors thatwork for me at home do not seem to be effective at workordm (behavior-basedfamily interference) All items were ranged from 1 = strongly disagree to5 = strongly agree (5 = presents high conmacrict) The nine items wereloaded onto a single factor The Cronbachrsquos alpha for this scale was 079

Independentmoderator variableEmotional intelligence Over the years considerable research effort resulted invarious instruments for measuring emotional intelligence (EQi of Bar-On 1996

JMP188

800

Executive EQ of Cooper and Sawaf 1997 EIQ Dulewicz and Higgs 1999MSCEIT of Mayer et al 2000 ECI of Boyatzis and Goleman 1998)

In this study emotional intelligence was measured with the self-reportmeasure of emotional intelligence developed by Schutte et al (1998) for severalreasons First this measure is based on the framework of emotional intelligencedeveloped by Salovey and Mayer 1989-1990 and later formulated (Mayer andSalovey 1997)[1] Second previous study found some limitations in earlyself-report measures of emotional intelligence such as insufregcient reliabilityand connections with personality factors (Davies et al 1998) Third studiesthat evaluated the measure of Schutte and her colleagues (1998) in both adultand adolescents population indicate that this measure seems to overcome theobserved difregculties in other measures of emotional intelligence (Ciarrochi et al2000 Ciarrochi et al 2001) Finally in macro level studies self report measureof emotional intelligence which is brief validated and based on a cohesive andcomprehensive model of emotional intelligence (Salovey and Mayer 1989-1990Mayer and Salovey 1997) is very useful

The measure used in this study consists of 33 items Sample items are ordfIknow when to speak about my personal problems to othersordm and ordfI am awareof my emotions as I experience themordm (appraisal and expression of emotion) ordfIpresent myself in a way that makes a good impression on othersordm and I havecontrol over my emotionsordm (regulation of emotion) ordfwhen I feel a change inemotions I tend to come up with new ideasordm and I use good moods to helpmyself keep trying in the face of obstaclesordm (utilization) All items were rangedfrom 1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree The Cronbachrsquos alpha forthis scale was 090

Control variablesWe control for

(1) Organizational size Measured by the number of permanent residents forwhich the organization is responsible for provision of services (Carmeli2002)

(2) Tenure in the organization Measured by the number of years therespondent is employed in the current organization

(3) Gross income (1 = up to 10000 NIS New Israeli Shekel 2 = 10001 to20000 NIS 3 = 20001 to 30000 NIS 4 = 30001 to 40000 NIS and4 = above 40000 NIS)

(4) Respondentsrsquo age

Because the vast majority of the respondents were male differences betweenmale and female respondents could not be established

Data analysisTo assess the relationship between emotional intelligence and work attitudesbehavior and outcomes we performed a series of separate hierarchical

Emotionalintelligence

801

regression analyses Each model had two steps The regrst step involvedentering the control variables and the second step involved entering theindependent variable

To examine the interaction hypotheses the variables were entered into theregression equations in three steps The control variables were entered in theregrst step In the second step we entered the ordfmain effectsordm (work-familyconmacrict and emotional intelligence) Finally the work-family conmacrict Xemotional intelligence product term variable was entered in the third step Bothvariables were mean-centered as is suggested for variables that are to beconstituents of product terms (Aiken and West 1991)

ResultsTable I reports the means standard deviations and correlation coefregcients ofvariables used in the analysis Though several variables are related Table Iindicates no severe problems of multicolinearity as none of the related variablesexceeded the value of 060 Furthermore we performed separate hierarchicalregressions for the effect of emotional intelligence on each one of the dependentvariables Table I also provides a preliminary support for the signiregcantrelationships between emotional intelligence and work attitudes workbehavior and work outcomes

Table II presents the results of hierarchical regression Emotionalintelligence was positively and signiregcantly related to job satisfaction(b = 032 p 001) supporting H1 This regnding is consistent with theargument according to which emotionally intelligent individuals are likely todisplay higher overall satisfaction in the workplace

Supporting H2a we provide evidence that when senior managers have highemotional intelligence they tend to develop high affective commitment(emotional attachment) to the organization for which they work (b = 023p 005) H2b on the other hand was not supported as the relationshipbetween emotional intelligence and continuance commitment was notsigniregcant (b = 2 012 p = ns) The beta coefregcient though not statisticallysigniregcant was in the expected direction

We found support for H3 Emotionally intelligent senior managers develophigh commitment toward their career (b = 034 p 0001) However contraryto H4 emotional intelligence was statistically unrelated to job involvement Itmay be that the involvement of senior managers is more complex than weassumed and is affected by other important factors not examined here Thoughno prediction was made we found that job involvement was signiregcantlyrelated to tenure in the organization (b = 020 p 010) as well as to grossincome (b = 025 p 005)

The results support H5 stating that senior managers who have highemotional intelligence are more likely to effectively control work-family conmacrict(b = 2 031 p 001) Compared to low and middle-level position employees

JMP188

802

Mea

ns

d

12

34

56

78

910

1112

13

Job

per

form

ance

561

078

100

Wit

hdra

wal

inte

nti

ons

from

an

organ

izat

ion

218

094

20

18

Alt

ruis

tic

beh

avio

r3

780

630

32

0

11

Car

eer

com

mit

men

t3

590

600

22

20

47

0

07

Job

invol

vem

ent

440

089

003

20

130

160

24

Aff

ecti

ve

com

mit

men

t4

730

880

31

20

39

0

160

42

0

48

Con

tinuan

ce

com

mit

men

t3

871

172

030

2

005

20

28

20

100

022

007

Job

sati

sfac

tion

374

051

045

2

038

031

0

39

0

27

055

2

029

Wor

k-f

amily

conmacr

ict

212

049

20

190

042

015

20

152

001

20

190

34

2

011

Em

otio

nal

inte

llig

ence

371

037

032

2

020

0

38

0

38

0

140

24

20

070

27

20

27

Org

aniz

atio

nal

size

247

2954

259

20

012

001

20

010

050

21

011

005

008

021

2

007

Ten

ure

in

organ

izat

ion

114

79

130

022

024

0

120

21

017

006

005

004

010

20

050

03

Age

466

39

242

001

20

190

030

120

31

021

0

150

170

150

100

170

43

Inco

me

256

054

014

20

020

26

006

031

0

172

010

022

2

011

001

016

013

025

Note

saT

wo-

tailed

test

s

p

005

p

001

p

0

001

Table IMeans standard

deviations andcorrelationsa

Emotionalintelligence

803

Job

per

form

Wit

hdrw

l

inte

nt

Alt

ruis

tic

beh

avio

r

Car

eer

com

mit

Job

invol

ve

Aff

ecti

ve

com

mit

Con

tin

com

mit

Job

sati

sfac

tion

Wor

k

fam

ily

conmacr

ict

b(t)

b(t

)b

(t)

b(t)

b(t

)b

(t)

b(t)

b(t)

b(t

)

Ste

p1

Org

aniz

a-

tion

alsi

ze0

00(0

01)

20

01(0

93)

001

(00

7)0

07(0

73)

015

(14

7)0

09(0

83)

005

(04

3)0

06(0

56)

019

(19

3)

Ten

ure

in

organ

iza-

tion

al2

009

(20

75)

20

10(2

087

)2

009

(20

87)

20

03(2

023

)0

20(1

76

)0

15(1

24)

019

(15

8)0

12(1

06)

018

(16

2)

Inco

me

016

(15

4)0

03(0

31)

018

(19

1)

005

(04

5)0

25(2

43

)

011

(10

8)2

016

(21

48)

013

(12

1)2

016

(21

59)

Age

006

(05

8)2

022

(21

94)

008

(08

7)0

27(2

53

)

006

(05

7)0

00(2

004

)0

00(0

00)

20

04(2

036

)2

003

(20

29)

R2

003

80

068

005

50

082

019

30

064

005

10

058

009

3

Ste

p2

Em

otio

nal

inte

llig

ence

032

(30

8)

20

20(2

193

)

054

(60

3)

034

(34

4)

004

(04

5)0

23(2

21

)

20

12(2

111

)0

32(3

12

)2

031

(23

20 )

DR

20

090

039

028

60

113

000

20

050

001

40

098

009

6

Ffo

rD

R2

949

371

36

41

118

3

019

487

123

970

991

R2

for

tota

l

equat

ion

013

50

107

034

10

195

019

50

114

006

50

155

018

9

Note

s

p

010

p

005

p

001

p

000

1

Table IIResults of hierarchicalregression analysis theinmacruence of emotionalintelligence on workattitudes behavior andoutcomes

JMP188

804

senior managers may encounter a higher level of job demands that result inwork-family conmacrict The results indicate that senior managers who have highemotional intelligence may better and more carefully handle the inherentwork-family conmacrict than those who have low emotional intelligence

H6 which states that emotionally intelligent senior managers will displayhigher levels of altruistic behavior was strongly supported (b = 054p 0001) In addition H7 which states that emotional intelligence will benegatively related to withdrawal intentions from the organization and H8which states that emotionally intelligent senior managers will perform the jobbetter than senior managers with low emotional intelligence were supported(b = 2 020 p 010 b = 032 p 001 respectively) These results indicatethat emotional intelligence is an important predictor of both contextualperformance and task performance Note however that H9 which states thatthe higher a senior manager is on emotional intelligence the weaker will be thenegative effect of work-family conmacrict on job satisfaction was not supported(see Table III) The interactive effect of work-family conmacrict and emotionalintelligence on job satisfaction was not signiregcant (b = 003 p = ns)

H10 postulated that the higher a senior manager is on emotionalintelligence the weaker will be the negative effect of work-family conmacrict oncareer commitment The interactive effect of work-family conmacrict andemotional intelligence on career commitment was signiregcant at the 005 level(see Table III) and explained an additional 34 percent of explained variance inthe career commitment

In accordance with convention for plotting interactions (Aiken and West1991 Cohen and Cohen 1983) the cut values for the high and low states on themoderator variable (emotional intelligence) were plus and minus one standarddeviation from the mean Figure 1 presents the interaction of work-familyconmacrict and emotional intelligence in predicting career commitment As shown

Job satisfaction Career commitmentb R 2 DR 2 b R 2 DR 2

Step 1Organizational size 003 004Tenure in organization 014 002Income 016 002

Age 2 005 0058 0058 020 0048 0048Step 2Work-family conmacrict (WF) 2 005 2 009Emotional intelligence (EI) 030 0157 0097 037 0205 0156

Step 3EI pound WF 003 0158 0001 021 0239 0034

Notes p 010 p 005 p 001 p 0001

Table IIIResults of the

moderating role ofemotional intelligence

(EI)

Emotionalintelligence

805

in Figure 1 the interaction of emotional intelligence with work-family conmacrictaffects both the strength and direction of this relationship For senior managerswho are low on emotional intelligence there is a strong positive relationshipand for those who are high on emotional intelligence there is a moderatenegative relationship That is when senior managers with low emotionalintelligence experience high work-family conmacrict they manage to maintainhigh career commitment When highly emotionally intelligent senior managersexperience high work-conmacrict they reduce their career commitment to a morereasonable level to deal with work-family conmacrict

DiscussionThe major goal of this study was to examine the extent to which a criticalcomponent of managerial skills - emotional intelligence - augments positivework attitudes and the contextual and task performance of senior managersemployed in a public sector setting This study advances the literaturepertaining to emotional intelligence by empirically demonstrating theimportance of emotional intelligence for developing positive work-relatedattitudes and contextual and task performance

These regndings are especially of importance for organizations whichrecognize the critical role the top management team plays in their success (seeFinkelstein and Hambrick 1996 Hambrick and Mason 1984) Theeffectiveness of the top management team is a function inter alia of themanagement skills (Whetten and Cameron 2001) possessed by the seniormanagers from which it is comprised Skills of managing people are of uniqueimportance for the creation of effective management and leadership andemotional intelligence as ordfthe subset of social intelligenceordm (Salovey and Mayer1989-1990) may be the most critical component of this class of skills Hencehaving senior executives with high emotional intelligence is a necessity forattaining sustainable results

This study went beyond the simple premise of the importance of emotionalintelligence to demonstrate the extent to which the latter augments favorableattitudes and outcomes The results indicate for example that emotionallyintelligent senior managers develop emotional attachment to their

Figure 1Interaction betweenemotional intelligence(EI) and work-familyconmacrict (WF) predictingcareer commitment (CC)

JMP188

806

organizations and are also more committed to their career In addition regndingsalso indicate that emotionally intelligent senior managers tend to be moresatisreged with their work Retaining talented and knowledgeable seniormanagers becomes a major concern for many organizations Selecting seniormanagers who have high emotional intelligence may have a positive impact onthe extent to which an organization succeeds in retaining its most criticalworkforce Research regndings revealed that occupational commitment (Lee et al2000) and organizational commitment (Mathieu and Zajac 1990) aresigniregcantly related to withdrawal intentions and that job satisfaction andorganizational commitment are by far the main predictors of turnover (Griffethet al 2000) Interestingly however emotional intelligence was not signiregcantlyassociated with job involvement It may be that senior managers exhibit highinvolvement in their jobs because of the role itself which demands much timeand effort Another possible explanation is manifested by the relationshipbetween income and job involvement (b = 025 p 005) suggesting thateconomic factors inmacruence the subjective felt of job involvement Emotionalintelligence may help an individual to better handle demanding managerialwork Nevertheless we are still in need of further investigation regarding thefactors that foster an individualrsquos high level of involvement in her job (Brown1996)

Another important relationship examined in this study is the relationshipbetween emotional intelligence and work-family conmacrict Work-family policiesadopted and implemented by an organization may not provide the wholesolution especially with respect to family interference with work simplybecause employees have some responsibility in determining their own familybalance The results of this study advance the literature by indicating thatemotionally intelligent employees may better handle this conmacrict Anintegration of work-family programs and an emotionally intelligentworkforce can better attain the desired balance This study indicates thatcompared to emotionally intelligent senior managers low-emotionallyintelligent senior managers are not less able to be sensitive enough toacknowledge how work is affected by family matters and thus feel no need toreduce their career commitment Senior managers who are high on emotionalintelligence recognize having important responsibilities at work and at thesame time realize that they may neglect their family and their needs In otherwords they are equally sensitive to what they feel when they are consumedwith my work all the time This recognition help them balance their careercommitment to a healthy mid point (not very high but not very low either)Further examination of the interactive effect of work-family conmacrict andemotional intelligence on career commitment and job satisfaction revealed thatemotional intelligence moderated only the negative inmacruence of work-family oncareer commitment Clearly this regnding should receive further investigation

Emotionalintelligence

807

but it illuminate the kind of role emotional intelligence may play in therelationship of ordfwork stressordm and work attitudes

We found a direct and signiregcant relationship between emotionalintelligence and withdrawal intentions from the organization This intensiregesthe important role that emotional intelligence may have in retaining valuableorganization members The results of this study also indicate that emotionalintelligence augments both contextual (altruistic citizenship behavior) and taskperformance Contextual performance of senior managers is valued becausethe latter oftentimes serves as a ordfrole modelordm and ordfcharacterordm for theorganizationrsquos members to follow This process may have a positive effect onthe organization since organizational citizenship behavior has the potential forexample to enhance co-worker and managerial productivity freeing themanagement from work-related problems so that it can deal with moreproductive tasks and enhancing the sustainability of the organizationrsquosperformance In addition the regnding that emotionally intelligent seniormanagers perform better on the job provides clear evidence to the questionasked by Cherniss (2000) regarding ordfhow important it (emotional intelligence)is for effective performance at workordm and is consistent with Cavallo andBrienzarsquos regndings of a ordfstrong relationship between superior performingleaders and emotional competenceordm

Limitation and directions for future researchSeveral limitations constrain the interpretation and application of the studyrsquosregndings The aim of this study to explore the role of emotional intelligenceamong senior managers is also a weakness because it has not includednon-managerial employees Future studies may be beneregted from anexploration of a wider range of employees at different organizational levelsOne should also be cautious while generalizing the results of this study to othercultures or sectors Prospective research should be directed to exploredifferences among for-proregt governmental and not-for-proregt organizations

Validated and usable measures were employed to reduce the possibility ofbias in general method variance and data was collected from a large number oforganizational units to allow for better external validity and increasedgenerality of the results (Cook and Campbell 1979) Still the reader is cautionedto recognize the limitations of relying on self-reported data This may carry abias of general method variance As can be seen results of hierarchicalregressions provided a relatively small proportion of the explained variance ofthe dependent variables We also compared subjective-reported data toobjective data on organizational size and the comparison yielded no differenceAnd as Xie (1996) indicated there is no theoretical foundation to expect thatinteractions are associated with common method variance Future studies maybeneregt from a longitudinal research design One however must recognize thatcollecting data from a large number of organizations is problematic Finally

JMP188

808

this study used a relatively new measure of emotional intelligence and thoughstudies reported good reliability and evidence of validity it would be useful toconduct a study which compare results of this study with those used otheracceptable measures of emotional intelligence

Note

1 When this study was conducted the MSCEIT instrument was not available to the author

References

Abraham R (1999) ordfEmotional intelligence in organizations a conceptualizationordm GeneticSocial and General Psychology Monographs Vol 125 No 2 pp 209-24

Aiken LS and West SG (1991) Multiple Regression Testing and Interpreting InteractionsSage Newbury Park CA

Allen NJ and Meyer JP (1990) ordfThe measurement and antecedents of affective continuanceand normative commitment to the organizationordm Journal of Occupational PsychologyVol 63 pp 1-18

Allen NJ and Meyer JP (1996) ordfAffective continuance and normative commitment to theorganization an examination of construct validityordm Journal of Vocational Behavior Vol 49No 3 pp 252-76

Ashforth BE and Humphrey RH (1995) ordfEmotion in the workplace a reappraisalordm HumanRelations Vol 48 No 2 pp 97-125

Bar-On R (1996) The Emotional Quotient Inventory (EQ-i) A Test of Emotional IntelligenceMulti-Health Systems Toronto

Bar-On R and Parker JDA (2000) The Handbook of Emotional Intelligence TheoryDevelopment Assessment and Application at Home School and in the WorkplaceJossey-Bass San Francisco CA

Bar-On R Brown JM Kirkcaldy BD and Thome EP (2000) ordfEmotional expression andimplications for occupational stress an applicationordm Personality and IndividualDifferences Vol 28 pp 1107-18

Becker HS (1960) ordfNotes on the concept of commitmentordm American Journal of Sociology Vol 66No 1 pp 33-42

Black J and Porter L (1991) ordfManagerial behavior and job performance a successful managerin Los Angeles may not succeed in Hong Kongordm Journal of International Business StudiesVol 22 pp 99-114

Blau GJ (1985) ordfThe measurement and prediction of career commitmentordm Journal ofOccupational Psychology Vol 58 pp 277-88

Blood MR (1969) ordfWork values and job satisfactionordm Journal of Applied Psychology Vol 53pp 456-9

Boyatzis R Goleman D and Rhee K (2000) ordfClustering competence in emotional intelligenceinsights from the emotional competence inventory (ECI)ordm in Bar-On R and Parker JDA(Eds) Handbook of Emotional Intelligence Jossey-Bass San Francisco CA

Brown SP (1996) ordfA meta-analysis and review of organizational research on job involvementordmPsychological Bulletin Vol 120 No 2 pp 235-55

Carlson DS Kacmar MK and Williams LJ (2000) ordfConstruction and initial validations of amultidimensional measure of work-family conmacrictordm Journal of Vocational BehaviorVol 56 pp 249-76

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809

Carmeli A (2002) ordfA conceptual and practical framework of measuring performance of localauthorities in regnancial terms analysing the case of Israelordm Local Government StudiesVol 28 No 1 pp 21-36

Cherniss C (2000) ordfordfEmotional intelligence what it is and why it mattersordm paper presented atthe Annual Meeting of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology NewOrleans LA April p 15

Ciarrochi J Chan AYC and Bajgar J (2001) ordfMeasuring emotional intelligence inadolescentsordm Personality and Individual Differences Vol 31 pp 1105-19

Ciarrochi J Chan AYC and Caputi P (2000) ordfA critical evaluation of the emotionalintelligence constructordm Personality and Individual Differences Vol 28 pp 539-61

Cohen J and Cohen P (1983) Applied Multiple RegressionCorrelation Analysis for theBehavioral Sciences Lawrence Erlbaum Hillsdale NJ

Cook TD and Campbell TD (1979) Quasi-Experimentation Design and Analytical Issues forField Settings Rand-McNally Chicago IL

Cooper RK and Sawaf A (1997) Executive EQ Emotional Intelligence in Leadership andOrganizations GrossetPutnam New York NY

Davies M Stankov L and Roberts R (1998) ordfEmotional intelligence in search of an elusiveconstructordm Journal of Personality and Social Psychology Vol 75 pp 989-1015

Dulewicz V and Higgs MJ (1999) Usersrsquo Guide for the Emotional Intelligence QuestionnaireNFER-Nelson Windsor

Dulewicz V and Higgs MJ (2000) ordfEmotional intelligence a review and evaluation studyordmJournal of Managerial Psychology Vol 15 No 4 pp 341-72

Finkelstein S and Hambrick D (1996) Strategic Leadership Top Executives and Their Effectson Organizations West Publishing Company St Paul MN

Furnham A (1990) The Protestant Work Ethic The Psychology of Work-Related Beliefs andBehaviors Routledge New York NY

GardnerH (1983) Frames of Mind The Theory of Multiple Intelligences Basic Books New YorkNY

George JM (2000) ordfEmotions and leadership the role of emotional intelligenceordm HumanRelations Vol 53 No 8 pp 1027-55

Goleman D (1995) Emotional Intelligence Why It Can Matter More than IQ Bantam BooksNew York NY

Goleman D (1998) Working with Emotional Intelligence Bantam Books New York NY

Goleman D (2001) ordfAn EI-based theory of performanceordm in Cherniss C and Goleman D (Eds)The Emotionally Intelligent Workplace How to Select for Measure and Improve EmotionalIntelligence in Individuals Groups and Organizations Jossey-Bass San Francisco CApp 27-44

Grandey AA (2000) ordfEmotion regulation in the workplace a new way to conceptualizeemotional laborordm Journal of Occupational Health Psychology Vol 5 No 1 pp 95-110

Greenhaus JH and Beutell NJ (1985) ordfSources of conmacrict between work and family rolesordmAcademy of Management Review Vol 10 No 1 pp 76-88

Griffeth RW Hom PW and Gaertner S (2000) ordfA meta-analysis of antecedents and correlatesof employee turnover update moderator test and research implications for the nextmillenniumordm Journal of Management Vol 26 No 3 pp 463-88

Hambrick DC and Mason PA (1984) ordfUpper echelons the organization as a remacrection of itstop managementordm Academy of Management Review Vol 9 pp 193-206

JMP188

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Scholars have also focused on relating emotional intelligence to leadership(George 2000) or showing how components of emotional intelligence such asempathy are important traits that contribute to leadership (Kellett et al 2002Wolff et al 2002) In addition a growing body of research has been concernedwith the degree to which emotional intelligence can make the differencebetween good and poor leaders This stream of research is also of great interestto many organizations that seek to better understand the variance inemployeesrsquo performance Inspired by Daniel Golemanrsquos article ordfWhat Makes aLeaderordm published in The Harvard Business Review in 1998 the topmanagement team of Johnson and Johnson decided to fund a study that ordfwouldassess the importance of Emotional Intelligence in leadership success acrossthe JandJ Consumer Companiesordm The study which was conducted by KathleenCavallo and Dottie Brienza on a randomly selected 358 managers found ordfastrong relationship between superior performing leaders and emotionalcompetence Leaders who received performance ratings of 41 or greater on a5-point scale were rated signiregcantly higher than other participants in all fourof the emotional intelligence dimensions of self-awareness self-managementsocial awareness and social skills by supervisors and subordinatesordm

The growing body of empirical work in the leadership domain has beenmainly devoted to examining the effects of emotional intelligence on theperformance of senior executives The problem with this work is that it hardlyexamines important behavioral attitudes behavior and outcomes that areessential for evaluating whether one can be viewed as an effective manager andleader In this study emotional intelligence was examined with respect to a setof work attitudes work behavior and work outcomes

Emotional intelligence and work attitudesEmotional intelligence and job satisfaction Locke (1969 p 314) deregned jobsatisfaction and dissatisfaction as ordfcomplex emotional reactions to the jobordmConceptualizing job satisfaction as ordffeeling or affective responses to facets ofthe situationordm (Smith et al 1969 p 6) suggests that job satisfaction ispositively associated with the construct of emotional intelligence In additionjob satisfaction is often considered as a proxy for an employeersquos well being atwork (Grandey 2000) Intelligent individuals with high emotional intelligencethrough the above described set of three conceptually related mental processesexperience continuous positive moods and feelings that generate higher levelsof satisfaction and well-being compared to individuals who experience suchfeelings and moods as disappointment depression and anger because they canreach a higher level of general satisfaction and fulregllment We suggest thefollowing hypothesis

H1 There is a positive relationship between emotional intelligence and jobsatisfaction of senior managers

JMP188

792

Emotional intelligence and work commitment Work commitment is amultidimensional construct that comprises various forms Themultidimensionality of work commitment has been established byresearchers who argued that employees develop more than one type of workcommitment (Becker 1960) and that types are in accordance with theemployeesrsquo own beneregts (Ritzer and Trice 1969) This approach has beensigniregcantly advanced by Morrow (1983 1993) who was the regrst to attemptmapping theoretically universal forms of work commitment that are relevant toas many employees as possible (Morrow 1993 p 160) Morrow advocatedconcentrating a research effort on regve universal forms of work commitment asfollows work ethic endorsement career commitment affective organizationalcommitment continuance organizational commitment and job involvement Ina series of studies it has been shown that in addition to most commoncomponents of organizational commitment - affective and continuance - athird component normative commitment should be investigated as well(Meyer and Allen 1997)

This study investigates all of these forms except for work ethicendorsement Work ethic endorsement is the extent to which one believesthat hard work is important and that leisure and excess money are detrimental(Blood 1969 Furnham 1990 Mirels and Garrett 1971 Morrow 1993) It is aordfrelatively regxed attribute over the life courseordm (Morrow 1983 p 495)

The research on emotional intelligence and work commitment hasconcentrated thus far on organizational commitment The latter wasinvestigated (Abraham 1999) in the context with which it has traditionallybeen deregned as ordfthe relative strength of an individualrsquos identiregcation andinvolvement in a particular organizationordm (Mowday et al 1982 p 27) Howeverthis is still a somewhat narrow approach that limits our understanding not onlyof the relationship between emotional intelligence and organizationalcommitment (a concept that comprises three distinct constructs) but alsoregarding how the former is related to work commitment forms such as careercommitment and job involvement

Emotional intelligence and organizational commitment The concept oforganizational commitment incorporates three distinct constructs affectivecontinuance and normative commitment Continuance commitment is deregnedas ordfthe extent to which employees feel committed to their organizations byvirtue of the costs that they feel are associated with leavingordm (Meyer and Allen1984 p 375) Affective commitment is ordfpositive feelings of identiregcation withattachment to and involvement in the work organizationordm (Meyer and Allen1984 p 375) Normative commitment refers to ordfcommitment based on a senseof obligation to the organizationordm (Allen and Meyer 1996 p 253) Employeeswith strong affective commitment remain because they want to employeeswith strong continuance commitment remain because they need to employeeswith strong normative commitment remain because they feel ought to do so

Emotionalintelligence

793

(Allen and Meyer 1990) In this study we examined the relationship betweenemotional intelligence and two forms of organizational commitment - affectiveand continuance

Emotionally intelligent individuals are ordfoptimisticordm a trait that enables themto focus on the resolution rather than the reasoning (who is at fault) The workin any given organization imposes difregculties that may result in feelings offrustration Emotionally intelligent individuals would know not to hold theorganization responsible for every feeling of frustration (Abraham 1999) asthey are adept at placing themselves in positive affective states and able toexperience negative affective states that have insigniregcant destructiveconsequences (Salovey and Mayer 1989-1990) This is especially true forsenior managers who have to reconcile the feelings of frustration of conmacrictinginterest groups within and outside the organization This can be doneeffectively only when they are able to place themselves in a positive state ofmind In addition emotionally intelligent individuals would know how to avoiddysfunctional emotions and use them in adaptive ways to alleviate feelings offrustration Furthermore on the fundamental level people are motivated notonly by the rational exchange approach (Vroom 1964) but also by the extent towhich they are connected emotionally to their work and by the extent to whichits contents provide them with such experiences as joy excitement surpriseand frustration (Ashforth and Humphrey 1995) Thus emotional intelligence isexpected to augment a higher level of affective commitment to the organizationand diminish the level of continuance commitment The following hypothesesare suggested

H2a There is a positive relationship between emotional intelligence andaffective organizational commitment of senior managers

H2b There is a negative relationship between emotional intelligence andcontinuance organizational commitment of senior managers

Emotional intelligence and career commitment Career commitment is deregnedas ordfonersquos attitude toward onersquos profession or vocationordm (Blau 1985 p 20)Employees may encounter difregculties of many kinds in pursuing a career thatmay result in dysfunctional emotions Emotionally intelligent individuals areexpected to recognize manage and use their emotions to eliminate theseobstacles and advance their career horizon better than people with lowemotional intelligence This is especially true when the profession incorporateshigh levels of complexity Highly complex managerial work can be verydemanding and lead to high levels of stress Emotional intelligence enablespeople to control this stress effectively and prevent its negative effects on onersquosattitude towards her profession The following hypothesis is suggested

H3 There is a positive relationship between emotional intelligence andcareer commitment of senior managers

JMP188

794

Emotional intelligence and job involvement Job involvement is ordfa beliefdescriptive of the present job and tends to be a function of how much the jobcan satisfy onersquos present needsordm (Kanungo 1982 p 342) As indicated aboveemployees do not get involved in the job only for self-rational interestfulregllment they also get involved in the job because they let their emotionsplay a role Becoming highly involved in the job is oftentimes a response toemotional rather than rational needs Ashforth and Humphrey (1995) cited inFinersquos (1998) work the quotes of a cook discussing the centrality of beingemotionally involved in the job ordfI just love the activity I concentrate totallyso I donrsquot know how I feel itrsquos like another sense takes overordm People aresocial creatures who through job involvement regll the need for emotionalexperience Managerial work is often complex and challenging and seniormanagers with a high emotional intelligence often get extremely involved inchallenging experiences and complex situations that may not occur elsewhereSenior managers for example often remain beyond the required workinghours They do this not for economic reward but because it allows them to copewith those complexities that yield an intense emotional experience Thefollowing hypothesis is suggested

H4 There is a positive relationship between emotional intelligence and jobinvolvement of senior managers

Emotional intelligence and work-family conmacrict Work-family conmacrict is deregnedas ordfa form of inter-role conmacrict in which the role pressures from work andfamily domains are mutually incompatible in some respect That isparticipation in the work (family) role is made more difregcult by virtue ofparticipation in the family (work) roleordm (Greenhaus and Beutell 1985 p 77)Because this study attempted to explore the role of emotional intelligence in theworkplace we concentrated on family interference with work exploring acombination of three forms of work-family conmacrict (time strain and behavior)suggested by Carlson et al (2000) The form of time-based family interferencemay occur when time devoted to one role makes it difregcult to get involved inanother role The form of strain-based family interference proposes that strainin one role intrudes into and interferes with participation in another roleBehavior family interference with work occurs when speciregc behaviorsrequired in one role are incompatible with behavioral expectations in anotherrole (Carlson et al 2000)

Eliminating work-family conmacrict is the responsibility of both theorganization and its employees Keith H Hammonds (1996) quoted EllenGalinsky saying that ordfCompanies are seeing they have all these programs (iework-family policies) but people are still really stressed out Certainlyemployees bear some responsibility for determining their own family balanceBut they need help Companies that recognize the need and adapt work topeoplesrsquo lives will win workersrsquo loyalty - and with that a competitive edge

Emotionalintelligence

795

With respect to the role of the individuals one may expect that a highemotional intelligence would help them balance family interference with workIn fact they may be more capable of preventing work-family conmacrict from thebeginning due to their emotional astuteness incorporates the recognition of thedegree to which the family plays an emotional role for them and thoseconnected to them the insight as to how these emotions should be managedand the ability to improve the decision-making process The followinghypothesis is suggested

H5 There is a negative relationship between emotional intelligence andwork-family conmacrict (family interference with work) of seniormanagers

Emotional intelligence and organizational citizenship behavior Organizationalcitizenship behavior (OCB) is an extra-role behavior that goes beyond formalrole requirements (Smith et al 1983) Emotional intelligence may enhancealtruistic behavior as it enables employees to comprehend their co-workersrsquofeelings and to respond better than employees with low emotional intelligencebecause of their ability to easily shift from negative to positive moods(Abraham 1999) Staw et al (1994) suggested three explanations for theengagement of an emotionally intelligent individual in altruistic behaviorFirst being in a good mood is reinforcing and displaying altruism is rewardingin the sense that it enables employees to also maintain this state of mindSecond people in good moods may be more socially interactive Third whenemployees are more satisreged (having positive emotional reactions to the job)they are more likely to be engaged in helpful behavior The followinghypothesis is suggested

H6 There is a positive relationship between emotional intelligence andorganizational citizenship behavior - altruism of senior managers

Emotional intelligence and work outcomesEmotional intelligence and withdrawal intentions from the organizationWithdrawal of employees is a process (Mobley 1977 1982a b Mobley et al1978) which comprises constructs of withdrawal intentions (thinking ofquitting intention to search and intention to quit) as well as constructs ofwithdrawal behaviors (actually quitting absence) (Miller et al 1979 Mobleyet al 1978) A recent meta-analysis used the constructs of intention to quitthinking of quitting withdrawal cognitions and expected utility of withdrawalas the components of withdrawal intentions (Griffeth et al 2000) In this studywe assess the withdrawal intentions process of senior managers

Emotional intelligence may signiregcantly diminish employeesrsquo withdrawalintentions because of the ability to better regulate emotions Emotionallyintelligent individuals are adept at putting themselves in positive affective

JMP188

796

states and although they may experience negative affective states at timesthese do not have signiregcant destructive consequences Being in positiveaffective states is of importance in the sense of not becoming despondent in theface of daily and even more profound obstacles occurring in organizational lifeRather the individuals are likely to see the positive side of things and use theiremotions for example to enhance persistence at challenging times andfacilitate creativity for resolving difregculties To a certain degree emotionallyintelligent individuals perceive themselves as part of the solution As suchthey feel a high level of identiregcation and are less likely to develop withdrawalintentions This is especially true for senior managers who must deal with theirown difregculties as well as those of others Those with high emotionalintelligence will be inclined to stay and deal with difregculties in adaptive waysThis however is not to say that emotionally intelligent individuals do not facedifregculties when encountering job stress and changes in their job and careerrather they have more and better capabilities than low emotionally individualsto cope with it and thus are likely develop lower withdrawal intentions Thefollowing hypothesis is suggested

H7 There is a negative relationship between emotional intelligence andwithdrawal intentions of senior managers from the organization

Emotional intelligence and job performance Evidence supports a positive effectof emotional intelligence on the success of the individual at work (for a reviewsee Goleman 2001) This is of particularly importance if we believe thatordfmanagement skills lie at the heart of leadershipordm (Whetten and Cameron 2001p 15) and speciregcally recognize the need to develop and acquire skills formanaging people and that emotional intelligence may have a critical role in thecreation of effective leadership A notable study conducted by George (2000)showed how the aspects of emotional intelligence - appraisal and expressionof emotions use of emotion to enhance cognitive processing and decisionmaking knowledge about emotions and management of emotions - contributeto effective leadership For the purpose of this study it is important to note thatalthough it is theoretically signiregcant to show how each aspect affectsperformance it is more accurate to recognize that skills come in groups andclusters and that they support one another (Goleman 2001) The concept ofemotional intelligence seems to encompass this ordfcritical massordm of skills(Boyatzis et al 2000 Goleman 2001) The following hypothesis is suggested

H8 There is a positive relationship between emotional intelligence and jobperformance of senior managers

The moderator role of emotional intelligenceThe literature suggests that the negative effect of work-family conmacrict on workattitudes may be moderated by several variables (see for example Martins

Emotionalintelligence

797

et al 2002) In this study emotional intelligence is expected to moderate therelationship between work-family conmacrict and job satisfaction and therelationship between work-family conmacrict and career commitment

Family interference with work may have some negative consequences on theextent which an employee will be satisreged with her work and committed to hercareer However emotionally intelligent individuals are likely to have the abilityto control for such interferences or at least moderate them to an acceptable levelOn the basis of this logic the following hypotheses are suggested

H9 Emotional intelligence will moderate the relationship betweenwork-family conmacrict and job satisfaction of senior managersSpeciregcally there will be more negative relationship betweenwork-family conmacrict and job satisfaction for senior managers whoare low on emotional intelligence than for those who are high onemotional intelligence

H10 Emotional intelligence will moderate the relationship betweenwork-family conmacrict and career commitment of senior managersSpeciregcally for low emotionally intelligent senior managers there willbe a strong positive relationship between work-conmacrict family andcareer commitment and for highly emotional intelligent seniormanagers there will be a moderate negative relationship betweenwork-conmacrict family and career commitment

MethodologyRespondents and data collectionThe population of this study was senior managers employed as chief regnancialofregcers in the local government authorities in Israel A direct-mailquestionnaire was sent to 262 senior managers The questionnaire wasmailed from and returned to a university address using a self-addressed replyenvelope Ninety-eight usable questionnaires were returned The respondentsrsquoaverage age was 466 years (SD 924) 11 were women and 794 percent held atleast bachelorrsquos degree Their average tenure in their present organization was1147 (SD 913) The average income of the respondents was 256 (SD 054)(1 = up to 10000 New Israeli Shekel (NIS) 2 = 10001 to 20000 and 3 = 20001and above) Note that annual average value of US$ 1 and 1 Euro in 2001 was4205 NIS and 37644 NIS respectively The average size of the organizations(measured by the number of permanent residents for which the organization isresponsible to provide services see Carmeli 2002) was 24729 (SD 5425937)

Dependent variablesWork outcomes Job performance and withdrawal intentions from theorganization were used to assess employeersquos work outcomes

JMP188

798

(1) Job performance This measure was evaluated by a scale developed byPearce and Porter (1986) and used by Black and Porter (1991) andHochwarter et al (1999) This measure contains regve items (overallperformance ability to get along with others completing tasks on timequality of performance and achievement of work goals) that wereassessed on a seven-point scale (ranging from 1 = strongly disagree to7 = strongly agree) Although such difregculties as self-enhancement andobjectivity and reliability may be encountered Mabe and West (1982)showed that self-evaluation measures were more valid than pointed outin prior research (Hochwarter et al (1999) The Cronbachrsquos alpha for thisscale was 087

(2) Withdrawal intentions from the organization This measure was drawnfrom the measure examined by Mobley et al (1978) and widely used inthe literature (Michaels and Spector 1982 Miller et al 1979) It assesseswithdrawal intentions of an employee from hisher organization andconsists of three items I think a lot about leaving the organization I am actively searching for an alternative to the organization and As soon as it is possible I will leave the organization

This measure was assessed on a 5-point scale from 1 = strongly disagree to5 = strongly agree The Cronbachrsquos alpha for this scale was 090

Work behavior

(1) Altruistic behavior This variable was drawn from the multi-dimensionalscale of organizational citizenship behavior developed by Podsakoff andMacKenzie (1989) and modireged and validated by Podsakoff et al (1990)Altruistic behavior was measured using three items that were assessedon a regve-point scale ranging from 1 = strongly disagree to 5 = stronglyagree Sample items are ordfI help others who have heavy workloadsordm ordfIhelp others who have been absentordm The Cronbachrsquos alpha for this scalewas 082

Work attitudesFour work commitment forms (career commitment jobinvolvement affective commitment and continuance commitment) and jobsatisfaction were used to assess employeersquos work attitudes In additionwork-family conmacrict was examined as follows

(1) Career commitment This measure was assessed by a scale developed byBlau (1985) Sample items are ordfI like this profession too much to give itupordm and ordfI am disappointed with being a CEOordm (reverse scored) Themeasure was assessed on a regve-point scale (ranging from 1 = stronglydisagree to 5 = strongly agree) The Cronbachrsquos alpha for this scalewas 074

Emotionalintelligence

799

(2) Job involvement This measure is based on a 10-item scale developed byKanungo (1982) Sample items are ordfThe most important things thathappen to me involve my present jobordm and ordfMost of my personal lifegoals are job-orientedordm The measure was assessed on a seven-pointscale ranging from 1 = strongly disagree to 7 = strongly agree TheCronbachrsquos alpha for this scale was 082

(3) Affective organizational commitmentThis measure is based on the scaledeveloped and validated by Allen and Meyer (1990) Sample items are ordfIreally feel as if this organizationrsquos problems are my ownordm and ordfI do not feellike ordfpart of the familyordm at my organizationordm (reversed item) The measurewas assessed on a seven-point scale (ranging from 1 = strongly disagreeto 7 = strongly agree) The Cronbachrsquos alpha for this scale was 073

(4) Continuance organizational commitmentThis measure is based on thescale developed and validated by Allen and Meyer (1990) Sample itemsare ordfRight now staying with my organization is a matter of necessity asmuch as desireordm and ordfToo much in my life would be disrupted if Idecided I wanted to leave my organization nowordm The measure wasassessed on a seven-point scale (ranging from 1 = strongly disagree to7 = strongly agree) The Cronbachrsquos alpha for this scale was 082

(5) Job satisfaction This measure was estimated by a 6-items scaleemployed by Tsui et al (1992) Sample items are ordfHow satisreged are youwith the nature of the work you performordm and ordfConsidering everythinghow satisreged are you with your current job situationordm The measure wasassessed on a regve-point scale (ranging from 1 = very dissatisreged to5 = very satisreged) The Cronbachrsquos alpha for this scale was 068

(6) Work-family conmacrict This measure was based on a measure developedand validated by Carlson et al 2000) Since this study examines the role ofemotional intelligence in the workplace we concentrated on familyinterference with work exploring a combination of three forms ofwork-family conmacrict (time strain and behavior) which consisted of threeitems each Sample items are ordfThe time I spend on family responsibilitiesoften interferes with my work responsibilitiesordm (time-based familyinterference) ordfDue to stress at home I am often preoccupied with familymatters at workordm (strain-based family interference) ordfThe behaviors thatwork for me at home do not seem to be effective at workordm (behavior-basedfamily interference) All items were ranged from 1 = strongly disagree to5 = strongly agree (5 = presents high conmacrict) The nine items wereloaded onto a single factor The Cronbachrsquos alpha for this scale was 079

Independentmoderator variableEmotional intelligence Over the years considerable research effort resulted invarious instruments for measuring emotional intelligence (EQi of Bar-On 1996

JMP188

800

Executive EQ of Cooper and Sawaf 1997 EIQ Dulewicz and Higgs 1999MSCEIT of Mayer et al 2000 ECI of Boyatzis and Goleman 1998)

In this study emotional intelligence was measured with the self-reportmeasure of emotional intelligence developed by Schutte et al (1998) for severalreasons First this measure is based on the framework of emotional intelligencedeveloped by Salovey and Mayer 1989-1990 and later formulated (Mayer andSalovey 1997)[1] Second previous study found some limitations in earlyself-report measures of emotional intelligence such as insufregcient reliabilityand connections with personality factors (Davies et al 1998) Third studiesthat evaluated the measure of Schutte and her colleagues (1998) in both adultand adolescents population indicate that this measure seems to overcome theobserved difregculties in other measures of emotional intelligence (Ciarrochi et al2000 Ciarrochi et al 2001) Finally in macro level studies self report measureof emotional intelligence which is brief validated and based on a cohesive andcomprehensive model of emotional intelligence (Salovey and Mayer 1989-1990Mayer and Salovey 1997) is very useful

The measure used in this study consists of 33 items Sample items are ordfIknow when to speak about my personal problems to othersordm and ordfI am awareof my emotions as I experience themordm (appraisal and expression of emotion) ordfIpresent myself in a way that makes a good impression on othersordm and I havecontrol over my emotionsordm (regulation of emotion) ordfwhen I feel a change inemotions I tend to come up with new ideasordm and I use good moods to helpmyself keep trying in the face of obstaclesordm (utilization) All items were rangedfrom 1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree The Cronbachrsquos alpha forthis scale was 090

Control variablesWe control for

(1) Organizational size Measured by the number of permanent residents forwhich the organization is responsible for provision of services (Carmeli2002)

(2) Tenure in the organization Measured by the number of years therespondent is employed in the current organization

(3) Gross income (1 = up to 10000 NIS New Israeli Shekel 2 = 10001 to20000 NIS 3 = 20001 to 30000 NIS 4 = 30001 to 40000 NIS and4 = above 40000 NIS)

(4) Respondentsrsquo age

Because the vast majority of the respondents were male differences betweenmale and female respondents could not be established

Data analysisTo assess the relationship between emotional intelligence and work attitudesbehavior and outcomes we performed a series of separate hierarchical

Emotionalintelligence

801

regression analyses Each model had two steps The regrst step involvedentering the control variables and the second step involved entering theindependent variable

To examine the interaction hypotheses the variables were entered into theregression equations in three steps The control variables were entered in theregrst step In the second step we entered the ordfmain effectsordm (work-familyconmacrict and emotional intelligence) Finally the work-family conmacrict Xemotional intelligence product term variable was entered in the third step Bothvariables were mean-centered as is suggested for variables that are to beconstituents of product terms (Aiken and West 1991)

ResultsTable I reports the means standard deviations and correlation coefregcients ofvariables used in the analysis Though several variables are related Table Iindicates no severe problems of multicolinearity as none of the related variablesexceeded the value of 060 Furthermore we performed separate hierarchicalregressions for the effect of emotional intelligence on each one of the dependentvariables Table I also provides a preliminary support for the signiregcantrelationships between emotional intelligence and work attitudes workbehavior and work outcomes

Table II presents the results of hierarchical regression Emotionalintelligence was positively and signiregcantly related to job satisfaction(b = 032 p 001) supporting H1 This regnding is consistent with theargument according to which emotionally intelligent individuals are likely todisplay higher overall satisfaction in the workplace

Supporting H2a we provide evidence that when senior managers have highemotional intelligence they tend to develop high affective commitment(emotional attachment) to the organization for which they work (b = 023p 005) H2b on the other hand was not supported as the relationshipbetween emotional intelligence and continuance commitment was notsigniregcant (b = 2 012 p = ns) The beta coefregcient though not statisticallysigniregcant was in the expected direction

We found support for H3 Emotionally intelligent senior managers develophigh commitment toward their career (b = 034 p 0001) However contraryto H4 emotional intelligence was statistically unrelated to job involvement Itmay be that the involvement of senior managers is more complex than weassumed and is affected by other important factors not examined here Thoughno prediction was made we found that job involvement was signiregcantlyrelated to tenure in the organization (b = 020 p 010) as well as to grossincome (b = 025 p 005)

The results support H5 stating that senior managers who have highemotional intelligence are more likely to effectively control work-family conmacrict(b = 2 031 p 001) Compared to low and middle-level position employees

JMP188

802

Mea

ns

d

12

34

56

78

910

1112

13

Job

per

form

ance

561

078

100

Wit

hdra

wal

inte

nti

ons

from

an

organ

izat

ion

218

094

20

18

Alt

ruis

tic

beh

avio

r3

780

630

32

0

11

Car

eer

com

mit

men

t3

590

600

22

20

47

0

07

Job

invol

vem

ent

440

089

003

20

130

160

24

Aff

ecti

ve

com

mit

men

t4

730

880

31

20

39

0

160

42

0

48

Con

tinuan

ce

com

mit

men

t3

871

172

030

2

005

20

28

20

100

022

007

Job

sati

sfac

tion

374

051

045

2

038

031

0

39

0

27

055

2

029

Wor

k-f

amily

conmacr

ict

212

049

20

190

042

015

20

152

001

20

190

34

2

011

Em

otio

nal

inte

llig

ence

371

037

032

2

020

0

38

0

38

0

140

24

20

070

27

20

27

Org

aniz

atio

nal

size

247

2954

259

20

012

001

20

010

050

21

011

005

008

021

2

007

Ten

ure

in

organ

izat

ion

114

79

130

022

024

0

120

21

017

006

005

004

010

20

050

03

Age

466

39

242

001

20

190

030

120

31

021

0

150

170

150

100

170

43

Inco

me

256

054

014

20

020

26

006

031

0

172

010

022

2

011

001

016

013

025

Note

saT

wo-

tailed

test

s

p

005

p

001

p

0

001

Table IMeans standard

deviations andcorrelationsa

Emotionalintelligence

803

Job

per

form

Wit

hdrw

l

inte

nt

Alt

ruis

tic

beh

avio

r

Car

eer

com

mit

Job

invol

ve

Aff

ecti

ve

com

mit

Con

tin

com

mit

Job

sati

sfac

tion

Wor

k

fam

ily

conmacr

ict

b(t)

b(t

)b

(t)

b(t)

b(t

)b

(t)

b(t)

b(t)

b(t

)

Ste

p1

Org

aniz

a-

tion

alsi

ze0

00(0

01)

20

01(0

93)

001

(00

7)0

07(0

73)

015

(14

7)0

09(0

83)

005

(04

3)0

06(0

56)

019

(19

3)

Ten

ure

in

organ

iza-

tion

al2

009

(20

75)

20

10(2

087

)2

009

(20

87)

20

03(2

023

)0

20(1

76

)0

15(1

24)

019

(15

8)0

12(1

06)

018

(16

2)

Inco

me

016

(15

4)0

03(0

31)

018

(19

1)

005

(04

5)0

25(2

43

)

011

(10

8)2

016

(21

48)

013

(12

1)2

016

(21

59)

Age

006

(05

8)2

022

(21

94)

008

(08

7)0

27(2

53

)

006

(05

7)0

00(2

004

)0

00(0

00)

20

04(2

036

)2

003

(20

29)

R2

003

80

068

005

50

082

019

30

064

005

10

058

009

3

Ste

p2

Em

otio

nal

inte

llig

ence

032

(30

8)

20

20(2

193

)

054

(60

3)

034

(34

4)

004

(04

5)0

23(2

21

)

20

12(2

111

)0

32(3

12

)2

031

(23

20 )

DR

20

090

039

028

60

113

000

20

050

001

40

098

009

6

Ffo

rD

R2

949

371

36

41

118

3

019

487

123

970

991

R2

for

tota

l

equat

ion

013

50

107

034

10

195

019

50

114

006

50

155

018

9

Note

s

p

010

p

005

p

001

p

000

1

Table IIResults of hierarchicalregression analysis theinmacruence of emotionalintelligence on workattitudes behavior andoutcomes

JMP188

804

senior managers may encounter a higher level of job demands that result inwork-family conmacrict The results indicate that senior managers who have highemotional intelligence may better and more carefully handle the inherentwork-family conmacrict than those who have low emotional intelligence

H6 which states that emotionally intelligent senior managers will displayhigher levels of altruistic behavior was strongly supported (b = 054p 0001) In addition H7 which states that emotional intelligence will benegatively related to withdrawal intentions from the organization and H8which states that emotionally intelligent senior managers will perform the jobbetter than senior managers with low emotional intelligence were supported(b = 2 020 p 010 b = 032 p 001 respectively) These results indicatethat emotional intelligence is an important predictor of both contextualperformance and task performance Note however that H9 which states thatthe higher a senior manager is on emotional intelligence the weaker will be thenegative effect of work-family conmacrict on job satisfaction was not supported(see Table III) The interactive effect of work-family conmacrict and emotionalintelligence on job satisfaction was not signiregcant (b = 003 p = ns)

H10 postulated that the higher a senior manager is on emotionalintelligence the weaker will be the negative effect of work-family conmacrict oncareer commitment The interactive effect of work-family conmacrict andemotional intelligence on career commitment was signiregcant at the 005 level(see Table III) and explained an additional 34 percent of explained variance inthe career commitment

In accordance with convention for plotting interactions (Aiken and West1991 Cohen and Cohen 1983) the cut values for the high and low states on themoderator variable (emotional intelligence) were plus and minus one standarddeviation from the mean Figure 1 presents the interaction of work-familyconmacrict and emotional intelligence in predicting career commitment As shown

Job satisfaction Career commitmentb R 2 DR 2 b R 2 DR 2

Step 1Organizational size 003 004Tenure in organization 014 002Income 016 002

Age 2 005 0058 0058 020 0048 0048Step 2Work-family conmacrict (WF) 2 005 2 009Emotional intelligence (EI) 030 0157 0097 037 0205 0156

Step 3EI pound WF 003 0158 0001 021 0239 0034

Notes p 010 p 005 p 001 p 0001

Table IIIResults of the

moderating role ofemotional intelligence

(EI)

Emotionalintelligence

805

in Figure 1 the interaction of emotional intelligence with work-family conmacrictaffects both the strength and direction of this relationship For senior managerswho are low on emotional intelligence there is a strong positive relationshipand for those who are high on emotional intelligence there is a moderatenegative relationship That is when senior managers with low emotionalintelligence experience high work-family conmacrict they manage to maintainhigh career commitment When highly emotionally intelligent senior managersexperience high work-conmacrict they reduce their career commitment to a morereasonable level to deal with work-family conmacrict

DiscussionThe major goal of this study was to examine the extent to which a criticalcomponent of managerial skills - emotional intelligence - augments positivework attitudes and the contextual and task performance of senior managersemployed in a public sector setting This study advances the literaturepertaining to emotional intelligence by empirically demonstrating theimportance of emotional intelligence for developing positive work-relatedattitudes and contextual and task performance

These regndings are especially of importance for organizations whichrecognize the critical role the top management team plays in their success (seeFinkelstein and Hambrick 1996 Hambrick and Mason 1984) Theeffectiveness of the top management team is a function inter alia of themanagement skills (Whetten and Cameron 2001) possessed by the seniormanagers from which it is comprised Skills of managing people are of uniqueimportance for the creation of effective management and leadership andemotional intelligence as ordfthe subset of social intelligenceordm (Salovey and Mayer1989-1990) may be the most critical component of this class of skills Hencehaving senior executives with high emotional intelligence is a necessity forattaining sustainable results

This study went beyond the simple premise of the importance of emotionalintelligence to demonstrate the extent to which the latter augments favorableattitudes and outcomes The results indicate for example that emotionallyintelligent senior managers develop emotional attachment to their

Figure 1Interaction betweenemotional intelligence(EI) and work-familyconmacrict (WF) predictingcareer commitment (CC)

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organizations and are also more committed to their career In addition regndingsalso indicate that emotionally intelligent senior managers tend to be moresatisreged with their work Retaining talented and knowledgeable seniormanagers becomes a major concern for many organizations Selecting seniormanagers who have high emotional intelligence may have a positive impact onthe extent to which an organization succeeds in retaining its most criticalworkforce Research regndings revealed that occupational commitment (Lee et al2000) and organizational commitment (Mathieu and Zajac 1990) aresigniregcantly related to withdrawal intentions and that job satisfaction andorganizational commitment are by far the main predictors of turnover (Griffethet al 2000) Interestingly however emotional intelligence was not signiregcantlyassociated with job involvement It may be that senior managers exhibit highinvolvement in their jobs because of the role itself which demands much timeand effort Another possible explanation is manifested by the relationshipbetween income and job involvement (b = 025 p 005) suggesting thateconomic factors inmacruence the subjective felt of job involvement Emotionalintelligence may help an individual to better handle demanding managerialwork Nevertheless we are still in need of further investigation regarding thefactors that foster an individualrsquos high level of involvement in her job (Brown1996)

Another important relationship examined in this study is the relationshipbetween emotional intelligence and work-family conmacrict Work-family policiesadopted and implemented by an organization may not provide the wholesolution especially with respect to family interference with work simplybecause employees have some responsibility in determining their own familybalance The results of this study advance the literature by indicating thatemotionally intelligent employees may better handle this conmacrict Anintegration of work-family programs and an emotionally intelligentworkforce can better attain the desired balance This study indicates thatcompared to emotionally intelligent senior managers low-emotionallyintelligent senior managers are not less able to be sensitive enough toacknowledge how work is affected by family matters and thus feel no need toreduce their career commitment Senior managers who are high on emotionalintelligence recognize having important responsibilities at work and at thesame time realize that they may neglect their family and their needs In otherwords they are equally sensitive to what they feel when they are consumedwith my work all the time This recognition help them balance their careercommitment to a healthy mid point (not very high but not very low either)Further examination of the interactive effect of work-family conmacrict andemotional intelligence on career commitment and job satisfaction revealed thatemotional intelligence moderated only the negative inmacruence of work-family oncareer commitment Clearly this regnding should receive further investigation

Emotionalintelligence

807

but it illuminate the kind of role emotional intelligence may play in therelationship of ordfwork stressordm and work attitudes

We found a direct and signiregcant relationship between emotionalintelligence and withdrawal intentions from the organization This intensiregesthe important role that emotional intelligence may have in retaining valuableorganization members The results of this study also indicate that emotionalintelligence augments both contextual (altruistic citizenship behavior) and taskperformance Contextual performance of senior managers is valued becausethe latter oftentimes serves as a ordfrole modelordm and ordfcharacterordm for theorganizationrsquos members to follow This process may have a positive effect onthe organization since organizational citizenship behavior has the potential forexample to enhance co-worker and managerial productivity freeing themanagement from work-related problems so that it can deal with moreproductive tasks and enhancing the sustainability of the organizationrsquosperformance In addition the regnding that emotionally intelligent seniormanagers perform better on the job provides clear evidence to the questionasked by Cherniss (2000) regarding ordfhow important it (emotional intelligence)is for effective performance at workordm and is consistent with Cavallo andBrienzarsquos regndings of a ordfstrong relationship between superior performingleaders and emotional competenceordm

Limitation and directions for future researchSeveral limitations constrain the interpretation and application of the studyrsquosregndings The aim of this study to explore the role of emotional intelligenceamong senior managers is also a weakness because it has not includednon-managerial employees Future studies may be beneregted from anexploration of a wider range of employees at different organizational levelsOne should also be cautious while generalizing the results of this study to othercultures or sectors Prospective research should be directed to exploredifferences among for-proregt governmental and not-for-proregt organizations

Validated and usable measures were employed to reduce the possibility ofbias in general method variance and data was collected from a large number oforganizational units to allow for better external validity and increasedgenerality of the results (Cook and Campbell 1979) Still the reader is cautionedto recognize the limitations of relying on self-reported data This may carry abias of general method variance As can be seen results of hierarchicalregressions provided a relatively small proportion of the explained variance ofthe dependent variables We also compared subjective-reported data toobjective data on organizational size and the comparison yielded no differenceAnd as Xie (1996) indicated there is no theoretical foundation to expect thatinteractions are associated with common method variance Future studies maybeneregt from a longitudinal research design One however must recognize thatcollecting data from a large number of organizations is problematic Finally

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this study used a relatively new measure of emotional intelligence and thoughstudies reported good reliability and evidence of validity it would be useful toconduct a study which compare results of this study with those used otheracceptable measures of emotional intelligence

Note

1 When this study was conducted the MSCEIT instrument was not available to the author

References

Abraham R (1999) ordfEmotional intelligence in organizations a conceptualizationordm GeneticSocial and General Psychology Monographs Vol 125 No 2 pp 209-24

Aiken LS and West SG (1991) Multiple Regression Testing and Interpreting InteractionsSage Newbury Park CA

Allen NJ and Meyer JP (1990) ordfThe measurement and antecedents of affective continuanceand normative commitment to the organizationordm Journal of Occupational PsychologyVol 63 pp 1-18

Allen NJ and Meyer JP (1996) ordfAffective continuance and normative commitment to theorganization an examination of construct validityordm Journal of Vocational Behavior Vol 49No 3 pp 252-76

Ashforth BE and Humphrey RH (1995) ordfEmotion in the workplace a reappraisalordm HumanRelations Vol 48 No 2 pp 97-125

Bar-On R (1996) The Emotional Quotient Inventory (EQ-i) A Test of Emotional IntelligenceMulti-Health Systems Toronto

Bar-On R and Parker JDA (2000) The Handbook of Emotional Intelligence TheoryDevelopment Assessment and Application at Home School and in the WorkplaceJossey-Bass San Francisco CA

Bar-On R Brown JM Kirkcaldy BD and Thome EP (2000) ordfEmotional expression andimplications for occupational stress an applicationordm Personality and IndividualDifferences Vol 28 pp 1107-18

Becker HS (1960) ordfNotes on the concept of commitmentordm American Journal of Sociology Vol 66No 1 pp 33-42

Black J and Porter L (1991) ordfManagerial behavior and job performance a successful managerin Los Angeles may not succeed in Hong Kongordm Journal of International Business StudiesVol 22 pp 99-114

Blau GJ (1985) ordfThe measurement and prediction of career commitmentordm Journal ofOccupational Psychology Vol 58 pp 277-88

Blood MR (1969) ordfWork values and job satisfactionordm Journal of Applied Psychology Vol 53pp 456-9

Boyatzis R Goleman D and Rhee K (2000) ordfClustering competence in emotional intelligenceinsights from the emotional competence inventory (ECI)ordm in Bar-On R and Parker JDA(Eds) Handbook of Emotional Intelligence Jossey-Bass San Francisco CA

Brown SP (1996) ordfA meta-analysis and review of organizational research on job involvementordmPsychological Bulletin Vol 120 No 2 pp 235-55

Carlson DS Kacmar MK and Williams LJ (2000) ordfConstruction and initial validations of amultidimensional measure of work-family conmacrictordm Journal of Vocational BehaviorVol 56 pp 249-76

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809

Carmeli A (2002) ordfA conceptual and practical framework of measuring performance of localauthorities in regnancial terms analysing the case of Israelordm Local Government StudiesVol 28 No 1 pp 21-36

Cherniss C (2000) ordfordfEmotional intelligence what it is and why it mattersordm paper presented atthe Annual Meeting of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology NewOrleans LA April p 15

Ciarrochi J Chan AYC and Bajgar J (2001) ordfMeasuring emotional intelligence inadolescentsordm Personality and Individual Differences Vol 31 pp 1105-19

Ciarrochi J Chan AYC and Caputi P (2000) ordfA critical evaluation of the emotionalintelligence constructordm Personality and Individual Differences Vol 28 pp 539-61

Cohen J and Cohen P (1983) Applied Multiple RegressionCorrelation Analysis for theBehavioral Sciences Lawrence Erlbaum Hillsdale NJ

Cook TD and Campbell TD (1979) Quasi-Experimentation Design and Analytical Issues forField Settings Rand-McNally Chicago IL

Cooper RK and Sawaf A (1997) Executive EQ Emotional Intelligence in Leadership andOrganizations GrossetPutnam New York NY

Davies M Stankov L and Roberts R (1998) ordfEmotional intelligence in search of an elusiveconstructordm Journal of Personality and Social Psychology Vol 75 pp 989-1015

Dulewicz V and Higgs MJ (1999) Usersrsquo Guide for the Emotional Intelligence QuestionnaireNFER-Nelson Windsor

Dulewicz V and Higgs MJ (2000) ordfEmotional intelligence a review and evaluation studyordmJournal of Managerial Psychology Vol 15 No 4 pp 341-72

Finkelstein S and Hambrick D (1996) Strategic Leadership Top Executives and Their Effectson Organizations West Publishing Company St Paul MN

Furnham A (1990) The Protestant Work Ethic The Psychology of Work-Related Beliefs andBehaviors Routledge New York NY

GardnerH (1983) Frames of Mind The Theory of Multiple Intelligences Basic Books New YorkNY

George JM (2000) ordfEmotions and leadership the role of emotional intelligenceordm HumanRelations Vol 53 No 8 pp 1027-55

Goleman D (1995) Emotional Intelligence Why It Can Matter More than IQ Bantam BooksNew York NY

Goleman D (1998) Working with Emotional Intelligence Bantam Books New York NY

Goleman D (2001) ordfAn EI-based theory of performanceordm in Cherniss C and Goleman D (Eds)The Emotionally Intelligent Workplace How to Select for Measure and Improve EmotionalIntelligence in Individuals Groups and Organizations Jossey-Bass San Francisco CApp 27-44

Grandey AA (2000) ordfEmotion regulation in the workplace a new way to conceptualizeemotional laborordm Journal of Occupational Health Psychology Vol 5 No 1 pp 95-110

Greenhaus JH and Beutell NJ (1985) ordfSources of conmacrict between work and family rolesordmAcademy of Management Review Vol 10 No 1 pp 76-88

Griffeth RW Hom PW and Gaertner S (2000) ordfA meta-analysis of antecedents and correlatesof employee turnover update moderator test and research implications for the nextmillenniumordm Journal of Management Vol 26 No 3 pp 463-88

Hambrick DC and Mason PA (1984) ordfUpper echelons the organization as a remacrection of itstop managementordm Academy of Management Review Vol 9 pp 193-206

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Emotional intelligence and work commitment Work commitment is amultidimensional construct that comprises various forms Themultidimensionality of work commitment has been established byresearchers who argued that employees develop more than one type of workcommitment (Becker 1960) and that types are in accordance with theemployeesrsquo own beneregts (Ritzer and Trice 1969) This approach has beensigniregcantly advanced by Morrow (1983 1993) who was the regrst to attemptmapping theoretically universal forms of work commitment that are relevant toas many employees as possible (Morrow 1993 p 160) Morrow advocatedconcentrating a research effort on regve universal forms of work commitment asfollows work ethic endorsement career commitment affective organizationalcommitment continuance organizational commitment and job involvement Ina series of studies it has been shown that in addition to most commoncomponents of organizational commitment - affective and continuance - athird component normative commitment should be investigated as well(Meyer and Allen 1997)

This study investigates all of these forms except for work ethicendorsement Work ethic endorsement is the extent to which one believesthat hard work is important and that leisure and excess money are detrimental(Blood 1969 Furnham 1990 Mirels and Garrett 1971 Morrow 1993) It is aordfrelatively regxed attribute over the life courseordm (Morrow 1983 p 495)

The research on emotional intelligence and work commitment hasconcentrated thus far on organizational commitment The latter wasinvestigated (Abraham 1999) in the context with which it has traditionallybeen deregned as ordfthe relative strength of an individualrsquos identiregcation andinvolvement in a particular organizationordm (Mowday et al 1982 p 27) Howeverthis is still a somewhat narrow approach that limits our understanding not onlyof the relationship between emotional intelligence and organizationalcommitment (a concept that comprises three distinct constructs) but alsoregarding how the former is related to work commitment forms such as careercommitment and job involvement

Emotional intelligence and organizational commitment The concept oforganizational commitment incorporates three distinct constructs affectivecontinuance and normative commitment Continuance commitment is deregnedas ordfthe extent to which employees feel committed to their organizations byvirtue of the costs that they feel are associated with leavingordm (Meyer and Allen1984 p 375) Affective commitment is ordfpositive feelings of identiregcation withattachment to and involvement in the work organizationordm (Meyer and Allen1984 p 375) Normative commitment refers to ordfcommitment based on a senseof obligation to the organizationordm (Allen and Meyer 1996 p 253) Employeeswith strong affective commitment remain because they want to employeeswith strong continuance commitment remain because they need to employeeswith strong normative commitment remain because they feel ought to do so

Emotionalintelligence

793

(Allen and Meyer 1990) In this study we examined the relationship betweenemotional intelligence and two forms of organizational commitment - affectiveand continuance

Emotionally intelligent individuals are ordfoptimisticordm a trait that enables themto focus on the resolution rather than the reasoning (who is at fault) The workin any given organization imposes difregculties that may result in feelings offrustration Emotionally intelligent individuals would know not to hold theorganization responsible for every feeling of frustration (Abraham 1999) asthey are adept at placing themselves in positive affective states and able toexperience negative affective states that have insigniregcant destructiveconsequences (Salovey and Mayer 1989-1990) This is especially true forsenior managers who have to reconcile the feelings of frustration of conmacrictinginterest groups within and outside the organization This can be doneeffectively only when they are able to place themselves in a positive state ofmind In addition emotionally intelligent individuals would know how to avoiddysfunctional emotions and use them in adaptive ways to alleviate feelings offrustration Furthermore on the fundamental level people are motivated notonly by the rational exchange approach (Vroom 1964) but also by the extent towhich they are connected emotionally to their work and by the extent to whichits contents provide them with such experiences as joy excitement surpriseand frustration (Ashforth and Humphrey 1995) Thus emotional intelligence isexpected to augment a higher level of affective commitment to the organizationand diminish the level of continuance commitment The following hypothesesare suggested

H2a There is a positive relationship between emotional intelligence andaffective organizational commitment of senior managers

H2b There is a negative relationship between emotional intelligence andcontinuance organizational commitment of senior managers

Emotional intelligence and career commitment Career commitment is deregnedas ordfonersquos attitude toward onersquos profession or vocationordm (Blau 1985 p 20)Employees may encounter difregculties of many kinds in pursuing a career thatmay result in dysfunctional emotions Emotionally intelligent individuals areexpected to recognize manage and use their emotions to eliminate theseobstacles and advance their career horizon better than people with lowemotional intelligence This is especially true when the profession incorporateshigh levels of complexity Highly complex managerial work can be verydemanding and lead to high levels of stress Emotional intelligence enablespeople to control this stress effectively and prevent its negative effects on onersquosattitude towards her profession The following hypothesis is suggested

H3 There is a positive relationship between emotional intelligence andcareer commitment of senior managers

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794

Emotional intelligence and job involvement Job involvement is ordfa beliefdescriptive of the present job and tends to be a function of how much the jobcan satisfy onersquos present needsordm (Kanungo 1982 p 342) As indicated aboveemployees do not get involved in the job only for self-rational interestfulregllment they also get involved in the job because they let their emotionsplay a role Becoming highly involved in the job is oftentimes a response toemotional rather than rational needs Ashforth and Humphrey (1995) cited inFinersquos (1998) work the quotes of a cook discussing the centrality of beingemotionally involved in the job ordfI just love the activity I concentrate totallyso I donrsquot know how I feel itrsquos like another sense takes overordm People aresocial creatures who through job involvement regll the need for emotionalexperience Managerial work is often complex and challenging and seniormanagers with a high emotional intelligence often get extremely involved inchallenging experiences and complex situations that may not occur elsewhereSenior managers for example often remain beyond the required workinghours They do this not for economic reward but because it allows them to copewith those complexities that yield an intense emotional experience Thefollowing hypothesis is suggested

H4 There is a positive relationship between emotional intelligence and jobinvolvement of senior managers

Emotional intelligence and work-family conmacrict Work-family conmacrict is deregnedas ordfa form of inter-role conmacrict in which the role pressures from work andfamily domains are mutually incompatible in some respect That isparticipation in the work (family) role is made more difregcult by virtue ofparticipation in the family (work) roleordm (Greenhaus and Beutell 1985 p 77)Because this study attempted to explore the role of emotional intelligence in theworkplace we concentrated on family interference with work exploring acombination of three forms of work-family conmacrict (time strain and behavior)suggested by Carlson et al (2000) The form of time-based family interferencemay occur when time devoted to one role makes it difregcult to get involved inanother role The form of strain-based family interference proposes that strainin one role intrudes into and interferes with participation in another roleBehavior family interference with work occurs when speciregc behaviorsrequired in one role are incompatible with behavioral expectations in anotherrole (Carlson et al 2000)

Eliminating work-family conmacrict is the responsibility of both theorganization and its employees Keith H Hammonds (1996) quoted EllenGalinsky saying that ordfCompanies are seeing they have all these programs (iework-family policies) but people are still really stressed out Certainlyemployees bear some responsibility for determining their own family balanceBut they need help Companies that recognize the need and adapt work topeoplesrsquo lives will win workersrsquo loyalty - and with that a competitive edge

Emotionalintelligence

795

With respect to the role of the individuals one may expect that a highemotional intelligence would help them balance family interference with workIn fact they may be more capable of preventing work-family conmacrict from thebeginning due to their emotional astuteness incorporates the recognition of thedegree to which the family plays an emotional role for them and thoseconnected to them the insight as to how these emotions should be managedand the ability to improve the decision-making process The followinghypothesis is suggested

H5 There is a negative relationship between emotional intelligence andwork-family conmacrict (family interference with work) of seniormanagers

Emotional intelligence and organizational citizenship behavior Organizationalcitizenship behavior (OCB) is an extra-role behavior that goes beyond formalrole requirements (Smith et al 1983) Emotional intelligence may enhancealtruistic behavior as it enables employees to comprehend their co-workersrsquofeelings and to respond better than employees with low emotional intelligencebecause of their ability to easily shift from negative to positive moods(Abraham 1999) Staw et al (1994) suggested three explanations for theengagement of an emotionally intelligent individual in altruistic behaviorFirst being in a good mood is reinforcing and displaying altruism is rewardingin the sense that it enables employees to also maintain this state of mindSecond people in good moods may be more socially interactive Third whenemployees are more satisreged (having positive emotional reactions to the job)they are more likely to be engaged in helpful behavior The followinghypothesis is suggested

H6 There is a positive relationship between emotional intelligence andorganizational citizenship behavior - altruism of senior managers

Emotional intelligence and work outcomesEmotional intelligence and withdrawal intentions from the organizationWithdrawal of employees is a process (Mobley 1977 1982a b Mobley et al1978) which comprises constructs of withdrawal intentions (thinking ofquitting intention to search and intention to quit) as well as constructs ofwithdrawal behaviors (actually quitting absence) (Miller et al 1979 Mobleyet al 1978) A recent meta-analysis used the constructs of intention to quitthinking of quitting withdrawal cognitions and expected utility of withdrawalas the components of withdrawal intentions (Griffeth et al 2000) In this studywe assess the withdrawal intentions process of senior managers

Emotional intelligence may signiregcantly diminish employeesrsquo withdrawalintentions because of the ability to better regulate emotions Emotionallyintelligent individuals are adept at putting themselves in positive affective

JMP188

796

states and although they may experience negative affective states at timesthese do not have signiregcant destructive consequences Being in positiveaffective states is of importance in the sense of not becoming despondent in theface of daily and even more profound obstacles occurring in organizational lifeRather the individuals are likely to see the positive side of things and use theiremotions for example to enhance persistence at challenging times andfacilitate creativity for resolving difregculties To a certain degree emotionallyintelligent individuals perceive themselves as part of the solution As suchthey feel a high level of identiregcation and are less likely to develop withdrawalintentions This is especially true for senior managers who must deal with theirown difregculties as well as those of others Those with high emotionalintelligence will be inclined to stay and deal with difregculties in adaptive waysThis however is not to say that emotionally intelligent individuals do not facedifregculties when encountering job stress and changes in their job and careerrather they have more and better capabilities than low emotionally individualsto cope with it and thus are likely develop lower withdrawal intentions Thefollowing hypothesis is suggested

H7 There is a negative relationship between emotional intelligence andwithdrawal intentions of senior managers from the organization

Emotional intelligence and job performance Evidence supports a positive effectof emotional intelligence on the success of the individual at work (for a reviewsee Goleman 2001) This is of particularly importance if we believe thatordfmanagement skills lie at the heart of leadershipordm (Whetten and Cameron 2001p 15) and speciregcally recognize the need to develop and acquire skills formanaging people and that emotional intelligence may have a critical role in thecreation of effective leadership A notable study conducted by George (2000)showed how the aspects of emotional intelligence - appraisal and expressionof emotions use of emotion to enhance cognitive processing and decisionmaking knowledge about emotions and management of emotions - contributeto effective leadership For the purpose of this study it is important to note thatalthough it is theoretically signiregcant to show how each aspect affectsperformance it is more accurate to recognize that skills come in groups andclusters and that they support one another (Goleman 2001) The concept ofemotional intelligence seems to encompass this ordfcritical massordm of skills(Boyatzis et al 2000 Goleman 2001) The following hypothesis is suggested

H8 There is a positive relationship between emotional intelligence and jobperformance of senior managers

The moderator role of emotional intelligenceThe literature suggests that the negative effect of work-family conmacrict on workattitudes may be moderated by several variables (see for example Martins

Emotionalintelligence

797

et al 2002) In this study emotional intelligence is expected to moderate therelationship between work-family conmacrict and job satisfaction and therelationship between work-family conmacrict and career commitment

Family interference with work may have some negative consequences on theextent which an employee will be satisreged with her work and committed to hercareer However emotionally intelligent individuals are likely to have the abilityto control for such interferences or at least moderate them to an acceptable levelOn the basis of this logic the following hypotheses are suggested

H9 Emotional intelligence will moderate the relationship betweenwork-family conmacrict and job satisfaction of senior managersSpeciregcally there will be more negative relationship betweenwork-family conmacrict and job satisfaction for senior managers whoare low on emotional intelligence than for those who are high onemotional intelligence

H10 Emotional intelligence will moderate the relationship betweenwork-family conmacrict and career commitment of senior managersSpeciregcally for low emotionally intelligent senior managers there willbe a strong positive relationship between work-conmacrict family andcareer commitment and for highly emotional intelligent seniormanagers there will be a moderate negative relationship betweenwork-conmacrict family and career commitment

MethodologyRespondents and data collectionThe population of this study was senior managers employed as chief regnancialofregcers in the local government authorities in Israel A direct-mailquestionnaire was sent to 262 senior managers The questionnaire wasmailed from and returned to a university address using a self-addressed replyenvelope Ninety-eight usable questionnaires were returned The respondentsrsquoaverage age was 466 years (SD 924) 11 were women and 794 percent held atleast bachelorrsquos degree Their average tenure in their present organization was1147 (SD 913) The average income of the respondents was 256 (SD 054)(1 = up to 10000 New Israeli Shekel (NIS) 2 = 10001 to 20000 and 3 = 20001and above) Note that annual average value of US$ 1 and 1 Euro in 2001 was4205 NIS and 37644 NIS respectively The average size of the organizations(measured by the number of permanent residents for which the organization isresponsible to provide services see Carmeli 2002) was 24729 (SD 5425937)

Dependent variablesWork outcomes Job performance and withdrawal intentions from theorganization were used to assess employeersquos work outcomes

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798

(1) Job performance This measure was evaluated by a scale developed byPearce and Porter (1986) and used by Black and Porter (1991) andHochwarter et al (1999) This measure contains regve items (overallperformance ability to get along with others completing tasks on timequality of performance and achievement of work goals) that wereassessed on a seven-point scale (ranging from 1 = strongly disagree to7 = strongly agree) Although such difregculties as self-enhancement andobjectivity and reliability may be encountered Mabe and West (1982)showed that self-evaluation measures were more valid than pointed outin prior research (Hochwarter et al (1999) The Cronbachrsquos alpha for thisscale was 087

(2) Withdrawal intentions from the organization This measure was drawnfrom the measure examined by Mobley et al (1978) and widely used inthe literature (Michaels and Spector 1982 Miller et al 1979) It assesseswithdrawal intentions of an employee from hisher organization andconsists of three items I think a lot about leaving the organization I am actively searching for an alternative to the organization and As soon as it is possible I will leave the organization

This measure was assessed on a 5-point scale from 1 = strongly disagree to5 = strongly agree The Cronbachrsquos alpha for this scale was 090

Work behavior

(1) Altruistic behavior This variable was drawn from the multi-dimensionalscale of organizational citizenship behavior developed by Podsakoff andMacKenzie (1989) and modireged and validated by Podsakoff et al (1990)Altruistic behavior was measured using three items that were assessedon a regve-point scale ranging from 1 = strongly disagree to 5 = stronglyagree Sample items are ordfI help others who have heavy workloadsordm ordfIhelp others who have been absentordm The Cronbachrsquos alpha for this scalewas 082

Work attitudesFour work commitment forms (career commitment jobinvolvement affective commitment and continuance commitment) and jobsatisfaction were used to assess employeersquos work attitudes In additionwork-family conmacrict was examined as follows

(1) Career commitment This measure was assessed by a scale developed byBlau (1985) Sample items are ordfI like this profession too much to give itupordm and ordfI am disappointed with being a CEOordm (reverse scored) Themeasure was assessed on a regve-point scale (ranging from 1 = stronglydisagree to 5 = strongly agree) The Cronbachrsquos alpha for this scalewas 074

Emotionalintelligence

799

(2) Job involvement This measure is based on a 10-item scale developed byKanungo (1982) Sample items are ordfThe most important things thathappen to me involve my present jobordm and ordfMost of my personal lifegoals are job-orientedordm The measure was assessed on a seven-pointscale ranging from 1 = strongly disagree to 7 = strongly agree TheCronbachrsquos alpha for this scale was 082

(3) Affective organizational commitmentThis measure is based on the scaledeveloped and validated by Allen and Meyer (1990) Sample items are ordfIreally feel as if this organizationrsquos problems are my ownordm and ordfI do not feellike ordfpart of the familyordm at my organizationordm (reversed item) The measurewas assessed on a seven-point scale (ranging from 1 = strongly disagreeto 7 = strongly agree) The Cronbachrsquos alpha for this scale was 073

(4) Continuance organizational commitmentThis measure is based on thescale developed and validated by Allen and Meyer (1990) Sample itemsare ordfRight now staying with my organization is a matter of necessity asmuch as desireordm and ordfToo much in my life would be disrupted if Idecided I wanted to leave my organization nowordm The measure wasassessed on a seven-point scale (ranging from 1 = strongly disagree to7 = strongly agree) The Cronbachrsquos alpha for this scale was 082

(5) Job satisfaction This measure was estimated by a 6-items scaleemployed by Tsui et al (1992) Sample items are ordfHow satisreged are youwith the nature of the work you performordm and ordfConsidering everythinghow satisreged are you with your current job situationordm The measure wasassessed on a regve-point scale (ranging from 1 = very dissatisreged to5 = very satisreged) The Cronbachrsquos alpha for this scale was 068

(6) Work-family conmacrict This measure was based on a measure developedand validated by Carlson et al 2000) Since this study examines the role ofemotional intelligence in the workplace we concentrated on familyinterference with work exploring a combination of three forms ofwork-family conmacrict (time strain and behavior) which consisted of threeitems each Sample items are ordfThe time I spend on family responsibilitiesoften interferes with my work responsibilitiesordm (time-based familyinterference) ordfDue to stress at home I am often preoccupied with familymatters at workordm (strain-based family interference) ordfThe behaviors thatwork for me at home do not seem to be effective at workordm (behavior-basedfamily interference) All items were ranged from 1 = strongly disagree to5 = strongly agree (5 = presents high conmacrict) The nine items wereloaded onto a single factor The Cronbachrsquos alpha for this scale was 079

Independentmoderator variableEmotional intelligence Over the years considerable research effort resulted invarious instruments for measuring emotional intelligence (EQi of Bar-On 1996

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800

Executive EQ of Cooper and Sawaf 1997 EIQ Dulewicz and Higgs 1999MSCEIT of Mayer et al 2000 ECI of Boyatzis and Goleman 1998)

In this study emotional intelligence was measured with the self-reportmeasure of emotional intelligence developed by Schutte et al (1998) for severalreasons First this measure is based on the framework of emotional intelligencedeveloped by Salovey and Mayer 1989-1990 and later formulated (Mayer andSalovey 1997)[1] Second previous study found some limitations in earlyself-report measures of emotional intelligence such as insufregcient reliabilityand connections with personality factors (Davies et al 1998) Third studiesthat evaluated the measure of Schutte and her colleagues (1998) in both adultand adolescents population indicate that this measure seems to overcome theobserved difregculties in other measures of emotional intelligence (Ciarrochi et al2000 Ciarrochi et al 2001) Finally in macro level studies self report measureof emotional intelligence which is brief validated and based on a cohesive andcomprehensive model of emotional intelligence (Salovey and Mayer 1989-1990Mayer and Salovey 1997) is very useful

The measure used in this study consists of 33 items Sample items are ordfIknow when to speak about my personal problems to othersordm and ordfI am awareof my emotions as I experience themordm (appraisal and expression of emotion) ordfIpresent myself in a way that makes a good impression on othersordm and I havecontrol over my emotionsordm (regulation of emotion) ordfwhen I feel a change inemotions I tend to come up with new ideasordm and I use good moods to helpmyself keep trying in the face of obstaclesordm (utilization) All items were rangedfrom 1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree The Cronbachrsquos alpha forthis scale was 090

Control variablesWe control for

(1) Organizational size Measured by the number of permanent residents forwhich the organization is responsible for provision of services (Carmeli2002)

(2) Tenure in the organization Measured by the number of years therespondent is employed in the current organization

(3) Gross income (1 = up to 10000 NIS New Israeli Shekel 2 = 10001 to20000 NIS 3 = 20001 to 30000 NIS 4 = 30001 to 40000 NIS and4 = above 40000 NIS)

(4) Respondentsrsquo age

Because the vast majority of the respondents were male differences betweenmale and female respondents could not be established

Data analysisTo assess the relationship between emotional intelligence and work attitudesbehavior and outcomes we performed a series of separate hierarchical

Emotionalintelligence

801

regression analyses Each model had two steps The regrst step involvedentering the control variables and the second step involved entering theindependent variable

To examine the interaction hypotheses the variables were entered into theregression equations in three steps The control variables were entered in theregrst step In the second step we entered the ordfmain effectsordm (work-familyconmacrict and emotional intelligence) Finally the work-family conmacrict Xemotional intelligence product term variable was entered in the third step Bothvariables were mean-centered as is suggested for variables that are to beconstituents of product terms (Aiken and West 1991)

ResultsTable I reports the means standard deviations and correlation coefregcients ofvariables used in the analysis Though several variables are related Table Iindicates no severe problems of multicolinearity as none of the related variablesexceeded the value of 060 Furthermore we performed separate hierarchicalregressions for the effect of emotional intelligence on each one of the dependentvariables Table I also provides a preliminary support for the signiregcantrelationships between emotional intelligence and work attitudes workbehavior and work outcomes

Table II presents the results of hierarchical regression Emotionalintelligence was positively and signiregcantly related to job satisfaction(b = 032 p 001) supporting H1 This regnding is consistent with theargument according to which emotionally intelligent individuals are likely todisplay higher overall satisfaction in the workplace

Supporting H2a we provide evidence that when senior managers have highemotional intelligence they tend to develop high affective commitment(emotional attachment) to the organization for which they work (b = 023p 005) H2b on the other hand was not supported as the relationshipbetween emotional intelligence and continuance commitment was notsigniregcant (b = 2 012 p = ns) The beta coefregcient though not statisticallysigniregcant was in the expected direction

We found support for H3 Emotionally intelligent senior managers develophigh commitment toward their career (b = 034 p 0001) However contraryto H4 emotional intelligence was statistically unrelated to job involvement Itmay be that the involvement of senior managers is more complex than weassumed and is affected by other important factors not examined here Thoughno prediction was made we found that job involvement was signiregcantlyrelated to tenure in the organization (b = 020 p 010) as well as to grossincome (b = 025 p 005)

The results support H5 stating that senior managers who have highemotional intelligence are more likely to effectively control work-family conmacrict(b = 2 031 p 001) Compared to low and middle-level position employees

JMP188

802

Mea

ns

d

12

34

56

78

910

1112

13

Job

per

form

ance

561

078

100

Wit

hdra

wal

inte

nti

ons

from

an

organ

izat

ion

218

094

20

18

Alt

ruis

tic

beh

avio

r3

780

630

32

0

11

Car

eer

com

mit

men

t3

590

600

22

20

47

0

07

Job

invol

vem

ent

440

089

003

20

130

160

24

Aff

ecti

ve

com

mit

men

t4

730

880

31

20

39

0

160

42

0

48

Con

tinuan

ce

com

mit

men

t3

871

172

030

2

005

20

28

20

100

022

007

Job

sati

sfac

tion

374

051

045

2

038

031

0

39

0

27

055

2

029

Wor

k-f

amily

conmacr

ict

212

049

20

190

042

015

20

152

001

20

190

34

2

011

Em

otio

nal

inte

llig

ence

371

037

032

2

020

0

38

0

38

0

140

24

20

070

27

20

27

Org

aniz

atio

nal

size

247

2954

259

20

012

001

20

010

050

21

011

005

008

021

2

007

Ten

ure

in

organ

izat

ion

114

79

130

022

024

0

120

21

017

006

005

004

010

20

050

03

Age

466

39

242

001

20

190

030

120

31

021

0

150

170

150

100

170

43

Inco

me

256

054

014

20

020

26

006

031

0

172

010

022

2

011

001

016

013

025

Note

saT

wo-

tailed

test

s

p

005

p

001

p

0

001

Table IMeans standard

deviations andcorrelationsa

Emotionalintelligence

803

Job

per

form

Wit

hdrw

l

inte

nt

Alt

ruis

tic

beh

avio

r

Car

eer

com

mit

Job

invol

ve

Aff

ecti

ve

com

mit

Con

tin

com

mit

Job

sati

sfac

tion

Wor

k

fam

ily

conmacr

ict

b(t)

b(t

)b

(t)

b(t)

b(t

)b

(t)

b(t)

b(t)

b(t

)

Ste

p1

Org

aniz

a-

tion

alsi

ze0

00(0

01)

20

01(0

93)

001

(00

7)0

07(0

73)

015

(14

7)0

09(0

83)

005

(04

3)0

06(0

56)

019

(19

3)

Ten

ure

in

organ

iza-

tion

al2

009

(20

75)

20

10(2

087

)2

009

(20

87)

20

03(2

023

)0

20(1

76

)0

15(1

24)

019

(15

8)0

12(1

06)

018

(16

2)

Inco

me

016

(15

4)0

03(0

31)

018

(19

1)

005

(04

5)0

25(2

43

)

011

(10

8)2

016

(21

48)

013

(12

1)2

016

(21

59)

Age

006

(05

8)2

022

(21

94)

008

(08

7)0

27(2

53

)

006

(05

7)0

00(2

004

)0

00(0

00)

20

04(2

036

)2

003

(20

29)

R2

003

80

068

005

50

082

019

30

064

005

10

058

009

3

Ste

p2

Em

otio

nal

inte

llig

ence

032

(30

8)

20

20(2

193

)

054

(60

3)

034

(34

4)

004

(04

5)0

23(2

21

)

20

12(2

111

)0

32(3

12

)2

031

(23

20 )

DR

20

090

039

028

60

113

000

20

050

001

40

098

009

6

Ffo

rD

R2

949

371

36

41

118

3

019

487

123

970

991

R2

for

tota

l

equat

ion

013

50

107

034

10

195

019

50

114

006

50

155

018

9

Note

s

p

010

p

005

p

001

p

000

1

Table IIResults of hierarchicalregression analysis theinmacruence of emotionalintelligence on workattitudes behavior andoutcomes

JMP188

804

senior managers may encounter a higher level of job demands that result inwork-family conmacrict The results indicate that senior managers who have highemotional intelligence may better and more carefully handle the inherentwork-family conmacrict than those who have low emotional intelligence

H6 which states that emotionally intelligent senior managers will displayhigher levels of altruistic behavior was strongly supported (b = 054p 0001) In addition H7 which states that emotional intelligence will benegatively related to withdrawal intentions from the organization and H8which states that emotionally intelligent senior managers will perform the jobbetter than senior managers with low emotional intelligence were supported(b = 2 020 p 010 b = 032 p 001 respectively) These results indicatethat emotional intelligence is an important predictor of both contextualperformance and task performance Note however that H9 which states thatthe higher a senior manager is on emotional intelligence the weaker will be thenegative effect of work-family conmacrict on job satisfaction was not supported(see Table III) The interactive effect of work-family conmacrict and emotionalintelligence on job satisfaction was not signiregcant (b = 003 p = ns)

H10 postulated that the higher a senior manager is on emotionalintelligence the weaker will be the negative effect of work-family conmacrict oncareer commitment The interactive effect of work-family conmacrict andemotional intelligence on career commitment was signiregcant at the 005 level(see Table III) and explained an additional 34 percent of explained variance inthe career commitment

In accordance with convention for plotting interactions (Aiken and West1991 Cohen and Cohen 1983) the cut values for the high and low states on themoderator variable (emotional intelligence) were plus and minus one standarddeviation from the mean Figure 1 presents the interaction of work-familyconmacrict and emotional intelligence in predicting career commitment As shown

Job satisfaction Career commitmentb R 2 DR 2 b R 2 DR 2

Step 1Organizational size 003 004Tenure in organization 014 002Income 016 002

Age 2 005 0058 0058 020 0048 0048Step 2Work-family conmacrict (WF) 2 005 2 009Emotional intelligence (EI) 030 0157 0097 037 0205 0156

Step 3EI pound WF 003 0158 0001 021 0239 0034

Notes p 010 p 005 p 001 p 0001

Table IIIResults of the

moderating role ofemotional intelligence

(EI)

Emotionalintelligence

805

in Figure 1 the interaction of emotional intelligence with work-family conmacrictaffects both the strength and direction of this relationship For senior managerswho are low on emotional intelligence there is a strong positive relationshipand for those who are high on emotional intelligence there is a moderatenegative relationship That is when senior managers with low emotionalintelligence experience high work-family conmacrict they manage to maintainhigh career commitment When highly emotionally intelligent senior managersexperience high work-conmacrict they reduce their career commitment to a morereasonable level to deal with work-family conmacrict

DiscussionThe major goal of this study was to examine the extent to which a criticalcomponent of managerial skills - emotional intelligence - augments positivework attitudes and the contextual and task performance of senior managersemployed in a public sector setting This study advances the literaturepertaining to emotional intelligence by empirically demonstrating theimportance of emotional intelligence for developing positive work-relatedattitudes and contextual and task performance

These regndings are especially of importance for organizations whichrecognize the critical role the top management team plays in their success (seeFinkelstein and Hambrick 1996 Hambrick and Mason 1984) Theeffectiveness of the top management team is a function inter alia of themanagement skills (Whetten and Cameron 2001) possessed by the seniormanagers from which it is comprised Skills of managing people are of uniqueimportance for the creation of effective management and leadership andemotional intelligence as ordfthe subset of social intelligenceordm (Salovey and Mayer1989-1990) may be the most critical component of this class of skills Hencehaving senior executives with high emotional intelligence is a necessity forattaining sustainable results

This study went beyond the simple premise of the importance of emotionalintelligence to demonstrate the extent to which the latter augments favorableattitudes and outcomes The results indicate for example that emotionallyintelligent senior managers develop emotional attachment to their

Figure 1Interaction betweenemotional intelligence(EI) and work-familyconmacrict (WF) predictingcareer commitment (CC)

JMP188

806

organizations and are also more committed to their career In addition regndingsalso indicate that emotionally intelligent senior managers tend to be moresatisreged with their work Retaining talented and knowledgeable seniormanagers becomes a major concern for many organizations Selecting seniormanagers who have high emotional intelligence may have a positive impact onthe extent to which an organization succeeds in retaining its most criticalworkforce Research regndings revealed that occupational commitment (Lee et al2000) and organizational commitment (Mathieu and Zajac 1990) aresigniregcantly related to withdrawal intentions and that job satisfaction andorganizational commitment are by far the main predictors of turnover (Griffethet al 2000) Interestingly however emotional intelligence was not signiregcantlyassociated with job involvement It may be that senior managers exhibit highinvolvement in their jobs because of the role itself which demands much timeand effort Another possible explanation is manifested by the relationshipbetween income and job involvement (b = 025 p 005) suggesting thateconomic factors inmacruence the subjective felt of job involvement Emotionalintelligence may help an individual to better handle demanding managerialwork Nevertheless we are still in need of further investigation regarding thefactors that foster an individualrsquos high level of involvement in her job (Brown1996)

Another important relationship examined in this study is the relationshipbetween emotional intelligence and work-family conmacrict Work-family policiesadopted and implemented by an organization may not provide the wholesolution especially with respect to family interference with work simplybecause employees have some responsibility in determining their own familybalance The results of this study advance the literature by indicating thatemotionally intelligent employees may better handle this conmacrict Anintegration of work-family programs and an emotionally intelligentworkforce can better attain the desired balance This study indicates thatcompared to emotionally intelligent senior managers low-emotionallyintelligent senior managers are not less able to be sensitive enough toacknowledge how work is affected by family matters and thus feel no need toreduce their career commitment Senior managers who are high on emotionalintelligence recognize having important responsibilities at work and at thesame time realize that they may neglect their family and their needs In otherwords they are equally sensitive to what they feel when they are consumedwith my work all the time This recognition help them balance their careercommitment to a healthy mid point (not very high but not very low either)Further examination of the interactive effect of work-family conmacrict andemotional intelligence on career commitment and job satisfaction revealed thatemotional intelligence moderated only the negative inmacruence of work-family oncareer commitment Clearly this regnding should receive further investigation

Emotionalintelligence

807

but it illuminate the kind of role emotional intelligence may play in therelationship of ordfwork stressordm and work attitudes

We found a direct and signiregcant relationship between emotionalintelligence and withdrawal intentions from the organization This intensiregesthe important role that emotional intelligence may have in retaining valuableorganization members The results of this study also indicate that emotionalintelligence augments both contextual (altruistic citizenship behavior) and taskperformance Contextual performance of senior managers is valued becausethe latter oftentimes serves as a ordfrole modelordm and ordfcharacterordm for theorganizationrsquos members to follow This process may have a positive effect onthe organization since organizational citizenship behavior has the potential forexample to enhance co-worker and managerial productivity freeing themanagement from work-related problems so that it can deal with moreproductive tasks and enhancing the sustainability of the organizationrsquosperformance In addition the regnding that emotionally intelligent seniormanagers perform better on the job provides clear evidence to the questionasked by Cherniss (2000) regarding ordfhow important it (emotional intelligence)is for effective performance at workordm and is consistent with Cavallo andBrienzarsquos regndings of a ordfstrong relationship between superior performingleaders and emotional competenceordm

Limitation and directions for future researchSeveral limitations constrain the interpretation and application of the studyrsquosregndings The aim of this study to explore the role of emotional intelligenceamong senior managers is also a weakness because it has not includednon-managerial employees Future studies may be beneregted from anexploration of a wider range of employees at different organizational levelsOne should also be cautious while generalizing the results of this study to othercultures or sectors Prospective research should be directed to exploredifferences among for-proregt governmental and not-for-proregt organizations

Validated and usable measures were employed to reduce the possibility ofbias in general method variance and data was collected from a large number oforganizational units to allow for better external validity and increasedgenerality of the results (Cook and Campbell 1979) Still the reader is cautionedto recognize the limitations of relying on self-reported data This may carry abias of general method variance As can be seen results of hierarchicalregressions provided a relatively small proportion of the explained variance ofthe dependent variables We also compared subjective-reported data toobjective data on organizational size and the comparison yielded no differenceAnd as Xie (1996) indicated there is no theoretical foundation to expect thatinteractions are associated with common method variance Future studies maybeneregt from a longitudinal research design One however must recognize thatcollecting data from a large number of organizations is problematic Finally

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808

this study used a relatively new measure of emotional intelligence and thoughstudies reported good reliability and evidence of validity it would be useful toconduct a study which compare results of this study with those used otheracceptable measures of emotional intelligence

Note

1 When this study was conducted the MSCEIT instrument was not available to the author

References

Abraham R (1999) ordfEmotional intelligence in organizations a conceptualizationordm GeneticSocial and General Psychology Monographs Vol 125 No 2 pp 209-24

Aiken LS and West SG (1991) Multiple Regression Testing and Interpreting InteractionsSage Newbury Park CA

Allen NJ and Meyer JP (1990) ordfThe measurement and antecedents of affective continuanceand normative commitment to the organizationordm Journal of Occupational PsychologyVol 63 pp 1-18

Allen NJ and Meyer JP (1996) ordfAffective continuance and normative commitment to theorganization an examination of construct validityordm Journal of Vocational Behavior Vol 49No 3 pp 252-76

Ashforth BE and Humphrey RH (1995) ordfEmotion in the workplace a reappraisalordm HumanRelations Vol 48 No 2 pp 97-125

Bar-On R (1996) The Emotional Quotient Inventory (EQ-i) A Test of Emotional IntelligenceMulti-Health Systems Toronto

Bar-On R and Parker JDA (2000) The Handbook of Emotional Intelligence TheoryDevelopment Assessment and Application at Home School and in the WorkplaceJossey-Bass San Francisco CA

Bar-On R Brown JM Kirkcaldy BD and Thome EP (2000) ordfEmotional expression andimplications for occupational stress an applicationordm Personality and IndividualDifferences Vol 28 pp 1107-18

Becker HS (1960) ordfNotes on the concept of commitmentordm American Journal of Sociology Vol 66No 1 pp 33-42

Black J and Porter L (1991) ordfManagerial behavior and job performance a successful managerin Los Angeles may not succeed in Hong Kongordm Journal of International Business StudiesVol 22 pp 99-114

Blau GJ (1985) ordfThe measurement and prediction of career commitmentordm Journal ofOccupational Psychology Vol 58 pp 277-88

Blood MR (1969) ordfWork values and job satisfactionordm Journal of Applied Psychology Vol 53pp 456-9

Boyatzis R Goleman D and Rhee K (2000) ordfClustering competence in emotional intelligenceinsights from the emotional competence inventory (ECI)ordm in Bar-On R and Parker JDA(Eds) Handbook of Emotional Intelligence Jossey-Bass San Francisco CA

Brown SP (1996) ordfA meta-analysis and review of organizational research on job involvementordmPsychological Bulletin Vol 120 No 2 pp 235-55

Carlson DS Kacmar MK and Williams LJ (2000) ordfConstruction and initial validations of amultidimensional measure of work-family conmacrictordm Journal of Vocational BehaviorVol 56 pp 249-76

Emotionalintelligence

809

Carmeli A (2002) ordfA conceptual and practical framework of measuring performance of localauthorities in regnancial terms analysing the case of Israelordm Local Government StudiesVol 28 No 1 pp 21-36

Cherniss C (2000) ordfordfEmotional intelligence what it is and why it mattersordm paper presented atthe Annual Meeting of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology NewOrleans LA April p 15

Ciarrochi J Chan AYC and Bajgar J (2001) ordfMeasuring emotional intelligence inadolescentsordm Personality and Individual Differences Vol 31 pp 1105-19

Ciarrochi J Chan AYC and Caputi P (2000) ordfA critical evaluation of the emotionalintelligence constructordm Personality and Individual Differences Vol 28 pp 539-61

Cohen J and Cohen P (1983) Applied Multiple RegressionCorrelation Analysis for theBehavioral Sciences Lawrence Erlbaum Hillsdale NJ

Cook TD and Campbell TD (1979) Quasi-Experimentation Design and Analytical Issues forField Settings Rand-McNally Chicago IL

Cooper RK and Sawaf A (1997) Executive EQ Emotional Intelligence in Leadership andOrganizations GrossetPutnam New York NY

Davies M Stankov L and Roberts R (1998) ordfEmotional intelligence in search of an elusiveconstructordm Journal of Personality and Social Psychology Vol 75 pp 989-1015

Dulewicz V and Higgs MJ (1999) Usersrsquo Guide for the Emotional Intelligence QuestionnaireNFER-Nelson Windsor

Dulewicz V and Higgs MJ (2000) ordfEmotional intelligence a review and evaluation studyordmJournal of Managerial Psychology Vol 15 No 4 pp 341-72

Finkelstein S and Hambrick D (1996) Strategic Leadership Top Executives and Their Effectson Organizations West Publishing Company St Paul MN

Furnham A (1990) The Protestant Work Ethic The Psychology of Work-Related Beliefs andBehaviors Routledge New York NY

GardnerH (1983) Frames of Mind The Theory of Multiple Intelligences Basic Books New YorkNY

George JM (2000) ordfEmotions and leadership the role of emotional intelligenceordm HumanRelations Vol 53 No 8 pp 1027-55

Goleman D (1995) Emotional Intelligence Why It Can Matter More than IQ Bantam BooksNew York NY

Goleman D (1998) Working with Emotional Intelligence Bantam Books New York NY

Goleman D (2001) ordfAn EI-based theory of performanceordm in Cherniss C and Goleman D (Eds)The Emotionally Intelligent Workplace How to Select for Measure and Improve EmotionalIntelligence in Individuals Groups and Organizations Jossey-Bass San Francisco CApp 27-44

Grandey AA (2000) ordfEmotion regulation in the workplace a new way to conceptualizeemotional laborordm Journal of Occupational Health Psychology Vol 5 No 1 pp 95-110

Greenhaus JH and Beutell NJ (1985) ordfSources of conmacrict between work and family rolesordmAcademy of Management Review Vol 10 No 1 pp 76-88

Griffeth RW Hom PW and Gaertner S (2000) ordfA meta-analysis of antecedents and correlatesof employee turnover update moderator test and research implications for the nextmillenniumordm Journal of Management Vol 26 No 3 pp 463-88

Hambrick DC and Mason PA (1984) ordfUpper echelons the organization as a remacrection of itstop managementordm Academy of Management Review Vol 9 pp 193-206

JMP188

810

(Allen and Meyer 1990) In this study we examined the relationship betweenemotional intelligence and two forms of organizational commitment - affectiveand continuance

Emotionally intelligent individuals are ordfoptimisticordm a trait that enables themto focus on the resolution rather than the reasoning (who is at fault) The workin any given organization imposes difregculties that may result in feelings offrustration Emotionally intelligent individuals would know not to hold theorganization responsible for every feeling of frustration (Abraham 1999) asthey are adept at placing themselves in positive affective states and able toexperience negative affective states that have insigniregcant destructiveconsequences (Salovey and Mayer 1989-1990) This is especially true forsenior managers who have to reconcile the feelings of frustration of conmacrictinginterest groups within and outside the organization This can be doneeffectively only when they are able to place themselves in a positive state ofmind In addition emotionally intelligent individuals would know how to avoiddysfunctional emotions and use them in adaptive ways to alleviate feelings offrustration Furthermore on the fundamental level people are motivated notonly by the rational exchange approach (Vroom 1964) but also by the extent towhich they are connected emotionally to their work and by the extent to whichits contents provide them with such experiences as joy excitement surpriseand frustration (Ashforth and Humphrey 1995) Thus emotional intelligence isexpected to augment a higher level of affective commitment to the organizationand diminish the level of continuance commitment The following hypothesesare suggested

H2a There is a positive relationship between emotional intelligence andaffective organizational commitment of senior managers

H2b There is a negative relationship between emotional intelligence andcontinuance organizational commitment of senior managers

Emotional intelligence and career commitment Career commitment is deregnedas ordfonersquos attitude toward onersquos profession or vocationordm (Blau 1985 p 20)Employees may encounter difregculties of many kinds in pursuing a career thatmay result in dysfunctional emotions Emotionally intelligent individuals areexpected to recognize manage and use their emotions to eliminate theseobstacles and advance their career horizon better than people with lowemotional intelligence This is especially true when the profession incorporateshigh levels of complexity Highly complex managerial work can be verydemanding and lead to high levels of stress Emotional intelligence enablespeople to control this stress effectively and prevent its negative effects on onersquosattitude towards her profession The following hypothesis is suggested

H3 There is a positive relationship between emotional intelligence andcareer commitment of senior managers

JMP188

794

Emotional intelligence and job involvement Job involvement is ordfa beliefdescriptive of the present job and tends to be a function of how much the jobcan satisfy onersquos present needsordm (Kanungo 1982 p 342) As indicated aboveemployees do not get involved in the job only for self-rational interestfulregllment they also get involved in the job because they let their emotionsplay a role Becoming highly involved in the job is oftentimes a response toemotional rather than rational needs Ashforth and Humphrey (1995) cited inFinersquos (1998) work the quotes of a cook discussing the centrality of beingemotionally involved in the job ordfI just love the activity I concentrate totallyso I donrsquot know how I feel itrsquos like another sense takes overordm People aresocial creatures who through job involvement regll the need for emotionalexperience Managerial work is often complex and challenging and seniormanagers with a high emotional intelligence often get extremely involved inchallenging experiences and complex situations that may not occur elsewhereSenior managers for example often remain beyond the required workinghours They do this not for economic reward but because it allows them to copewith those complexities that yield an intense emotional experience Thefollowing hypothesis is suggested

H4 There is a positive relationship between emotional intelligence and jobinvolvement of senior managers

Emotional intelligence and work-family conmacrict Work-family conmacrict is deregnedas ordfa form of inter-role conmacrict in which the role pressures from work andfamily domains are mutually incompatible in some respect That isparticipation in the work (family) role is made more difregcult by virtue ofparticipation in the family (work) roleordm (Greenhaus and Beutell 1985 p 77)Because this study attempted to explore the role of emotional intelligence in theworkplace we concentrated on family interference with work exploring acombination of three forms of work-family conmacrict (time strain and behavior)suggested by Carlson et al (2000) The form of time-based family interferencemay occur when time devoted to one role makes it difregcult to get involved inanother role The form of strain-based family interference proposes that strainin one role intrudes into and interferes with participation in another roleBehavior family interference with work occurs when speciregc behaviorsrequired in one role are incompatible with behavioral expectations in anotherrole (Carlson et al 2000)

Eliminating work-family conmacrict is the responsibility of both theorganization and its employees Keith H Hammonds (1996) quoted EllenGalinsky saying that ordfCompanies are seeing they have all these programs (iework-family policies) but people are still really stressed out Certainlyemployees bear some responsibility for determining their own family balanceBut they need help Companies that recognize the need and adapt work topeoplesrsquo lives will win workersrsquo loyalty - and with that a competitive edge

Emotionalintelligence

795

With respect to the role of the individuals one may expect that a highemotional intelligence would help them balance family interference with workIn fact they may be more capable of preventing work-family conmacrict from thebeginning due to their emotional astuteness incorporates the recognition of thedegree to which the family plays an emotional role for them and thoseconnected to them the insight as to how these emotions should be managedand the ability to improve the decision-making process The followinghypothesis is suggested

H5 There is a negative relationship between emotional intelligence andwork-family conmacrict (family interference with work) of seniormanagers

Emotional intelligence and organizational citizenship behavior Organizationalcitizenship behavior (OCB) is an extra-role behavior that goes beyond formalrole requirements (Smith et al 1983) Emotional intelligence may enhancealtruistic behavior as it enables employees to comprehend their co-workersrsquofeelings and to respond better than employees with low emotional intelligencebecause of their ability to easily shift from negative to positive moods(Abraham 1999) Staw et al (1994) suggested three explanations for theengagement of an emotionally intelligent individual in altruistic behaviorFirst being in a good mood is reinforcing and displaying altruism is rewardingin the sense that it enables employees to also maintain this state of mindSecond people in good moods may be more socially interactive Third whenemployees are more satisreged (having positive emotional reactions to the job)they are more likely to be engaged in helpful behavior The followinghypothesis is suggested

H6 There is a positive relationship between emotional intelligence andorganizational citizenship behavior - altruism of senior managers

Emotional intelligence and work outcomesEmotional intelligence and withdrawal intentions from the organizationWithdrawal of employees is a process (Mobley 1977 1982a b Mobley et al1978) which comprises constructs of withdrawal intentions (thinking ofquitting intention to search and intention to quit) as well as constructs ofwithdrawal behaviors (actually quitting absence) (Miller et al 1979 Mobleyet al 1978) A recent meta-analysis used the constructs of intention to quitthinking of quitting withdrawal cognitions and expected utility of withdrawalas the components of withdrawal intentions (Griffeth et al 2000) In this studywe assess the withdrawal intentions process of senior managers

Emotional intelligence may signiregcantly diminish employeesrsquo withdrawalintentions because of the ability to better regulate emotions Emotionallyintelligent individuals are adept at putting themselves in positive affective

JMP188

796

states and although they may experience negative affective states at timesthese do not have signiregcant destructive consequences Being in positiveaffective states is of importance in the sense of not becoming despondent in theface of daily and even more profound obstacles occurring in organizational lifeRather the individuals are likely to see the positive side of things and use theiremotions for example to enhance persistence at challenging times andfacilitate creativity for resolving difregculties To a certain degree emotionallyintelligent individuals perceive themselves as part of the solution As suchthey feel a high level of identiregcation and are less likely to develop withdrawalintentions This is especially true for senior managers who must deal with theirown difregculties as well as those of others Those with high emotionalintelligence will be inclined to stay and deal with difregculties in adaptive waysThis however is not to say that emotionally intelligent individuals do not facedifregculties when encountering job stress and changes in their job and careerrather they have more and better capabilities than low emotionally individualsto cope with it and thus are likely develop lower withdrawal intentions Thefollowing hypothesis is suggested

H7 There is a negative relationship between emotional intelligence andwithdrawal intentions of senior managers from the organization

Emotional intelligence and job performance Evidence supports a positive effectof emotional intelligence on the success of the individual at work (for a reviewsee Goleman 2001) This is of particularly importance if we believe thatordfmanagement skills lie at the heart of leadershipordm (Whetten and Cameron 2001p 15) and speciregcally recognize the need to develop and acquire skills formanaging people and that emotional intelligence may have a critical role in thecreation of effective leadership A notable study conducted by George (2000)showed how the aspects of emotional intelligence - appraisal and expressionof emotions use of emotion to enhance cognitive processing and decisionmaking knowledge about emotions and management of emotions - contributeto effective leadership For the purpose of this study it is important to note thatalthough it is theoretically signiregcant to show how each aspect affectsperformance it is more accurate to recognize that skills come in groups andclusters and that they support one another (Goleman 2001) The concept ofemotional intelligence seems to encompass this ordfcritical massordm of skills(Boyatzis et al 2000 Goleman 2001) The following hypothesis is suggested

H8 There is a positive relationship between emotional intelligence and jobperformance of senior managers

The moderator role of emotional intelligenceThe literature suggests that the negative effect of work-family conmacrict on workattitudes may be moderated by several variables (see for example Martins

Emotionalintelligence

797

et al 2002) In this study emotional intelligence is expected to moderate therelationship between work-family conmacrict and job satisfaction and therelationship between work-family conmacrict and career commitment

Family interference with work may have some negative consequences on theextent which an employee will be satisreged with her work and committed to hercareer However emotionally intelligent individuals are likely to have the abilityto control for such interferences or at least moderate them to an acceptable levelOn the basis of this logic the following hypotheses are suggested

H9 Emotional intelligence will moderate the relationship betweenwork-family conmacrict and job satisfaction of senior managersSpeciregcally there will be more negative relationship betweenwork-family conmacrict and job satisfaction for senior managers whoare low on emotional intelligence than for those who are high onemotional intelligence

H10 Emotional intelligence will moderate the relationship betweenwork-family conmacrict and career commitment of senior managersSpeciregcally for low emotionally intelligent senior managers there willbe a strong positive relationship between work-conmacrict family andcareer commitment and for highly emotional intelligent seniormanagers there will be a moderate negative relationship betweenwork-conmacrict family and career commitment

MethodologyRespondents and data collectionThe population of this study was senior managers employed as chief regnancialofregcers in the local government authorities in Israel A direct-mailquestionnaire was sent to 262 senior managers The questionnaire wasmailed from and returned to a university address using a self-addressed replyenvelope Ninety-eight usable questionnaires were returned The respondentsrsquoaverage age was 466 years (SD 924) 11 were women and 794 percent held atleast bachelorrsquos degree Their average tenure in their present organization was1147 (SD 913) The average income of the respondents was 256 (SD 054)(1 = up to 10000 New Israeli Shekel (NIS) 2 = 10001 to 20000 and 3 = 20001and above) Note that annual average value of US$ 1 and 1 Euro in 2001 was4205 NIS and 37644 NIS respectively The average size of the organizations(measured by the number of permanent residents for which the organization isresponsible to provide services see Carmeli 2002) was 24729 (SD 5425937)

Dependent variablesWork outcomes Job performance and withdrawal intentions from theorganization were used to assess employeersquos work outcomes

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798

(1) Job performance This measure was evaluated by a scale developed byPearce and Porter (1986) and used by Black and Porter (1991) andHochwarter et al (1999) This measure contains regve items (overallperformance ability to get along with others completing tasks on timequality of performance and achievement of work goals) that wereassessed on a seven-point scale (ranging from 1 = strongly disagree to7 = strongly agree) Although such difregculties as self-enhancement andobjectivity and reliability may be encountered Mabe and West (1982)showed that self-evaluation measures were more valid than pointed outin prior research (Hochwarter et al (1999) The Cronbachrsquos alpha for thisscale was 087

(2) Withdrawal intentions from the organization This measure was drawnfrom the measure examined by Mobley et al (1978) and widely used inthe literature (Michaels and Spector 1982 Miller et al 1979) It assesseswithdrawal intentions of an employee from hisher organization andconsists of three items I think a lot about leaving the organization I am actively searching for an alternative to the organization and As soon as it is possible I will leave the organization

This measure was assessed on a 5-point scale from 1 = strongly disagree to5 = strongly agree The Cronbachrsquos alpha for this scale was 090

Work behavior

(1) Altruistic behavior This variable was drawn from the multi-dimensionalscale of organizational citizenship behavior developed by Podsakoff andMacKenzie (1989) and modireged and validated by Podsakoff et al (1990)Altruistic behavior was measured using three items that were assessedon a regve-point scale ranging from 1 = strongly disagree to 5 = stronglyagree Sample items are ordfI help others who have heavy workloadsordm ordfIhelp others who have been absentordm The Cronbachrsquos alpha for this scalewas 082

Work attitudesFour work commitment forms (career commitment jobinvolvement affective commitment and continuance commitment) and jobsatisfaction were used to assess employeersquos work attitudes In additionwork-family conmacrict was examined as follows

(1) Career commitment This measure was assessed by a scale developed byBlau (1985) Sample items are ordfI like this profession too much to give itupordm and ordfI am disappointed with being a CEOordm (reverse scored) Themeasure was assessed on a regve-point scale (ranging from 1 = stronglydisagree to 5 = strongly agree) The Cronbachrsquos alpha for this scalewas 074

Emotionalintelligence

799

(2) Job involvement This measure is based on a 10-item scale developed byKanungo (1982) Sample items are ordfThe most important things thathappen to me involve my present jobordm and ordfMost of my personal lifegoals are job-orientedordm The measure was assessed on a seven-pointscale ranging from 1 = strongly disagree to 7 = strongly agree TheCronbachrsquos alpha for this scale was 082

(3) Affective organizational commitmentThis measure is based on the scaledeveloped and validated by Allen and Meyer (1990) Sample items are ordfIreally feel as if this organizationrsquos problems are my ownordm and ordfI do not feellike ordfpart of the familyordm at my organizationordm (reversed item) The measurewas assessed on a seven-point scale (ranging from 1 = strongly disagreeto 7 = strongly agree) The Cronbachrsquos alpha for this scale was 073

(4) Continuance organizational commitmentThis measure is based on thescale developed and validated by Allen and Meyer (1990) Sample itemsare ordfRight now staying with my organization is a matter of necessity asmuch as desireordm and ordfToo much in my life would be disrupted if Idecided I wanted to leave my organization nowordm The measure wasassessed on a seven-point scale (ranging from 1 = strongly disagree to7 = strongly agree) The Cronbachrsquos alpha for this scale was 082

(5) Job satisfaction This measure was estimated by a 6-items scaleemployed by Tsui et al (1992) Sample items are ordfHow satisreged are youwith the nature of the work you performordm and ordfConsidering everythinghow satisreged are you with your current job situationordm The measure wasassessed on a regve-point scale (ranging from 1 = very dissatisreged to5 = very satisreged) The Cronbachrsquos alpha for this scale was 068

(6) Work-family conmacrict This measure was based on a measure developedand validated by Carlson et al 2000) Since this study examines the role ofemotional intelligence in the workplace we concentrated on familyinterference with work exploring a combination of three forms ofwork-family conmacrict (time strain and behavior) which consisted of threeitems each Sample items are ordfThe time I spend on family responsibilitiesoften interferes with my work responsibilitiesordm (time-based familyinterference) ordfDue to stress at home I am often preoccupied with familymatters at workordm (strain-based family interference) ordfThe behaviors thatwork for me at home do not seem to be effective at workordm (behavior-basedfamily interference) All items were ranged from 1 = strongly disagree to5 = strongly agree (5 = presents high conmacrict) The nine items wereloaded onto a single factor The Cronbachrsquos alpha for this scale was 079

Independentmoderator variableEmotional intelligence Over the years considerable research effort resulted invarious instruments for measuring emotional intelligence (EQi of Bar-On 1996

JMP188

800

Executive EQ of Cooper and Sawaf 1997 EIQ Dulewicz and Higgs 1999MSCEIT of Mayer et al 2000 ECI of Boyatzis and Goleman 1998)

In this study emotional intelligence was measured with the self-reportmeasure of emotional intelligence developed by Schutte et al (1998) for severalreasons First this measure is based on the framework of emotional intelligencedeveloped by Salovey and Mayer 1989-1990 and later formulated (Mayer andSalovey 1997)[1] Second previous study found some limitations in earlyself-report measures of emotional intelligence such as insufregcient reliabilityand connections with personality factors (Davies et al 1998) Third studiesthat evaluated the measure of Schutte and her colleagues (1998) in both adultand adolescents population indicate that this measure seems to overcome theobserved difregculties in other measures of emotional intelligence (Ciarrochi et al2000 Ciarrochi et al 2001) Finally in macro level studies self report measureof emotional intelligence which is brief validated and based on a cohesive andcomprehensive model of emotional intelligence (Salovey and Mayer 1989-1990Mayer and Salovey 1997) is very useful

The measure used in this study consists of 33 items Sample items are ordfIknow when to speak about my personal problems to othersordm and ordfI am awareof my emotions as I experience themordm (appraisal and expression of emotion) ordfIpresent myself in a way that makes a good impression on othersordm and I havecontrol over my emotionsordm (regulation of emotion) ordfwhen I feel a change inemotions I tend to come up with new ideasordm and I use good moods to helpmyself keep trying in the face of obstaclesordm (utilization) All items were rangedfrom 1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree The Cronbachrsquos alpha forthis scale was 090

Control variablesWe control for

(1) Organizational size Measured by the number of permanent residents forwhich the organization is responsible for provision of services (Carmeli2002)

(2) Tenure in the organization Measured by the number of years therespondent is employed in the current organization

(3) Gross income (1 = up to 10000 NIS New Israeli Shekel 2 = 10001 to20000 NIS 3 = 20001 to 30000 NIS 4 = 30001 to 40000 NIS and4 = above 40000 NIS)

(4) Respondentsrsquo age

Because the vast majority of the respondents were male differences betweenmale and female respondents could not be established

Data analysisTo assess the relationship between emotional intelligence and work attitudesbehavior and outcomes we performed a series of separate hierarchical

Emotionalintelligence

801

regression analyses Each model had two steps The regrst step involvedentering the control variables and the second step involved entering theindependent variable

To examine the interaction hypotheses the variables were entered into theregression equations in three steps The control variables were entered in theregrst step In the second step we entered the ordfmain effectsordm (work-familyconmacrict and emotional intelligence) Finally the work-family conmacrict Xemotional intelligence product term variable was entered in the third step Bothvariables were mean-centered as is suggested for variables that are to beconstituents of product terms (Aiken and West 1991)

ResultsTable I reports the means standard deviations and correlation coefregcients ofvariables used in the analysis Though several variables are related Table Iindicates no severe problems of multicolinearity as none of the related variablesexceeded the value of 060 Furthermore we performed separate hierarchicalregressions for the effect of emotional intelligence on each one of the dependentvariables Table I also provides a preliminary support for the signiregcantrelationships between emotional intelligence and work attitudes workbehavior and work outcomes

Table II presents the results of hierarchical regression Emotionalintelligence was positively and signiregcantly related to job satisfaction(b = 032 p 001) supporting H1 This regnding is consistent with theargument according to which emotionally intelligent individuals are likely todisplay higher overall satisfaction in the workplace

Supporting H2a we provide evidence that when senior managers have highemotional intelligence they tend to develop high affective commitment(emotional attachment) to the organization for which they work (b = 023p 005) H2b on the other hand was not supported as the relationshipbetween emotional intelligence and continuance commitment was notsigniregcant (b = 2 012 p = ns) The beta coefregcient though not statisticallysigniregcant was in the expected direction

We found support for H3 Emotionally intelligent senior managers develophigh commitment toward their career (b = 034 p 0001) However contraryto H4 emotional intelligence was statistically unrelated to job involvement Itmay be that the involvement of senior managers is more complex than weassumed and is affected by other important factors not examined here Thoughno prediction was made we found that job involvement was signiregcantlyrelated to tenure in the organization (b = 020 p 010) as well as to grossincome (b = 025 p 005)

The results support H5 stating that senior managers who have highemotional intelligence are more likely to effectively control work-family conmacrict(b = 2 031 p 001) Compared to low and middle-level position employees

JMP188

802

Mea

ns

d

12

34

56

78

910

1112

13

Job

per

form

ance

561

078

100

Wit

hdra

wal

inte

nti

ons

from

an

organ

izat

ion

218

094

20

18

Alt

ruis

tic

beh

avio

r3

780

630

32

0

11

Car

eer

com

mit

men

t3

590

600

22

20

47

0

07

Job

invol

vem

ent

440

089

003

20

130

160

24

Aff

ecti

ve

com

mit

men

t4

730

880

31

20

39

0

160

42

0

48

Con

tinuan

ce

com

mit

men

t3

871

172

030

2

005

20

28

20

100

022

007

Job

sati

sfac

tion

374

051

045

2

038

031

0

39

0

27

055

2

029

Wor

k-f

amily

conmacr

ict

212

049

20

190

042

015

20

152

001

20

190

34

2

011

Em

otio

nal

inte

llig

ence

371

037

032

2

020

0

38

0

38

0

140

24

20

070

27

20

27

Org

aniz

atio

nal

size

247

2954

259

20

012

001

20

010

050

21

011

005

008

021

2

007

Ten

ure

in

organ

izat

ion

114

79

130

022

024

0

120

21

017

006

005

004

010

20

050

03

Age

466

39

242

001

20

190

030

120

31

021

0

150

170

150

100

170

43

Inco

me

256

054

014

20

020

26

006

031

0

172

010

022

2

011

001

016

013

025

Note

saT

wo-

tailed

test

s

p

005

p

001

p

0

001

Table IMeans standard

deviations andcorrelationsa

Emotionalintelligence

803

Job

per

form

Wit

hdrw

l

inte

nt

Alt

ruis

tic

beh

avio

r

Car

eer

com

mit

Job

invol

ve

Aff

ecti

ve

com

mit

Con

tin

com

mit

Job

sati

sfac

tion

Wor

k

fam

ily

conmacr

ict

b(t)

b(t

)b

(t)

b(t)

b(t

)b

(t)

b(t)

b(t)

b(t

)

Ste

p1

Org

aniz

a-

tion

alsi

ze0

00(0

01)

20

01(0

93)

001

(00

7)0

07(0

73)

015

(14

7)0

09(0

83)

005

(04

3)0

06(0

56)

019

(19

3)

Ten

ure

in

organ

iza-

tion

al2

009

(20

75)

20

10(2

087

)2

009

(20

87)

20

03(2

023

)0

20(1

76

)0

15(1

24)

019

(15

8)0

12(1

06)

018

(16

2)

Inco

me

016

(15

4)0

03(0

31)

018

(19

1)

005

(04

5)0

25(2

43

)

011

(10

8)2

016

(21

48)

013

(12

1)2

016

(21

59)

Age

006

(05

8)2

022

(21

94)

008

(08

7)0

27(2

53

)

006

(05

7)0

00(2

004

)0

00(0

00)

20

04(2

036

)2

003

(20

29)

R2

003

80

068

005

50

082

019

30

064

005

10

058

009

3

Ste

p2

Em

otio

nal

inte

llig

ence

032

(30

8)

20

20(2

193

)

054

(60

3)

034

(34

4)

004

(04

5)0

23(2

21

)

20

12(2

111

)0

32(3

12

)2

031

(23

20 )

DR

20

090

039

028

60

113

000

20

050

001

40

098

009

6

Ffo

rD

R2

949

371

36

41

118

3

019

487

123

970

991

R2

for

tota

l

equat

ion

013

50

107

034

10

195

019

50

114

006

50

155

018

9

Note

s

p

010

p

005

p

001

p

000

1

Table IIResults of hierarchicalregression analysis theinmacruence of emotionalintelligence on workattitudes behavior andoutcomes

JMP188

804

senior managers may encounter a higher level of job demands that result inwork-family conmacrict The results indicate that senior managers who have highemotional intelligence may better and more carefully handle the inherentwork-family conmacrict than those who have low emotional intelligence

H6 which states that emotionally intelligent senior managers will displayhigher levels of altruistic behavior was strongly supported (b = 054p 0001) In addition H7 which states that emotional intelligence will benegatively related to withdrawal intentions from the organization and H8which states that emotionally intelligent senior managers will perform the jobbetter than senior managers with low emotional intelligence were supported(b = 2 020 p 010 b = 032 p 001 respectively) These results indicatethat emotional intelligence is an important predictor of both contextualperformance and task performance Note however that H9 which states thatthe higher a senior manager is on emotional intelligence the weaker will be thenegative effect of work-family conmacrict on job satisfaction was not supported(see Table III) The interactive effect of work-family conmacrict and emotionalintelligence on job satisfaction was not signiregcant (b = 003 p = ns)

H10 postulated that the higher a senior manager is on emotionalintelligence the weaker will be the negative effect of work-family conmacrict oncareer commitment The interactive effect of work-family conmacrict andemotional intelligence on career commitment was signiregcant at the 005 level(see Table III) and explained an additional 34 percent of explained variance inthe career commitment

In accordance with convention for plotting interactions (Aiken and West1991 Cohen and Cohen 1983) the cut values for the high and low states on themoderator variable (emotional intelligence) were plus and minus one standarddeviation from the mean Figure 1 presents the interaction of work-familyconmacrict and emotional intelligence in predicting career commitment As shown

Job satisfaction Career commitmentb R 2 DR 2 b R 2 DR 2

Step 1Organizational size 003 004Tenure in organization 014 002Income 016 002

Age 2 005 0058 0058 020 0048 0048Step 2Work-family conmacrict (WF) 2 005 2 009Emotional intelligence (EI) 030 0157 0097 037 0205 0156

Step 3EI pound WF 003 0158 0001 021 0239 0034

Notes p 010 p 005 p 001 p 0001

Table IIIResults of the

moderating role ofemotional intelligence

(EI)

Emotionalintelligence

805

in Figure 1 the interaction of emotional intelligence with work-family conmacrictaffects both the strength and direction of this relationship For senior managerswho are low on emotional intelligence there is a strong positive relationshipand for those who are high on emotional intelligence there is a moderatenegative relationship That is when senior managers with low emotionalintelligence experience high work-family conmacrict they manage to maintainhigh career commitment When highly emotionally intelligent senior managersexperience high work-conmacrict they reduce their career commitment to a morereasonable level to deal with work-family conmacrict

DiscussionThe major goal of this study was to examine the extent to which a criticalcomponent of managerial skills - emotional intelligence - augments positivework attitudes and the contextual and task performance of senior managersemployed in a public sector setting This study advances the literaturepertaining to emotional intelligence by empirically demonstrating theimportance of emotional intelligence for developing positive work-relatedattitudes and contextual and task performance

These regndings are especially of importance for organizations whichrecognize the critical role the top management team plays in their success (seeFinkelstein and Hambrick 1996 Hambrick and Mason 1984) Theeffectiveness of the top management team is a function inter alia of themanagement skills (Whetten and Cameron 2001) possessed by the seniormanagers from which it is comprised Skills of managing people are of uniqueimportance for the creation of effective management and leadership andemotional intelligence as ordfthe subset of social intelligenceordm (Salovey and Mayer1989-1990) may be the most critical component of this class of skills Hencehaving senior executives with high emotional intelligence is a necessity forattaining sustainable results

This study went beyond the simple premise of the importance of emotionalintelligence to demonstrate the extent to which the latter augments favorableattitudes and outcomes The results indicate for example that emotionallyintelligent senior managers develop emotional attachment to their

Figure 1Interaction betweenemotional intelligence(EI) and work-familyconmacrict (WF) predictingcareer commitment (CC)

JMP188

806

organizations and are also more committed to their career In addition regndingsalso indicate that emotionally intelligent senior managers tend to be moresatisreged with their work Retaining talented and knowledgeable seniormanagers becomes a major concern for many organizations Selecting seniormanagers who have high emotional intelligence may have a positive impact onthe extent to which an organization succeeds in retaining its most criticalworkforce Research regndings revealed that occupational commitment (Lee et al2000) and organizational commitment (Mathieu and Zajac 1990) aresigniregcantly related to withdrawal intentions and that job satisfaction andorganizational commitment are by far the main predictors of turnover (Griffethet al 2000) Interestingly however emotional intelligence was not signiregcantlyassociated with job involvement It may be that senior managers exhibit highinvolvement in their jobs because of the role itself which demands much timeand effort Another possible explanation is manifested by the relationshipbetween income and job involvement (b = 025 p 005) suggesting thateconomic factors inmacruence the subjective felt of job involvement Emotionalintelligence may help an individual to better handle demanding managerialwork Nevertheless we are still in need of further investigation regarding thefactors that foster an individualrsquos high level of involvement in her job (Brown1996)

Another important relationship examined in this study is the relationshipbetween emotional intelligence and work-family conmacrict Work-family policiesadopted and implemented by an organization may not provide the wholesolution especially with respect to family interference with work simplybecause employees have some responsibility in determining their own familybalance The results of this study advance the literature by indicating thatemotionally intelligent employees may better handle this conmacrict Anintegration of work-family programs and an emotionally intelligentworkforce can better attain the desired balance This study indicates thatcompared to emotionally intelligent senior managers low-emotionallyintelligent senior managers are not less able to be sensitive enough toacknowledge how work is affected by family matters and thus feel no need toreduce their career commitment Senior managers who are high on emotionalintelligence recognize having important responsibilities at work and at thesame time realize that they may neglect their family and their needs In otherwords they are equally sensitive to what they feel when they are consumedwith my work all the time This recognition help them balance their careercommitment to a healthy mid point (not very high but not very low either)Further examination of the interactive effect of work-family conmacrict andemotional intelligence on career commitment and job satisfaction revealed thatemotional intelligence moderated only the negative inmacruence of work-family oncareer commitment Clearly this regnding should receive further investigation

Emotionalintelligence

807

but it illuminate the kind of role emotional intelligence may play in therelationship of ordfwork stressordm and work attitudes

We found a direct and signiregcant relationship between emotionalintelligence and withdrawal intentions from the organization This intensiregesthe important role that emotional intelligence may have in retaining valuableorganization members The results of this study also indicate that emotionalintelligence augments both contextual (altruistic citizenship behavior) and taskperformance Contextual performance of senior managers is valued becausethe latter oftentimes serves as a ordfrole modelordm and ordfcharacterordm for theorganizationrsquos members to follow This process may have a positive effect onthe organization since organizational citizenship behavior has the potential forexample to enhance co-worker and managerial productivity freeing themanagement from work-related problems so that it can deal with moreproductive tasks and enhancing the sustainability of the organizationrsquosperformance In addition the regnding that emotionally intelligent seniormanagers perform better on the job provides clear evidence to the questionasked by Cherniss (2000) regarding ordfhow important it (emotional intelligence)is for effective performance at workordm and is consistent with Cavallo andBrienzarsquos regndings of a ordfstrong relationship between superior performingleaders and emotional competenceordm

Limitation and directions for future researchSeveral limitations constrain the interpretation and application of the studyrsquosregndings The aim of this study to explore the role of emotional intelligenceamong senior managers is also a weakness because it has not includednon-managerial employees Future studies may be beneregted from anexploration of a wider range of employees at different organizational levelsOne should also be cautious while generalizing the results of this study to othercultures or sectors Prospective research should be directed to exploredifferences among for-proregt governmental and not-for-proregt organizations

Validated and usable measures were employed to reduce the possibility ofbias in general method variance and data was collected from a large number oforganizational units to allow for better external validity and increasedgenerality of the results (Cook and Campbell 1979) Still the reader is cautionedto recognize the limitations of relying on self-reported data This may carry abias of general method variance As can be seen results of hierarchicalregressions provided a relatively small proportion of the explained variance ofthe dependent variables We also compared subjective-reported data toobjective data on organizational size and the comparison yielded no differenceAnd as Xie (1996) indicated there is no theoretical foundation to expect thatinteractions are associated with common method variance Future studies maybeneregt from a longitudinal research design One however must recognize thatcollecting data from a large number of organizations is problematic Finally

JMP188

808

this study used a relatively new measure of emotional intelligence and thoughstudies reported good reliability and evidence of validity it would be useful toconduct a study which compare results of this study with those used otheracceptable measures of emotional intelligence

Note

1 When this study was conducted the MSCEIT instrument was not available to the author

References

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Aiken LS and West SG (1991) Multiple Regression Testing and Interpreting InteractionsSage Newbury Park CA

Allen NJ and Meyer JP (1990) ordfThe measurement and antecedents of affective continuanceand normative commitment to the organizationordm Journal of Occupational PsychologyVol 63 pp 1-18

Allen NJ and Meyer JP (1996) ordfAffective continuance and normative commitment to theorganization an examination of construct validityordm Journal of Vocational Behavior Vol 49No 3 pp 252-76

Ashforth BE and Humphrey RH (1995) ordfEmotion in the workplace a reappraisalordm HumanRelations Vol 48 No 2 pp 97-125

Bar-On R (1996) The Emotional Quotient Inventory (EQ-i) A Test of Emotional IntelligenceMulti-Health Systems Toronto

Bar-On R and Parker JDA (2000) The Handbook of Emotional Intelligence TheoryDevelopment Assessment and Application at Home School and in the WorkplaceJossey-Bass San Francisco CA

Bar-On R Brown JM Kirkcaldy BD and Thome EP (2000) ordfEmotional expression andimplications for occupational stress an applicationordm Personality and IndividualDifferences Vol 28 pp 1107-18

Becker HS (1960) ordfNotes on the concept of commitmentordm American Journal of Sociology Vol 66No 1 pp 33-42

Black J and Porter L (1991) ordfManagerial behavior and job performance a successful managerin Los Angeles may not succeed in Hong Kongordm Journal of International Business StudiesVol 22 pp 99-114

Blau GJ (1985) ordfThe measurement and prediction of career commitmentordm Journal ofOccupational Psychology Vol 58 pp 277-88

Blood MR (1969) ordfWork values and job satisfactionordm Journal of Applied Psychology Vol 53pp 456-9

Boyatzis R Goleman D and Rhee K (2000) ordfClustering competence in emotional intelligenceinsights from the emotional competence inventory (ECI)ordm in Bar-On R and Parker JDA(Eds) Handbook of Emotional Intelligence Jossey-Bass San Francisco CA

Brown SP (1996) ordfA meta-analysis and review of organizational research on job involvementordmPsychological Bulletin Vol 120 No 2 pp 235-55

Carlson DS Kacmar MK and Williams LJ (2000) ordfConstruction and initial validations of amultidimensional measure of work-family conmacrictordm Journal of Vocational BehaviorVol 56 pp 249-76

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809

Carmeli A (2002) ordfA conceptual and practical framework of measuring performance of localauthorities in regnancial terms analysing the case of Israelordm Local Government StudiesVol 28 No 1 pp 21-36

Cherniss C (2000) ordfordfEmotional intelligence what it is and why it mattersordm paper presented atthe Annual Meeting of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology NewOrleans LA April p 15

Ciarrochi J Chan AYC and Bajgar J (2001) ordfMeasuring emotional intelligence inadolescentsordm Personality and Individual Differences Vol 31 pp 1105-19

Ciarrochi J Chan AYC and Caputi P (2000) ordfA critical evaluation of the emotionalintelligence constructordm Personality and Individual Differences Vol 28 pp 539-61

Cohen J and Cohen P (1983) Applied Multiple RegressionCorrelation Analysis for theBehavioral Sciences Lawrence Erlbaum Hillsdale NJ

Cook TD and Campbell TD (1979) Quasi-Experimentation Design and Analytical Issues forField Settings Rand-McNally Chicago IL

Cooper RK and Sawaf A (1997) Executive EQ Emotional Intelligence in Leadership andOrganizations GrossetPutnam New York NY

Davies M Stankov L and Roberts R (1998) ordfEmotional intelligence in search of an elusiveconstructordm Journal of Personality and Social Psychology Vol 75 pp 989-1015

Dulewicz V and Higgs MJ (1999) Usersrsquo Guide for the Emotional Intelligence QuestionnaireNFER-Nelson Windsor

Dulewicz V and Higgs MJ (2000) ordfEmotional intelligence a review and evaluation studyordmJournal of Managerial Psychology Vol 15 No 4 pp 341-72

Finkelstein S and Hambrick D (1996) Strategic Leadership Top Executives and Their Effectson Organizations West Publishing Company St Paul MN

Furnham A (1990) The Protestant Work Ethic The Psychology of Work-Related Beliefs andBehaviors Routledge New York NY

GardnerH (1983) Frames of Mind The Theory of Multiple Intelligences Basic Books New YorkNY

George JM (2000) ordfEmotions and leadership the role of emotional intelligenceordm HumanRelations Vol 53 No 8 pp 1027-55

Goleman D (1995) Emotional Intelligence Why It Can Matter More than IQ Bantam BooksNew York NY

Goleman D (1998) Working with Emotional Intelligence Bantam Books New York NY

Goleman D (2001) ordfAn EI-based theory of performanceordm in Cherniss C and Goleman D (Eds)The Emotionally Intelligent Workplace How to Select for Measure and Improve EmotionalIntelligence in Individuals Groups and Organizations Jossey-Bass San Francisco CApp 27-44

Grandey AA (2000) ordfEmotion regulation in the workplace a new way to conceptualizeemotional laborordm Journal of Occupational Health Psychology Vol 5 No 1 pp 95-110

Greenhaus JH and Beutell NJ (1985) ordfSources of conmacrict between work and family rolesordmAcademy of Management Review Vol 10 No 1 pp 76-88

Griffeth RW Hom PW and Gaertner S (2000) ordfA meta-analysis of antecedents and correlatesof employee turnover update moderator test and research implications for the nextmillenniumordm Journal of Management Vol 26 No 3 pp 463-88

Hambrick DC and Mason PA (1984) ordfUpper echelons the organization as a remacrection of itstop managementordm Academy of Management Review Vol 9 pp 193-206

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810

Emotional intelligence and job involvement Job involvement is ordfa beliefdescriptive of the present job and tends to be a function of how much the jobcan satisfy onersquos present needsordm (Kanungo 1982 p 342) As indicated aboveemployees do not get involved in the job only for self-rational interestfulregllment they also get involved in the job because they let their emotionsplay a role Becoming highly involved in the job is oftentimes a response toemotional rather than rational needs Ashforth and Humphrey (1995) cited inFinersquos (1998) work the quotes of a cook discussing the centrality of beingemotionally involved in the job ordfI just love the activity I concentrate totallyso I donrsquot know how I feel itrsquos like another sense takes overordm People aresocial creatures who through job involvement regll the need for emotionalexperience Managerial work is often complex and challenging and seniormanagers with a high emotional intelligence often get extremely involved inchallenging experiences and complex situations that may not occur elsewhereSenior managers for example often remain beyond the required workinghours They do this not for economic reward but because it allows them to copewith those complexities that yield an intense emotional experience Thefollowing hypothesis is suggested

H4 There is a positive relationship between emotional intelligence and jobinvolvement of senior managers

Emotional intelligence and work-family conmacrict Work-family conmacrict is deregnedas ordfa form of inter-role conmacrict in which the role pressures from work andfamily domains are mutually incompatible in some respect That isparticipation in the work (family) role is made more difregcult by virtue ofparticipation in the family (work) roleordm (Greenhaus and Beutell 1985 p 77)Because this study attempted to explore the role of emotional intelligence in theworkplace we concentrated on family interference with work exploring acombination of three forms of work-family conmacrict (time strain and behavior)suggested by Carlson et al (2000) The form of time-based family interferencemay occur when time devoted to one role makes it difregcult to get involved inanother role The form of strain-based family interference proposes that strainin one role intrudes into and interferes with participation in another roleBehavior family interference with work occurs when speciregc behaviorsrequired in one role are incompatible with behavioral expectations in anotherrole (Carlson et al 2000)

Eliminating work-family conmacrict is the responsibility of both theorganization and its employees Keith H Hammonds (1996) quoted EllenGalinsky saying that ordfCompanies are seeing they have all these programs (iework-family policies) but people are still really stressed out Certainlyemployees bear some responsibility for determining their own family balanceBut they need help Companies that recognize the need and adapt work topeoplesrsquo lives will win workersrsquo loyalty - and with that a competitive edge

Emotionalintelligence

795

With respect to the role of the individuals one may expect that a highemotional intelligence would help them balance family interference with workIn fact they may be more capable of preventing work-family conmacrict from thebeginning due to their emotional astuteness incorporates the recognition of thedegree to which the family plays an emotional role for them and thoseconnected to them the insight as to how these emotions should be managedand the ability to improve the decision-making process The followinghypothesis is suggested

H5 There is a negative relationship between emotional intelligence andwork-family conmacrict (family interference with work) of seniormanagers

Emotional intelligence and organizational citizenship behavior Organizationalcitizenship behavior (OCB) is an extra-role behavior that goes beyond formalrole requirements (Smith et al 1983) Emotional intelligence may enhancealtruistic behavior as it enables employees to comprehend their co-workersrsquofeelings and to respond better than employees with low emotional intelligencebecause of their ability to easily shift from negative to positive moods(Abraham 1999) Staw et al (1994) suggested three explanations for theengagement of an emotionally intelligent individual in altruistic behaviorFirst being in a good mood is reinforcing and displaying altruism is rewardingin the sense that it enables employees to also maintain this state of mindSecond people in good moods may be more socially interactive Third whenemployees are more satisreged (having positive emotional reactions to the job)they are more likely to be engaged in helpful behavior The followinghypothesis is suggested

H6 There is a positive relationship between emotional intelligence andorganizational citizenship behavior - altruism of senior managers

Emotional intelligence and work outcomesEmotional intelligence and withdrawal intentions from the organizationWithdrawal of employees is a process (Mobley 1977 1982a b Mobley et al1978) which comprises constructs of withdrawal intentions (thinking ofquitting intention to search and intention to quit) as well as constructs ofwithdrawal behaviors (actually quitting absence) (Miller et al 1979 Mobleyet al 1978) A recent meta-analysis used the constructs of intention to quitthinking of quitting withdrawal cognitions and expected utility of withdrawalas the components of withdrawal intentions (Griffeth et al 2000) In this studywe assess the withdrawal intentions process of senior managers

Emotional intelligence may signiregcantly diminish employeesrsquo withdrawalintentions because of the ability to better regulate emotions Emotionallyintelligent individuals are adept at putting themselves in positive affective

JMP188

796

states and although they may experience negative affective states at timesthese do not have signiregcant destructive consequences Being in positiveaffective states is of importance in the sense of not becoming despondent in theface of daily and even more profound obstacles occurring in organizational lifeRather the individuals are likely to see the positive side of things and use theiremotions for example to enhance persistence at challenging times andfacilitate creativity for resolving difregculties To a certain degree emotionallyintelligent individuals perceive themselves as part of the solution As suchthey feel a high level of identiregcation and are less likely to develop withdrawalintentions This is especially true for senior managers who must deal with theirown difregculties as well as those of others Those with high emotionalintelligence will be inclined to stay and deal with difregculties in adaptive waysThis however is not to say that emotionally intelligent individuals do not facedifregculties when encountering job stress and changes in their job and careerrather they have more and better capabilities than low emotionally individualsto cope with it and thus are likely develop lower withdrawal intentions Thefollowing hypothesis is suggested

H7 There is a negative relationship between emotional intelligence andwithdrawal intentions of senior managers from the organization

Emotional intelligence and job performance Evidence supports a positive effectof emotional intelligence on the success of the individual at work (for a reviewsee Goleman 2001) This is of particularly importance if we believe thatordfmanagement skills lie at the heart of leadershipordm (Whetten and Cameron 2001p 15) and speciregcally recognize the need to develop and acquire skills formanaging people and that emotional intelligence may have a critical role in thecreation of effective leadership A notable study conducted by George (2000)showed how the aspects of emotional intelligence - appraisal and expressionof emotions use of emotion to enhance cognitive processing and decisionmaking knowledge about emotions and management of emotions - contributeto effective leadership For the purpose of this study it is important to note thatalthough it is theoretically signiregcant to show how each aspect affectsperformance it is more accurate to recognize that skills come in groups andclusters and that they support one another (Goleman 2001) The concept ofemotional intelligence seems to encompass this ordfcritical massordm of skills(Boyatzis et al 2000 Goleman 2001) The following hypothesis is suggested

H8 There is a positive relationship between emotional intelligence and jobperformance of senior managers

The moderator role of emotional intelligenceThe literature suggests that the negative effect of work-family conmacrict on workattitudes may be moderated by several variables (see for example Martins

Emotionalintelligence

797

et al 2002) In this study emotional intelligence is expected to moderate therelationship between work-family conmacrict and job satisfaction and therelationship between work-family conmacrict and career commitment

Family interference with work may have some negative consequences on theextent which an employee will be satisreged with her work and committed to hercareer However emotionally intelligent individuals are likely to have the abilityto control for such interferences or at least moderate them to an acceptable levelOn the basis of this logic the following hypotheses are suggested

H9 Emotional intelligence will moderate the relationship betweenwork-family conmacrict and job satisfaction of senior managersSpeciregcally there will be more negative relationship betweenwork-family conmacrict and job satisfaction for senior managers whoare low on emotional intelligence than for those who are high onemotional intelligence

H10 Emotional intelligence will moderate the relationship betweenwork-family conmacrict and career commitment of senior managersSpeciregcally for low emotionally intelligent senior managers there willbe a strong positive relationship between work-conmacrict family andcareer commitment and for highly emotional intelligent seniormanagers there will be a moderate negative relationship betweenwork-conmacrict family and career commitment

MethodologyRespondents and data collectionThe population of this study was senior managers employed as chief regnancialofregcers in the local government authorities in Israel A direct-mailquestionnaire was sent to 262 senior managers The questionnaire wasmailed from and returned to a university address using a self-addressed replyenvelope Ninety-eight usable questionnaires were returned The respondentsrsquoaverage age was 466 years (SD 924) 11 were women and 794 percent held atleast bachelorrsquos degree Their average tenure in their present organization was1147 (SD 913) The average income of the respondents was 256 (SD 054)(1 = up to 10000 New Israeli Shekel (NIS) 2 = 10001 to 20000 and 3 = 20001and above) Note that annual average value of US$ 1 and 1 Euro in 2001 was4205 NIS and 37644 NIS respectively The average size of the organizations(measured by the number of permanent residents for which the organization isresponsible to provide services see Carmeli 2002) was 24729 (SD 5425937)

Dependent variablesWork outcomes Job performance and withdrawal intentions from theorganization were used to assess employeersquos work outcomes

JMP188

798

(1) Job performance This measure was evaluated by a scale developed byPearce and Porter (1986) and used by Black and Porter (1991) andHochwarter et al (1999) This measure contains regve items (overallperformance ability to get along with others completing tasks on timequality of performance and achievement of work goals) that wereassessed on a seven-point scale (ranging from 1 = strongly disagree to7 = strongly agree) Although such difregculties as self-enhancement andobjectivity and reliability may be encountered Mabe and West (1982)showed that self-evaluation measures were more valid than pointed outin prior research (Hochwarter et al (1999) The Cronbachrsquos alpha for thisscale was 087

(2) Withdrawal intentions from the organization This measure was drawnfrom the measure examined by Mobley et al (1978) and widely used inthe literature (Michaels and Spector 1982 Miller et al 1979) It assesseswithdrawal intentions of an employee from hisher organization andconsists of three items I think a lot about leaving the organization I am actively searching for an alternative to the organization and As soon as it is possible I will leave the organization

This measure was assessed on a 5-point scale from 1 = strongly disagree to5 = strongly agree The Cronbachrsquos alpha for this scale was 090

Work behavior

(1) Altruistic behavior This variable was drawn from the multi-dimensionalscale of organizational citizenship behavior developed by Podsakoff andMacKenzie (1989) and modireged and validated by Podsakoff et al (1990)Altruistic behavior was measured using three items that were assessedon a regve-point scale ranging from 1 = strongly disagree to 5 = stronglyagree Sample items are ordfI help others who have heavy workloadsordm ordfIhelp others who have been absentordm The Cronbachrsquos alpha for this scalewas 082

Work attitudesFour work commitment forms (career commitment jobinvolvement affective commitment and continuance commitment) and jobsatisfaction were used to assess employeersquos work attitudes In additionwork-family conmacrict was examined as follows

(1) Career commitment This measure was assessed by a scale developed byBlau (1985) Sample items are ordfI like this profession too much to give itupordm and ordfI am disappointed with being a CEOordm (reverse scored) Themeasure was assessed on a regve-point scale (ranging from 1 = stronglydisagree to 5 = strongly agree) The Cronbachrsquos alpha for this scalewas 074

Emotionalintelligence

799

(2) Job involvement This measure is based on a 10-item scale developed byKanungo (1982) Sample items are ordfThe most important things thathappen to me involve my present jobordm and ordfMost of my personal lifegoals are job-orientedordm The measure was assessed on a seven-pointscale ranging from 1 = strongly disagree to 7 = strongly agree TheCronbachrsquos alpha for this scale was 082

(3) Affective organizational commitmentThis measure is based on the scaledeveloped and validated by Allen and Meyer (1990) Sample items are ordfIreally feel as if this organizationrsquos problems are my ownordm and ordfI do not feellike ordfpart of the familyordm at my organizationordm (reversed item) The measurewas assessed on a seven-point scale (ranging from 1 = strongly disagreeto 7 = strongly agree) The Cronbachrsquos alpha for this scale was 073

(4) Continuance organizational commitmentThis measure is based on thescale developed and validated by Allen and Meyer (1990) Sample itemsare ordfRight now staying with my organization is a matter of necessity asmuch as desireordm and ordfToo much in my life would be disrupted if Idecided I wanted to leave my organization nowordm The measure wasassessed on a seven-point scale (ranging from 1 = strongly disagree to7 = strongly agree) The Cronbachrsquos alpha for this scale was 082

(5) Job satisfaction This measure was estimated by a 6-items scaleemployed by Tsui et al (1992) Sample items are ordfHow satisreged are youwith the nature of the work you performordm and ordfConsidering everythinghow satisreged are you with your current job situationordm The measure wasassessed on a regve-point scale (ranging from 1 = very dissatisreged to5 = very satisreged) The Cronbachrsquos alpha for this scale was 068

(6) Work-family conmacrict This measure was based on a measure developedand validated by Carlson et al 2000) Since this study examines the role ofemotional intelligence in the workplace we concentrated on familyinterference with work exploring a combination of three forms ofwork-family conmacrict (time strain and behavior) which consisted of threeitems each Sample items are ordfThe time I spend on family responsibilitiesoften interferes with my work responsibilitiesordm (time-based familyinterference) ordfDue to stress at home I am often preoccupied with familymatters at workordm (strain-based family interference) ordfThe behaviors thatwork for me at home do not seem to be effective at workordm (behavior-basedfamily interference) All items were ranged from 1 = strongly disagree to5 = strongly agree (5 = presents high conmacrict) The nine items wereloaded onto a single factor The Cronbachrsquos alpha for this scale was 079

Independentmoderator variableEmotional intelligence Over the years considerable research effort resulted invarious instruments for measuring emotional intelligence (EQi of Bar-On 1996

JMP188

800

Executive EQ of Cooper and Sawaf 1997 EIQ Dulewicz and Higgs 1999MSCEIT of Mayer et al 2000 ECI of Boyatzis and Goleman 1998)

In this study emotional intelligence was measured with the self-reportmeasure of emotional intelligence developed by Schutte et al (1998) for severalreasons First this measure is based on the framework of emotional intelligencedeveloped by Salovey and Mayer 1989-1990 and later formulated (Mayer andSalovey 1997)[1] Second previous study found some limitations in earlyself-report measures of emotional intelligence such as insufregcient reliabilityand connections with personality factors (Davies et al 1998) Third studiesthat evaluated the measure of Schutte and her colleagues (1998) in both adultand adolescents population indicate that this measure seems to overcome theobserved difregculties in other measures of emotional intelligence (Ciarrochi et al2000 Ciarrochi et al 2001) Finally in macro level studies self report measureof emotional intelligence which is brief validated and based on a cohesive andcomprehensive model of emotional intelligence (Salovey and Mayer 1989-1990Mayer and Salovey 1997) is very useful

The measure used in this study consists of 33 items Sample items are ordfIknow when to speak about my personal problems to othersordm and ordfI am awareof my emotions as I experience themordm (appraisal and expression of emotion) ordfIpresent myself in a way that makes a good impression on othersordm and I havecontrol over my emotionsordm (regulation of emotion) ordfwhen I feel a change inemotions I tend to come up with new ideasordm and I use good moods to helpmyself keep trying in the face of obstaclesordm (utilization) All items were rangedfrom 1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree The Cronbachrsquos alpha forthis scale was 090

Control variablesWe control for

(1) Organizational size Measured by the number of permanent residents forwhich the organization is responsible for provision of services (Carmeli2002)

(2) Tenure in the organization Measured by the number of years therespondent is employed in the current organization

(3) Gross income (1 = up to 10000 NIS New Israeli Shekel 2 = 10001 to20000 NIS 3 = 20001 to 30000 NIS 4 = 30001 to 40000 NIS and4 = above 40000 NIS)

(4) Respondentsrsquo age

Because the vast majority of the respondents were male differences betweenmale and female respondents could not be established

Data analysisTo assess the relationship between emotional intelligence and work attitudesbehavior and outcomes we performed a series of separate hierarchical

Emotionalintelligence

801

regression analyses Each model had two steps The regrst step involvedentering the control variables and the second step involved entering theindependent variable

To examine the interaction hypotheses the variables were entered into theregression equations in three steps The control variables were entered in theregrst step In the second step we entered the ordfmain effectsordm (work-familyconmacrict and emotional intelligence) Finally the work-family conmacrict Xemotional intelligence product term variable was entered in the third step Bothvariables were mean-centered as is suggested for variables that are to beconstituents of product terms (Aiken and West 1991)

ResultsTable I reports the means standard deviations and correlation coefregcients ofvariables used in the analysis Though several variables are related Table Iindicates no severe problems of multicolinearity as none of the related variablesexceeded the value of 060 Furthermore we performed separate hierarchicalregressions for the effect of emotional intelligence on each one of the dependentvariables Table I also provides a preliminary support for the signiregcantrelationships between emotional intelligence and work attitudes workbehavior and work outcomes

Table II presents the results of hierarchical regression Emotionalintelligence was positively and signiregcantly related to job satisfaction(b = 032 p 001) supporting H1 This regnding is consistent with theargument according to which emotionally intelligent individuals are likely todisplay higher overall satisfaction in the workplace

Supporting H2a we provide evidence that when senior managers have highemotional intelligence they tend to develop high affective commitment(emotional attachment) to the organization for which they work (b = 023p 005) H2b on the other hand was not supported as the relationshipbetween emotional intelligence and continuance commitment was notsigniregcant (b = 2 012 p = ns) The beta coefregcient though not statisticallysigniregcant was in the expected direction

We found support for H3 Emotionally intelligent senior managers develophigh commitment toward their career (b = 034 p 0001) However contraryto H4 emotional intelligence was statistically unrelated to job involvement Itmay be that the involvement of senior managers is more complex than weassumed and is affected by other important factors not examined here Thoughno prediction was made we found that job involvement was signiregcantlyrelated to tenure in the organization (b = 020 p 010) as well as to grossincome (b = 025 p 005)

The results support H5 stating that senior managers who have highemotional intelligence are more likely to effectively control work-family conmacrict(b = 2 031 p 001) Compared to low and middle-level position employees

JMP188

802

Mea

ns

d

12

34

56

78

910

1112

13

Job

per

form

ance

561

078

100

Wit

hdra

wal

inte

nti

ons

from

an

organ

izat

ion

218

094

20

18

Alt

ruis

tic

beh

avio

r3

780

630

32

0

11

Car

eer

com

mit

men

t3

590

600

22

20

47

0

07

Job

invol

vem

ent

440

089

003

20

130

160

24

Aff

ecti

ve

com

mit

men

t4

730

880

31

20

39

0

160

42

0

48

Con

tinuan

ce

com

mit

men

t3

871

172

030

2

005

20

28

20

100

022

007

Job

sati

sfac

tion

374

051

045

2

038

031

0

39

0

27

055

2

029

Wor

k-f

amily

conmacr

ict

212

049

20

190

042

015

20

152

001

20

190

34

2

011

Em

otio

nal

inte

llig

ence

371

037

032

2

020

0

38

0

38

0

140

24

20

070

27

20

27

Org

aniz

atio

nal

size

247

2954

259

20

012

001

20

010

050

21

011

005

008

021

2

007

Ten

ure

in

organ

izat

ion

114

79

130

022

024

0

120

21

017

006

005

004

010

20

050

03

Age

466

39

242

001

20

190

030

120

31

021

0

150

170

150

100

170

43

Inco

me

256

054

014

20

020

26

006

031

0

172

010

022

2

011

001

016

013

025

Note

saT

wo-

tailed

test

s

p

005

p

001

p

0

001

Table IMeans standard

deviations andcorrelationsa

Emotionalintelligence

803

Job

per

form

Wit

hdrw

l

inte

nt

Alt

ruis

tic

beh

avio

r

Car

eer

com

mit

Job

invol

ve

Aff

ecti

ve

com

mit

Con

tin

com

mit

Job

sati

sfac

tion

Wor

k

fam

ily

conmacr

ict

b(t)

b(t

)b

(t)

b(t)

b(t

)b

(t)

b(t)

b(t)

b(t

)

Ste

p1

Org

aniz

a-

tion

alsi

ze0

00(0

01)

20

01(0

93)

001

(00

7)0

07(0

73)

015

(14

7)0

09(0

83)

005

(04

3)0

06(0

56)

019

(19

3)

Ten

ure

in

organ

iza-

tion

al2

009

(20

75)

20

10(2

087

)2

009

(20

87)

20

03(2

023

)0

20(1

76

)0

15(1

24)

019

(15

8)0

12(1

06)

018

(16

2)

Inco

me

016

(15

4)0

03(0

31)

018

(19

1)

005

(04

5)0

25(2

43

)

011

(10

8)2

016

(21

48)

013

(12

1)2

016

(21

59)

Age

006

(05

8)2

022

(21

94)

008

(08

7)0

27(2

53

)

006

(05

7)0

00(2

004

)0

00(0

00)

20

04(2

036

)2

003

(20

29)

R2

003

80

068

005

50

082

019

30

064

005

10

058

009

3

Ste

p2

Em

otio

nal

inte

llig

ence

032

(30

8)

20

20(2

193

)

054

(60

3)

034

(34

4)

004

(04

5)0

23(2

21

)

20

12(2

111

)0

32(3

12

)2

031

(23

20 )

DR

20

090

039

028

60

113

000

20

050

001

40

098

009

6

Ffo

rD

R2

949

371

36

41

118

3

019

487

123

970

991

R2

for

tota

l

equat

ion

013

50

107

034

10

195

019

50

114

006

50

155

018

9

Note

s

p

010

p

005

p

001

p

000

1

Table IIResults of hierarchicalregression analysis theinmacruence of emotionalintelligence on workattitudes behavior andoutcomes

JMP188

804

senior managers may encounter a higher level of job demands that result inwork-family conmacrict The results indicate that senior managers who have highemotional intelligence may better and more carefully handle the inherentwork-family conmacrict than those who have low emotional intelligence

H6 which states that emotionally intelligent senior managers will displayhigher levels of altruistic behavior was strongly supported (b = 054p 0001) In addition H7 which states that emotional intelligence will benegatively related to withdrawal intentions from the organization and H8which states that emotionally intelligent senior managers will perform the jobbetter than senior managers with low emotional intelligence were supported(b = 2 020 p 010 b = 032 p 001 respectively) These results indicatethat emotional intelligence is an important predictor of both contextualperformance and task performance Note however that H9 which states thatthe higher a senior manager is on emotional intelligence the weaker will be thenegative effect of work-family conmacrict on job satisfaction was not supported(see Table III) The interactive effect of work-family conmacrict and emotionalintelligence on job satisfaction was not signiregcant (b = 003 p = ns)

H10 postulated that the higher a senior manager is on emotionalintelligence the weaker will be the negative effect of work-family conmacrict oncareer commitment The interactive effect of work-family conmacrict andemotional intelligence on career commitment was signiregcant at the 005 level(see Table III) and explained an additional 34 percent of explained variance inthe career commitment

In accordance with convention for plotting interactions (Aiken and West1991 Cohen and Cohen 1983) the cut values for the high and low states on themoderator variable (emotional intelligence) were plus and minus one standarddeviation from the mean Figure 1 presents the interaction of work-familyconmacrict and emotional intelligence in predicting career commitment As shown

Job satisfaction Career commitmentb R 2 DR 2 b R 2 DR 2

Step 1Organizational size 003 004Tenure in organization 014 002Income 016 002

Age 2 005 0058 0058 020 0048 0048Step 2Work-family conmacrict (WF) 2 005 2 009Emotional intelligence (EI) 030 0157 0097 037 0205 0156

Step 3EI pound WF 003 0158 0001 021 0239 0034

Notes p 010 p 005 p 001 p 0001

Table IIIResults of the

moderating role ofemotional intelligence

(EI)

Emotionalintelligence

805

in Figure 1 the interaction of emotional intelligence with work-family conmacrictaffects both the strength and direction of this relationship For senior managerswho are low on emotional intelligence there is a strong positive relationshipand for those who are high on emotional intelligence there is a moderatenegative relationship That is when senior managers with low emotionalintelligence experience high work-family conmacrict they manage to maintainhigh career commitment When highly emotionally intelligent senior managersexperience high work-conmacrict they reduce their career commitment to a morereasonable level to deal with work-family conmacrict

DiscussionThe major goal of this study was to examine the extent to which a criticalcomponent of managerial skills - emotional intelligence - augments positivework attitudes and the contextual and task performance of senior managersemployed in a public sector setting This study advances the literaturepertaining to emotional intelligence by empirically demonstrating theimportance of emotional intelligence for developing positive work-relatedattitudes and contextual and task performance

These regndings are especially of importance for organizations whichrecognize the critical role the top management team plays in their success (seeFinkelstein and Hambrick 1996 Hambrick and Mason 1984) Theeffectiveness of the top management team is a function inter alia of themanagement skills (Whetten and Cameron 2001) possessed by the seniormanagers from which it is comprised Skills of managing people are of uniqueimportance for the creation of effective management and leadership andemotional intelligence as ordfthe subset of social intelligenceordm (Salovey and Mayer1989-1990) may be the most critical component of this class of skills Hencehaving senior executives with high emotional intelligence is a necessity forattaining sustainable results

This study went beyond the simple premise of the importance of emotionalintelligence to demonstrate the extent to which the latter augments favorableattitudes and outcomes The results indicate for example that emotionallyintelligent senior managers develop emotional attachment to their

Figure 1Interaction betweenemotional intelligence(EI) and work-familyconmacrict (WF) predictingcareer commitment (CC)

JMP188

806

organizations and are also more committed to their career In addition regndingsalso indicate that emotionally intelligent senior managers tend to be moresatisreged with their work Retaining talented and knowledgeable seniormanagers becomes a major concern for many organizations Selecting seniormanagers who have high emotional intelligence may have a positive impact onthe extent to which an organization succeeds in retaining its most criticalworkforce Research regndings revealed that occupational commitment (Lee et al2000) and organizational commitment (Mathieu and Zajac 1990) aresigniregcantly related to withdrawal intentions and that job satisfaction andorganizational commitment are by far the main predictors of turnover (Griffethet al 2000) Interestingly however emotional intelligence was not signiregcantlyassociated with job involvement It may be that senior managers exhibit highinvolvement in their jobs because of the role itself which demands much timeand effort Another possible explanation is manifested by the relationshipbetween income and job involvement (b = 025 p 005) suggesting thateconomic factors inmacruence the subjective felt of job involvement Emotionalintelligence may help an individual to better handle demanding managerialwork Nevertheless we are still in need of further investigation regarding thefactors that foster an individualrsquos high level of involvement in her job (Brown1996)

Another important relationship examined in this study is the relationshipbetween emotional intelligence and work-family conmacrict Work-family policiesadopted and implemented by an organization may not provide the wholesolution especially with respect to family interference with work simplybecause employees have some responsibility in determining their own familybalance The results of this study advance the literature by indicating thatemotionally intelligent employees may better handle this conmacrict Anintegration of work-family programs and an emotionally intelligentworkforce can better attain the desired balance This study indicates thatcompared to emotionally intelligent senior managers low-emotionallyintelligent senior managers are not less able to be sensitive enough toacknowledge how work is affected by family matters and thus feel no need toreduce their career commitment Senior managers who are high on emotionalintelligence recognize having important responsibilities at work and at thesame time realize that they may neglect their family and their needs In otherwords they are equally sensitive to what they feel when they are consumedwith my work all the time This recognition help them balance their careercommitment to a healthy mid point (not very high but not very low either)Further examination of the interactive effect of work-family conmacrict andemotional intelligence on career commitment and job satisfaction revealed thatemotional intelligence moderated only the negative inmacruence of work-family oncareer commitment Clearly this regnding should receive further investigation

Emotionalintelligence

807

but it illuminate the kind of role emotional intelligence may play in therelationship of ordfwork stressordm and work attitudes

We found a direct and signiregcant relationship between emotionalintelligence and withdrawal intentions from the organization This intensiregesthe important role that emotional intelligence may have in retaining valuableorganization members The results of this study also indicate that emotionalintelligence augments both contextual (altruistic citizenship behavior) and taskperformance Contextual performance of senior managers is valued becausethe latter oftentimes serves as a ordfrole modelordm and ordfcharacterordm for theorganizationrsquos members to follow This process may have a positive effect onthe organization since organizational citizenship behavior has the potential forexample to enhance co-worker and managerial productivity freeing themanagement from work-related problems so that it can deal with moreproductive tasks and enhancing the sustainability of the organizationrsquosperformance In addition the regnding that emotionally intelligent seniormanagers perform better on the job provides clear evidence to the questionasked by Cherniss (2000) regarding ordfhow important it (emotional intelligence)is for effective performance at workordm and is consistent with Cavallo andBrienzarsquos regndings of a ordfstrong relationship between superior performingleaders and emotional competenceordm

Limitation and directions for future researchSeveral limitations constrain the interpretation and application of the studyrsquosregndings The aim of this study to explore the role of emotional intelligenceamong senior managers is also a weakness because it has not includednon-managerial employees Future studies may be beneregted from anexploration of a wider range of employees at different organizational levelsOne should also be cautious while generalizing the results of this study to othercultures or sectors Prospective research should be directed to exploredifferences among for-proregt governmental and not-for-proregt organizations

Validated and usable measures were employed to reduce the possibility ofbias in general method variance and data was collected from a large number oforganizational units to allow for better external validity and increasedgenerality of the results (Cook and Campbell 1979) Still the reader is cautionedto recognize the limitations of relying on self-reported data This may carry abias of general method variance As can be seen results of hierarchicalregressions provided a relatively small proportion of the explained variance ofthe dependent variables We also compared subjective-reported data toobjective data on organizational size and the comparison yielded no differenceAnd as Xie (1996) indicated there is no theoretical foundation to expect thatinteractions are associated with common method variance Future studies maybeneregt from a longitudinal research design One however must recognize thatcollecting data from a large number of organizations is problematic Finally

JMP188

808

this study used a relatively new measure of emotional intelligence and thoughstudies reported good reliability and evidence of validity it would be useful toconduct a study which compare results of this study with those used otheracceptable measures of emotional intelligence

Note

1 When this study was conducted the MSCEIT instrument was not available to the author

References

Abraham R (1999) ordfEmotional intelligence in organizations a conceptualizationordm GeneticSocial and General Psychology Monographs Vol 125 No 2 pp 209-24

Aiken LS and West SG (1991) Multiple Regression Testing and Interpreting InteractionsSage Newbury Park CA

Allen NJ and Meyer JP (1990) ordfThe measurement and antecedents of affective continuanceand normative commitment to the organizationordm Journal of Occupational PsychologyVol 63 pp 1-18

Allen NJ and Meyer JP (1996) ordfAffective continuance and normative commitment to theorganization an examination of construct validityordm Journal of Vocational Behavior Vol 49No 3 pp 252-76

Ashforth BE and Humphrey RH (1995) ordfEmotion in the workplace a reappraisalordm HumanRelations Vol 48 No 2 pp 97-125

Bar-On R (1996) The Emotional Quotient Inventory (EQ-i) A Test of Emotional IntelligenceMulti-Health Systems Toronto

Bar-On R and Parker JDA (2000) The Handbook of Emotional Intelligence TheoryDevelopment Assessment and Application at Home School and in the WorkplaceJossey-Bass San Francisco CA

Bar-On R Brown JM Kirkcaldy BD and Thome EP (2000) ordfEmotional expression andimplications for occupational stress an applicationordm Personality and IndividualDifferences Vol 28 pp 1107-18

Becker HS (1960) ordfNotes on the concept of commitmentordm American Journal of Sociology Vol 66No 1 pp 33-42

Black J and Porter L (1991) ordfManagerial behavior and job performance a successful managerin Los Angeles may not succeed in Hong Kongordm Journal of International Business StudiesVol 22 pp 99-114

Blau GJ (1985) ordfThe measurement and prediction of career commitmentordm Journal ofOccupational Psychology Vol 58 pp 277-88

Blood MR (1969) ordfWork values and job satisfactionordm Journal of Applied Psychology Vol 53pp 456-9

Boyatzis R Goleman D and Rhee K (2000) ordfClustering competence in emotional intelligenceinsights from the emotional competence inventory (ECI)ordm in Bar-On R and Parker JDA(Eds) Handbook of Emotional Intelligence Jossey-Bass San Francisco CA

Brown SP (1996) ordfA meta-analysis and review of organizational research on job involvementordmPsychological Bulletin Vol 120 No 2 pp 235-55

Carlson DS Kacmar MK and Williams LJ (2000) ordfConstruction and initial validations of amultidimensional measure of work-family conmacrictordm Journal of Vocational BehaviorVol 56 pp 249-76

Emotionalintelligence

809

Carmeli A (2002) ordfA conceptual and practical framework of measuring performance of localauthorities in regnancial terms analysing the case of Israelordm Local Government StudiesVol 28 No 1 pp 21-36

Cherniss C (2000) ordfordfEmotional intelligence what it is and why it mattersordm paper presented atthe Annual Meeting of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology NewOrleans LA April p 15

Ciarrochi J Chan AYC and Bajgar J (2001) ordfMeasuring emotional intelligence inadolescentsordm Personality and Individual Differences Vol 31 pp 1105-19

Ciarrochi J Chan AYC and Caputi P (2000) ordfA critical evaluation of the emotionalintelligence constructordm Personality and Individual Differences Vol 28 pp 539-61

Cohen J and Cohen P (1983) Applied Multiple RegressionCorrelation Analysis for theBehavioral Sciences Lawrence Erlbaum Hillsdale NJ

Cook TD and Campbell TD (1979) Quasi-Experimentation Design and Analytical Issues forField Settings Rand-McNally Chicago IL

Cooper RK and Sawaf A (1997) Executive EQ Emotional Intelligence in Leadership andOrganizations GrossetPutnam New York NY

Davies M Stankov L and Roberts R (1998) ordfEmotional intelligence in search of an elusiveconstructordm Journal of Personality and Social Psychology Vol 75 pp 989-1015

Dulewicz V and Higgs MJ (1999) Usersrsquo Guide for the Emotional Intelligence QuestionnaireNFER-Nelson Windsor

Dulewicz V and Higgs MJ (2000) ordfEmotional intelligence a review and evaluation studyordmJournal of Managerial Psychology Vol 15 No 4 pp 341-72

Finkelstein S and Hambrick D (1996) Strategic Leadership Top Executives and Their Effectson Organizations West Publishing Company St Paul MN

Furnham A (1990) The Protestant Work Ethic The Psychology of Work-Related Beliefs andBehaviors Routledge New York NY

GardnerH (1983) Frames of Mind The Theory of Multiple Intelligences Basic Books New YorkNY

George JM (2000) ordfEmotions and leadership the role of emotional intelligenceordm HumanRelations Vol 53 No 8 pp 1027-55

Goleman D (1995) Emotional Intelligence Why It Can Matter More than IQ Bantam BooksNew York NY

Goleman D (1998) Working with Emotional Intelligence Bantam Books New York NY

Goleman D (2001) ordfAn EI-based theory of performanceordm in Cherniss C and Goleman D (Eds)The Emotionally Intelligent Workplace How to Select for Measure and Improve EmotionalIntelligence in Individuals Groups and Organizations Jossey-Bass San Francisco CApp 27-44

Grandey AA (2000) ordfEmotion regulation in the workplace a new way to conceptualizeemotional laborordm Journal of Occupational Health Psychology Vol 5 No 1 pp 95-110

Greenhaus JH and Beutell NJ (1985) ordfSources of conmacrict between work and family rolesordmAcademy of Management Review Vol 10 No 1 pp 76-88

Griffeth RW Hom PW and Gaertner S (2000) ordfA meta-analysis of antecedents and correlatesof employee turnover update moderator test and research implications for the nextmillenniumordm Journal of Management Vol 26 No 3 pp 463-88

Hambrick DC and Mason PA (1984) ordfUpper echelons the organization as a remacrection of itstop managementordm Academy of Management Review Vol 9 pp 193-206

JMP188

810

With respect to the role of the individuals one may expect that a highemotional intelligence would help them balance family interference with workIn fact they may be more capable of preventing work-family conmacrict from thebeginning due to their emotional astuteness incorporates the recognition of thedegree to which the family plays an emotional role for them and thoseconnected to them the insight as to how these emotions should be managedand the ability to improve the decision-making process The followinghypothesis is suggested

H5 There is a negative relationship between emotional intelligence andwork-family conmacrict (family interference with work) of seniormanagers

Emotional intelligence and organizational citizenship behavior Organizationalcitizenship behavior (OCB) is an extra-role behavior that goes beyond formalrole requirements (Smith et al 1983) Emotional intelligence may enhancealtruistic behavior as it enables employees to comprehend their co-workersrsquofeelings and to respond better than employees with low emotional intelligencebecause of their ability to easily shift from negative to positive moods(Abraham 1999) Staw et al (1994) suggested three explanations for theengagement of an emotionally intelligent individual in altruistic behaviorFirst being in a good mood is reinforcing and displaying altruism is rewardingin the sense that it enables employees to also maintain this state of mindSecond people in good moods may be more socially interactive Third whenemployees are more satisreged (having positive emotional reactions to the job)they are more likely to be engaged in helpful behavior The followinghypothesis is suggested

H6 There is a positive relationship between emotional intelligence andorganizational citizenship behavior - altruism of senior managers

Emotional intelligence and work outcomesEmotional intelligence and withdrawal intentions from the organizationWithdrawal of employees is a process (Mobley 1977 1982a b Mobley et al1978) which comprises constructs of withdrawal intentions (thinking ofquitting intention to search and intention to quit) as well as constructs ofwithdrawal behaviors (actually quitting absence) (Miller et al 1979 Mobleyet al 1978) A recent meta-analysis used the constructs of intention to quitthinking of quitting withdrawal cognitions and expected utility of withdrawalas the components of withdrawal intentions (Griffeth et al 2000) In this studywe assess the withdrawal intentions process of senior managers

Emotional intelligence may signiregcantly diminish employeesrsquo withdrawalintentions because of the ability to better regulate emotions Emotionallyintelligent individuals are adept at putting themselves in positive affective

JMP188

796

states and although they may experience negative affective states at timesthese do not have signiregcant destructive consequences Being in positiveaffective states is of importance in the sense of not becoming despondent in theface of daily and even more profound obstacles occurring in organizational lifeRather the individuals are likely to see the positive side of things and use theiremotions for example to enhance persistence at challenging times andfacilitate creativity for resolving difregculties To a certain degree emotionallyintelligent individuals perceive themselves as part of the solution As suchthey feel a high level of identiregcation and are less likely to develop withdrawalintentions This is especially true for senior managers who must deal with theirown difregculties as well as those of others Those with high emotionalintelligence will be inclined to stay and deal with difregculties in adaptive waysThis however is not to say that emotionally intelligent individuals do not facedifregculties when encountering job stress and changes in their job and careerrather they have more and better capabilities than low emotionally individualsto cope with it and thus are likely develop lower withdrawal intentions Thefollowing hypothesis is suggested

H7 There is a negative relationship between emotional intelligence andwithdrawal intentions of senior managers from the organization

Emotional intelligence and job performance Evidence supports a positive effectof emotional intelligence on the success of the individual at work (for a reviewsee Goleman 2001) This is of particularly importance if we believe thatordfmanagement skills lie at the heart of leadershipordm (Whetten and Cameron 2001p 15) and speciregcally recognize the need to develop and acquire skills formanaging people and that emotional intelligence may have a critical role in thecreation of effective leadership A notable study conducted by George (2000)showed how the aspects of emotional intelligence - appraisal and expressionof emotions use of emotion to enhance cognitive processing and decisionmaking knowledge about emotions and management of emotions - contributeto effective leadership For the purpose of this study it is important to note thatalthough it is theoretically signiregcant to show how each aspect affectsperformance it is more accurate to recognize that skills come in groups andclusters and that they support one another (Goleman 2001) The concept ofemotional intelligence seems to encompass this ordfcritical massordm of skills(Boyatzis et al 2000 Goleman 2001) The following hypothesis is suggested

H8 There is a positive relationship between emotional intelligence and jobperformance of senior managers

The moderator role of emotional intelligenceThe literature suggests that the negative effect of work-family conmacrict on workattitudes may be moderated by several variables (see for example Martins

Emotionalintelligence

797

et al 2002) In this study emotional intelligence is expected to moderate therelationship between work-family conmacrict and job satisfaction and therelationship between work-family conmacrict and career commitment

Family interference with work may have some negative consequences on theextent which an employee will be satisreged with her work and committed to hercareer However emotionally intelligent individuals are likely to have the abilityto control for such interferences or at least moderate them to an acceptable levelOn the basis of this logic the following hypotheses are suggested

H9 Emotional intelligence will moderate the relationship betweenwork-family conmacrict and job satisfaction of senior managersSpeciregcally there will be more negative relationship betweenwork-family conmacrict and job satisfaction for senior managers whoare low on emotional intelligence than for those who are high onemotional intelligence

H10 Emotional intelligence will moderate the relationship betweenwork-family conmacrict and career commitment of senior managersSpeciregcally for low emotionally intelligent senior managers there willbe a strong positive relationship between work-conmacrict family andcareer commitment and for highly emotional intelligent seniormanagers there will be a moderate negative relationship betweenwork-conmacrict family and career commitment

MethodologyRespondents and data collectionThe population of this study was senior managers employed as chief regnancialofregcers in the local government authorities in Israel A direct-mailquestionnaire was sent to 262 senior managers The questionnaire wasmailed from and returned to a university address using a self-addressed replyenvelope Ninety-eight usable questionnaires were returned The respondentsrsquoaverage age was 466 years (SD 924) 11 were women and 794 percent held atleast bachelorrsquos degree Their average tenure in their present organization was1147 (SD 913) The average income of the respondents was 256 (SD 054)(1 = up to 10000 New Israeli Shekel (NIS) 2 = 10001 to 20000 and 3 = 20001and above) Note that annual average value of US$ 1 and 1 Euro in 2001 was4205 NIS and 37644 NIS respectively The average size of the organizations(measured by the number of permanent residents for which the organization isresponsible to provide services see Carmeli 2002) was 24729 (SD 5425937)

Dependent variablesWork outcomes Job performance and withdrawal intentions from theorganization were used to assess employeersquos work outcomes

JMP188

798

(1) Job performance This measure was evaluated by a scale developed byPearce and Porter (1986) and used by Black and Porter (1991) andHochwarter et al (1999) This measure contains regve items (overallperformance ability to get along with others completing tasks on timequality of performance and achievement of work goals) that wereassessed on a seven-point scale (ranging from 1 = strongly disagree to7 = strongly agree) Although such difregculties as self-enhancement andobjectivity and reliability may be encountered Mabe and West (1982)showed that self-evaluation measures were more valid than pointed outin prior research (Hochwarter et al (1999) The Cronbachrsquos alpha for thisscale was 087

(2) Withdrawal intentions from the organization This measure was drawnfrom the measure examined by Mobley et al (1978) and widely used inthe literature (Michaels and Spector 1982 Miller et al 1979) It assesseswithdrawal intentions of an employee from hisher organization andconsists of three items I think a lot about leaving the organization I am actively searching for an alternative to the organization and As soon as it is possible I will leave the organization

This measure was assessed on a 5-point scale from 1 = strongly disagree to5 = strongly agree The Cronbachrsquos alpha for this scale was 090

Work behavior

(1) Altruistic behavior This variable was drawn from the multi-dimensionalscale of organizational citizenship behavior developed by Podsakoff andMacKenzie (1989) and modireged and validated by Podsakoff et al (1990)Altruistic behavior was measured using three items that were assessedon a regve-point scale ranging from 1 = strongly disagree to 5 = stronglyagree Sample items are ordfI help others who have heavy workloadsordm ordfIhelp others who have been absentordm The Cronbachrsquos alpha for this scalewas 082

Work attitudesFour work commitment forms (career commitment jobinvolvement affective commitment and continuance commitment) and jobsatisfaction were used to assess employeersquos work attitudes In additionwork-family conmacrict was examined as follows

(1) Career commitment This measure was assessed by a scale developed byBlau (1985) Sample items are ordfI like this profession too much to give itupordm and ordfI am disappointed with being a CEOordm (reverse scored) Themeasure was assessed on a regve-point scale (ranging from 1 = stronglydisagree to 5 = strongly agree) The Cronbachrsquos alpha for this scalewas 074

Emotionalintelligence

799

(2) Job involvement This measure is based on a 10-item scale developed byKanungo (1982) Sample items are ordfThe most important things thathappen to me involve my present jobordm and ordfMost of my personal lifegoals are job-orientedordm The measure was assessed on a seven-pointscale ranging from 1 = strongly disagree to 7 = strongly agree TheCronbachrsquos alpha for this scale was 082

(3) Affective organizational commitmentThis measure is based on the scaledeveloped and validated by Allen and Meyer (1990) Sample items are ordfIreally feel as if this organizationrsquos problems are my ownordm and ordfI do not feellike ordfpart of the familyordm at my organizationordm (reversed item) The measurewas assessed on a seven-point scale (ranging from 1 = strongly disagreeto 7 = strongly agree) The Cronbachrsquos alpha for this scale was 073

(4) Continuance organizational commitmentThis measure is based on thescale developed and validated by Allen and Meyer (1990) Sample itemsare ordfRight now staying with my organization is a matter of necessity asmuch as desireordm and ordfToo much in my life would be disrupted if Idecided I wanted to leave my organization nowordm The measure wasassessed on a seven-point scale (ranging from 1 = strongly disagree to7 = strongly agree) The Cronbachrsquos alpha for this scale was 082

(5) Job satisfaction This measure was estimated by a 6-items scaleemployed by Tsui et al (1992) Sample items are ordfHow satisreged are youwith the nature of the work you performordm and ordfConsidering everythinghow satisreged are you with your current job situationordm The measure wasassessed on a regve-point scale (ranging from 1 = very dissatisreged to5 = very satisreged) The Cronbachrsquos alpha for this scale was 068

(6) Work-family conmacrict This measure was based on a measure developedand validated by Carlson et al 2000) Since this study examines the role ofemotional intelligence in the workplace we concentrated on familyinterference with work exploring a combination of three forms ofwork-family conmacrict (time strain and behavior) which consisted of threeitems each Sample items are ordfThe time I spend on family responsibilitiesoften interferes with my work responsibilitiesordm (time-based familyinterference) ordfDue to stress at home I am often preoccupied with familymatters at workordm (strain-based family interference) ordfThe behaviors thatwork for me at home do not seem to be effective at workordm (behavior-basedfamily interference) All items were ranged from 1 = strongly disagree to5 = strongly agree (5 = presents high conmacrict) The nine items wereloaded onto a single factor The Cronbachrsquos alpha for this scale was 079

Independentmoderator variableEmotional intelligence Over the years considerable research effort resulted invarious instruments for measuring emotional intelligence (EQi of Bar-On 1996

JMP188

800

Executive EQ of Cooper and Sawaf 1997 EIQ Dulewicz and Higgs 1999MSCEIT of Mayer et al 2000 ECI of Boyatzis and Goleman 1998)

In this study emotional intelligence was measured with the self-reportmeasure of emotional intelligence developed by Schutte et al (1998) for severalreasons First this measure is based on the framework of emotional intelligencedeveloped by Salovey and Mayer 1989-1990 and later formulated (Mayer andSalovey 1997)[1] Second previous study found some limitations in earlyself-report measures of emotional intelligence such as insufregcient reliabilityand connections with personality factors (Davies et al 1998) Third studiesthat evaluated the measure of Schutte and her colleagues (1998) in both adultand adolescents population indicate that this measure seems to overcome theobserved difregculties in other measures of emotional intelligence (Ciarrochi et al2000 Ciarrochi et al 2001) Finally in macro level studies self report measureof emotional intelligence which is brief validated and based on a cohesive andcomprehensive model of emotional intelligence (Salovey and Mayer 1989-1990Mayer and Salovey 1997) is very useful

The measure used in this study consists of 33 items Sample items are ordfIknow when to speak about my personal problems to othersordm and ordfI am awareof my emotions as I experience themordm (appraisal and expression of emotion) ordfIpresent myself in a way that makes a good impression on othersordm and I havecontrol over my emotionsordm (regulation of emotion) ordfwhen I feel a change inemotions I tend to come up with new ideasordm and I use good moods to helpmyself keep trying in the face of obstaclesordm (utilization) All items were rangedfrom 1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree The Cronbachrsquos alpha forthis scale was 090

Control variablesWe control for

(1) Organizational size Measured by the number of permanent residents forwhich the organization is responsible for provision of services (Carmeli2002)

(2) Tenure in the organization Measured by the number of years therespondent is employed in the current organization

(3) Gross income (1 = up to 10000 NIS New Israeli Shekel 2 = 10001 to20000 NIS 3 = 20001 to 30000 NIS 4 = 30001 to 40000 NIS and4 = above 40000 NIS)

(4) Respondentsrsquo age

Because the vast majority of the respondents were male differences betweenmale and female respondents could not be established

Data analysisTo assess the relationship between emotional intelligence and work attitudesbehavior and outcomes we performed a series of separate hierarchical

Emotionalintelligence

801

regression analyses Each model had two steps The regrst step involvedentering the control variables and the second step involved entering theindependent variable

To examine the interaction hypotheses the variables were entered into theregression equations in three steps The control variables were entered in theregrst step In the second step we entered the ordfmain effectsordm (work-familyconmacrict and emotional intelligence) Finally the work-family conmacrict Xemotional intelligence product term variable was entered in the third step Bothvariables were mean-centered as is suggested for variables that are to beconstituents of product terms (Aiken and West 1991)

ResultsTable I reports the means standard deviations and correlation coefregcients ofvariables used in the analysis Though several variables are related Table Iindicates no severe problems of multicolinearity as none of the related variablesexceeded the value of 060 Furthermore we performed separate hierarchicalregressions for the effect of emotional intelligence on each one of the dependentvariables Table I also provides a preliminary support for the signiregcantrelationships between emotional intelligence and work attitudes workbehavior and work outcomes

Table II presents the results of hierarchical regression Emotionalintelligence was positively and signiregcantly related to job satisfaction(b = 032 p 001) supporting H1 This regnding is consistent with theargument according to which emotionally intelligent individuals are likely todisplay higher overall satisfaction in the workplace

Supporting H2a we provide evidence that when senior managers have highemotional intelligence they tend to develop high affective commitment(emotional attachment) to the organization for which they work (b = 023p 005) H2b on the other hand was not supported as the relationshipbetween emotional intelligence and continuance commitment was notsigniregcant (b = 2 012 p = ns) The beta coefregcient though not statisticallysigniregcant was in the expected direction

We found support for H3 Emotionally intelligent senior managers develophigh commitment toward their career (b = 034 p 0001) However contraryto H4 emotional intelligence was statistically unrelated to job involvement Itmay be that the involvement of senior managers is more complex than weassumed and is affected by other important factors not examined here Thoughno prediction was made we found that job involvement was signiregcantlyrelated to tenure in the organization (b = 020 p 010) as well as to grossincome (b = 025 p 005)

The results support H5 stating that senior managers who have highemotional intelligence are more likely to effectively control work-family conmacrict(b = 2 031 p 001) Compared to low and middle-level position employees

JMP188

802

Mea

ns

d

12

34

56

78

910

1112

13

Job

per

form

ance

561

078

100

Wit

hdra

wal

inte

nti

ons

from

an

organ

izat

ion

218

094

20

18

Alt

ruis

tic

beh

avio

r3

780

630

32

0

11

Car

eer

com

mit

men

t3

590

600

22

20

47

0

07

Job

invol

vem

ent

440

089

003

20

130

160

24

Aff

ecti

ve

com

mit

men

t4

730

880

31

20

39

0

160

42

0

48

Con

tinuan

ce

com

mit

men

t3

871

172

030

2

005

20

28

20

100

022

007

Job

sati

sfac

tion

374

051

045

2

038

031

0

39

0

27

055

2

029

Wor

k-f

amily

conmacr

ict

212

049

20

190

042

015

20

152

001

20

190

34

2

011

Em

otio

nal

inte

llig

ence

371

037

032

2

020

0

38

0

38

0

140

24

20

070

27

20

27

Org

aniz

atio

nal

size

247

2954

259

20

012

001

20

010

050

21

011

005

008

021

2

007

Ten

ure

in

organ

izat

ion

114

79

130

022

024

0

120

21

017

006

005

004

010

20

050

03

Age

466

39

242

001

20

190

030

120

31

021

0

150

170

150

100

170

43

Inco

me

256

054

014

20

020

26

006

031

0

172

010

022

2

011

001

016

013

025

Note

saT

wo-

tailed

test

s

p

005

p

001

p

0

001

Table IMeans standard

deviations andcorrelationsa

Emotionalintelligence

803

Job

per

form

Wit

hdrw

l

inte

nt

Alt

ruis

tic

beh

avio

r

Car

eer

com

mit

Job

invol

ve

Aff

ecti

ve

com

mit

Con

tin

com

mit

Job

sati

sfac

tion

Wor

k

fam

ily

conmacr

ict

b(t)

b(t

)b

(t)

b(t)

b(t

)b

(t)

b(t)

b(t)

b(t

)

Ste

p1

Org

aniz

a-

tion

alsi

ze0

00(0

01)

20

01(0

93)

001

(00

7)0

07(0

73)

015

(14

7)0

09(0

83)

005

(04

3)0

06(0

56)

019

(19

3)

Ten

ure

in

organ

iza-

tion

al2

009

(20

75)

20

10(2

087

)2

009

(20

87)

20

03(2

023

)0

20(1

76

)0

15(1

24)

019

(15

8)0

12(1

06)

018

(16

2)

Inco

me

016

(15

4)0

03(0

31)

018

(19

1)

005

(04

5)0

25(2

43

)

011

(10

8)2

016

(21

48)

013

(12

1)2

016

(21

59)

Age

006

(05

8)2

022

(21

94)

008

(08

7)0

27(2

53

)

006

(05

7)0

00(2

004

)0

00(0

00)

20

04(2

036

)2

003

(20

29)

R2

003

80

068

005

50

082

019

30

064

005

10

058

009

3

Ste

p2

Em

otio

nal

inte

llig

ence

032

(30

8)

20

20(2

193

)

054

(60

3)

034

(34

4)

004

(04

5)0

23(2

21

)

20

12(2

111

)0

32(3

12

)2

031

(23

20 )

DR

20

090

039

028

60

113

000

20

050

001

40

098

009

6

Ffo

rD

R2

949

371

36

41

118

3

019

487

123

970

991

R2

for

tota

l

equat

ion

013

50

107

034

10

195

019

50

114

006

50

155

018

9

Note

s

p

010

p

005

p

001

p

000

1

Table IIResults of hierarchicalregression analysis theinmacruence of emotionalintelligence on workattitudes behavior andoutcomes

JMP188

804

senior managers may encounter a higher level of job demands that result inwork-family conmacrict The results indicate that senior managers who have highemotional intelligence may better and more carefully handle the inherentwork-family conmacrict than those who have low emotional intelligence

H6 which states that emotionally intelligent senior managers will displayhigher levels of altruistic behavior was strongly supported (b = 054p 0001) In addition H7 which states that emotional intelligence will benegatively related to withdrawal intentions from the organization and H8which states that emotionally intelligent senior managers will perform the jobbetter than senior managers with low emotional intelligence were supported(b = 2 020 p 010 b = 032 p 001 respectively) These results indicatethat emotional intelligence is an important predictor of both contextualperformance and task performance Note however that H9 which states thatthe higher a senior manager is on emotional intelligence the weaker will be thenegative effect of work-family conmacrict on job satisfaction was not supported(see Table III) The interactive effect of work-family conmacrict and emotionalintelligence on job satisfaction was not signiregcant (b = 003 p = ns)

H10 postulated that the higher a senior manager is on emotionalintelligence the weaker will be the negative effect of work-family conmacrict oncareer commitment The interactive effect of work-family conmacrict andemotional intelligence on career commitment was signiregcant at the 005 level(see Table III) and explained an additional 34 percent of explained variance inthe career commitment

In accordance with convention for plotting interactions (Aiken and West1991 Cohen and Cohen 1983) the cut values for the high and low states on themoderator variable (emotional intelligence) were plus and minus one standarddeviation from the mean Figure 1 presents the interaction of work-familyconmacrict and emotional intelligence in predicting career commitment As shown

Job satisfaction Career commitmentb R 2 DR 2 b R 2 DR 2

Step 1Organizational size 003 004Tenure in organization 014 002Income 016 002

Age 2 005 0058 0058 020 0048 0048Step 2Work-family conmacrict (WF) 2 005 2 009Emotional intelligence (EI) 030 0157 0097 037 0205 0156

Step 3EI pound WF 003 0158 0001 021 0239 0034

Notes p 010 p 005 p 001 p 0001

Table IIIResults of the

moderating role ofemotional intelligence

(EI)

Emotionalintelligence

805

in Figure 1 the interaction of emotional intelligence with work-family conmacrictaffects both the strength and direction of this relationship For senior managerswho are low on emotional intelligence there is a strong positive relationshipand for those who are high on emotional intelligence there is a moderatenegative relationship That is when senior managers with low emotionalintelligence experience high work-family conmacrict they manage to maintainhigh career commitment When highly emotionally intelligent senior managersexperience high work-conmacrict they reduce their career commitment to a morereasonable level to deal with work-family conmacrict

DiscussionThe major goal of this study was to examine the extent to which a criticalcomponent of managerial skills - emotional intelligence - augments positivework attitudes and the contextual and task performance of senior managersemployed in a public sector setting This study advances the literaturepertaining to emotional intelligence by empirically demonstrating theimportance of emotional intelligence for developing positive work-relatedattitudes and contextual and task performance

These regndings are especially of importance for organizations whichrecognize the critical role the top management team plays in their success (seeFinkelstein and Hambrick 1996 Hambrick and Mason 1984) Theeffectiveness of the top management team is a function inter alia of themanagement skills (Whetten and Cameron 2001) possessed by the seniormanagers from which it is comprised Skills of managing people are of uniqueimportance for the creation of effective management and leadership andemotional intelligence as ordfthe subset of social intelligenceordm (Salovey and Mayer1989-1990) may be the most critical component of this class of skills Hencehaving senior executives with high emotional intelligence is a necessity forattaining sustainable results

This study went beyond the simple premise of the importance of emotionalintelligence to demonstrate the extent to which the latter augments favorableattitudes and outcomes The results indicate for example that emotionallyintelligent senior managers develop emotional attachment to their

Figure 1Interaction betweenemotional intelligence(EI) and work-familyconmacrict (WF) predictingcareer commitment (CC)

JMP188

806

organizations and are also more committed to their career In addition regndingsalso indicate that emotionally intelligent senior managers tend to be moresatisreged with their work Retaining talented and knowledgeable seniormanagers becomes a major concern for many organizations Selecting seniormanagers who have high emotional intelligence may have a positive impact onthe extent to which an organization succeeds in retaining its most criticalworkforce Research regndings revealed that occupational commitment (Lee et al2000) and organizational commitment (Mathieu and Zajac 1990) aresigniregcantly related to withdrawal intentions and that job satisfaction andorganizational commitment are by far the main predictors of turnover (Griffethet al 2000) Interestingly however emotional intelligence was not signiregcantlyassociated with job involvement It may be that senior managers exhibit highinvolvement in their jobs because of the role itself which demands much timeand effort Another possible explanation is manifested by the relationshipbetween income and job involvement (b = 025 p 005) suggesting thateconomic factors inmacruence the subjective felt of job involvement Emotionalintelligence may help an individual to better handle demanding managerialwork Nevertheless we are still in need of further investigation regarding thefactors that foster an individualrsquos high level of involvement in her job (Brown1996)

Another important relationship examined in this study is the relationshipbetween emotional intelligence and work-family conmacrict Work-family policiesadopted and implemented by an organization may not provide the wholesolution especially with respect to family interference with work simplybecause employees have some responsibility in determining their own familybalance The results of this study advance the literature by indicating thatemotionally intelligent employees may better handle this conmacrict Anintegration of work-family programs and an emotionally intelligentworkforce can better attain the desired balance This study indicates thatcompared to emotionally intelligent senior managers low-emotionallyintelligent senior managers are not less able to be sensitive enough toacknowledge how work is affected by family matters and thus feel no need toreduce their career commitment Senior managers who are high on emotionalintelligence recognize having important responsibilities at work and at thesame time realize that they may neglect their family and their needs In otherwords they are equally sensitive to what they feel when they are consumedwith my work all the time This recognition help them balance their careercommitment to a healthy mid point (not very high but not very low either)Further examination of the interactive effect of work-family conmacrict andemotional intelligence on career commitment and job satisfaction revealed thatemotional intelligence moderated only the negative inmacruence of work-family oncareer commitment Clearly this regnding should receive further investigation

Emotionalintelligence

807

but it illuminate the kind of role emotional intelligence may play in therelationship of ordfwork stressordm and work attitudes

We found a direct and signiregcant relationship between emotionalintelligence and withdrawal intentions from the organization This intensiregesthe important role that emotional intelligence may have in retaining valuableorganization members The results of this study also indicate that emotionalintelligence augments both contextual (altruistic citizenship behavior) and taskperformance Contextual performance of senior managers is valued becausethe latter oftentimes serves as a ordfrole modelordm and ordfcharacterordm for theorganizationrsquos members to follow This process may have a positive effect onthe organization since organizational citizenship behavior has the potential forexample to enhance co-worker and managerial productivity freeing themanagement from work-related problems so that it can deal with moreproductive tasks and enhancing the sustainability of the organizationrsquosperformance In addition the regnding that emotionally intelligent seniormanagers perform better on the job provides clear evidence to the questionasked by Cherniss (2000) regarding ordfhow important it (emotional intelligence)is for effective performance at workordm and is consistent with Cavallo andBrienzarsquos regndings of a ordfstrong relationship between superior performingleaders and emotional competenceordm

Limitation and directions for future researchSeveral limitations constrain the interpretation and application of the studyrsquosregndings The aim of this study to explore the role of emotional intelligenceamong senior managers is also a weakness because it has not includednon-managerial employees Future studies may be beneregted from anexploration of a wider range of employees at different organizational levelsOne should also be cautious while generalizing the results of this study to othercultures or sectors Prospective research should be directed to exploredifferences among for-proregt governmental and not-for-proregt organizations

Validated and usable measures were employed to reduce the possibility ofbias in general method variance and data was collected from a large number oforganizational units to allow for better external validity and increasedgenerality of the results (Cook and Campbell 1979) Still the reader is cautionedto recognize the limitations of relying on self-reported data This may carry abias of general method variance As can be seen results of hierarchicalregressions provided a relatively small proportion of the explained variance ofthe dependent variables We also compared subjective-reported data toobjective data on organizational size and the comparison yielded no differenceAnd as Xie (1996) indicated there is no theoretical foundation to expect thatinteractions are associated with common method variance Future studies maybeneregt from a longitudinal research design One however must recognize thatcollecting data from a large number of organizations is problematic Finally

JMP188

808

this study used a relatively new measure of emotional intelligence and thoughstudies reported good reliability and evidence of validity it would be useful toconduct a study which compare results of this study with those used otheracceptable measures of emotional intelligence

Note

1 When this study was conducted the MSCEIT instrument was not available to the author

References

Abraham R (1999) ordfEmotional intelligence in organizations a conceptualizationordm GeneticSocial and General Psychology Monographs Vol 125 No 2 pp 209-24

Aiken LS and West SG (1991) Multiple Regression Testing and Interpreting InteractionsSage Newbury Park CA

Allen NJ and Meyer JP (1990) ordfThe measurement and antecedents of affective continuanceand normative commitment to the organizationordm Journal of Occupational PsychologyVol 63 pp 1-18

Allen NJ and Meyer JP (1996) ordfAffective continuance and normative commitment to theorganization an examination of construct validityordm Journal of Vocational Behavior Vol 49No 3 pp 252-76

Ashforth BE and Humphrey RH (1995) ordfEmotion in the workplace a reappraisalordm HumanRelations Vol 48 No 2 pp 97-125

Bar-On R (1996) The Emotional Quotient Inventory (EQ-i) A Test of Emotional IntelligenceMulti-Health Systems Toronto

Bar-On R and Parker JDA (2000) The Handbook of Emotional Intelligence TheoryDevelopment Assessment and Application at Home School and in the WorkplaceJossey-Bass San Francisco CA

Bar-On R Brown JM Kirkcaldy BD and Thome EP (2000) ordfEmotional expression andimplications for occupational stress an applicationordm Personality and IndividualDifferences Vol 28 pp 1107-18

Becker HS (1960) ordfNotes on the concept of commitmentordm American Journal of Sociology Vol 66No 1 pp 33-42

Black J and Porter L (1991) ordfManagerial behavior and job performance a successful managerin Los Angeles may not succeed in Hong Kongordm Journal of International Business StudiesVol 22 pp 99-114

Blau GJ (1985) ordfThe measurement and prediction of career commitmentordm Journal ofOccupational Psychology Vol 58 pp 277-88

Blood MR (1969) ordfWork values and job satisfactionordm Journal of Applied Psychology Vol 53pp 456-9

Boyatzis R Goleman D and Rhee K (2000) ordfClustering competence in emotional intelligenceinsights from the emotional competence inventory (ECI)ordm in Bar-On R and Parker JDA(Eds) Handbook of Emotional Intelligence Jossey-Bass San Francisco CA

Brown SP (1996) ordfA meta-analysis and review of organizational research on job involvementordmPsychological Bulletin Vol 120 No 2 pp 235-55

Carlson DS Kacmar MK and Williams LJ (2000) ordfConstruction and initial validations of amultidimensional measure of work-family conmacrictordm Journal of Vocational BehaviorVol 56 pp 249-76

Emotionalintelligence

809

Carmeli A (2002) ordfA conceptual and practical framework of measuring performance of localauthorities in regnancial terms analysing the case of Israelordm Local Government StudiesVol 28 No 1 pp 21-36

Cherniss C (2000) ordfordfEmotional intelligence what it is and why it mattersordm paper presented atthe Annual Meeting of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology NewOrleans LA April p 15

Ciarrochi J Chan AYC and Bajgar J (2001) ordfMeasuring emotional intelligence inadolescentsordm Personality and Individual Differences Vol 31 pp 1105-19

Ciarrochi J Chan AYC and Caputi P (2000) ordfA critical evaluation of the emotionalintelligence constructordm Personality and Individual Differences Vol 28 pp 539-61

Cohen J and Cohen P (1983) Applied Multiple RegressionCorrelation Analysis for theBehavioral Sciences Lawrence Erlbaum Hillsdale NJ

Cook TD and Campbell TD (1979) Quasi-Experimentation Design and Analytical Issues forField Settings Rand-McNally Chicago IL

Cooper RK and Sawaf A (1997) Executive EQ Emotional Intelligence in Leadership andOrganizations GrossetPutnam New York NY

Davies M Stankov L and Roberts R (1998) ordfEmotional intelligence in search of an elusiveconstructordm Journal of Personality and Social Psychology Vol 75 pp 989-1015

Dulewicz V and Higgs MJ (1999) Usersrsquo Guide for the Emotional Intelligence QuestionnaireNFER-Nelson Windsor

Dulewicz V and Higgs MJ (2000) ordfEmotional intelligence a review and evaluation studyordmJournal of Managerial Psychology Vol 15 No 4 pp 341-72

Finkelstein S and Hambrick D (1996) Strategic Leadership Top Executives and Their Effectson Organizations West Publishing Company St Paul MN

Furnham A (1990) The Protestant Work Ethic The Psychology of Work-Related Beliefs andBehaviors Routledge New York NY

GardnerH (1983) Frames of Mind The Theory of Multiple Intelligences Basic Books New YorkNY

George JM (2000) ordfEmotions and leadership the role of emotional intelligenceordm HumanRelations Vol 53 No 8 pp 1027-55

Goleman D (1995) Emotional Intelligence Why It Can Matter More than IQ Bantam BooksNew York NY

Goleman D (1998) Working with Emotional Intelligence Bantam Books New York NY

Goleman D (2001) ordfAn EI-based theory of performanceordm in Cherniss C and Goleman D (Eds)The Emotionally Intelligent Workplace How to Select for Measure and Improve EmotionalIntelligence in Individuals Groups and Organizations Jossey-Bass San Francisco CApp 27-44

Grandey AA (2000) ordfEmotion regulation in the workplace a new way to conceptualizeemotional laborordm Journal of Occupational Health Psychology Vol 5 No 1 pp 95-110

Greenhaus JH and Beutell NJ (1985) ordfSources of conmacrict between work and family rolesordmAcademy of Management Review Vol 10 No 1 pp 76-88

Griffeth RW Hom PW and Gaertner S (2000) ordfA meta-analysis of antecedents and correlatesof employee turnover update moderator test and research implications for the nextmillenniumordm Journal of Management Vol 26 No 3 pp 463-88

Hambrick DC and Mason PA (1984) ordfUpper echelons the organization as a remacrection of itstop managementordm Academy of Management Review Vol 9 pp 193-206

JMP188

810

states and although they may experience negative affective states at timesthese do not have signiregcant destructive consequences Being in positiveaffective states is of importance in the sense of not becoming despondent in theface of daily and even more profound obstacles occurring in organizational lifeRather the individuals are likely to see the positive side of things and use theiremotions for example to enhance persistence at challenging times andfacilitate creativity for resolving difregculties To a certain degree emotionallyintelligent individuals perceive themselves as part of the solution As suchthey feel a high level of identiregcation and are less likely to develop withdrawalintentions This is especially true for senior managers who must deal with theirown difregculties as well as those of others Those with high emotionalintelligence will be inclined to stay and deal with difregculties in adaptive waysThis however is not to say that emotionally intelligent individuals do not facedifregculties when encountering job stress and changes in their job and careerrather they have more and better capabilities than low emotionally individualsto cope with it and thus are likely develop lower withdrawal intentions Thefollowing hypothesis is suggested

H7 There is a negative relationship between emotional intelligence andwithdrawal intentions of senior managers from the organization

Emotional intelligence and job performance Evidence supports a positive effectof emotional intelligence on the success of the individual at work (for a reviewsee Goleman 2001) This is of particularly importance if we believe thatordfmanagement skills lie at the heart of leadershipordm (Whetten and Cameron 2001p 15) and speciregcally recognize the need to develop and acquire skills formanaging people and that emotional intelligence may have a critical role in thecreation of effective leadership A notable study conducted by George (2000)showed how the aspects of emotional intelligence - appraisal and expressionof emotions use of emotion to enhance cognitive processing and decisionmaking knowledge about emotions and management of emotions - contributeto effective leadership For the purpose of this study it is important to note thatalthough it is theoretically signiregcant to show how each aspect affectsperformance it is more accurate to recognize that skills come in groups andclusters and that they support one another (Goleman 2001) The concept ofemotional intelligence seems to encompass this ordfcritical massordm of skills(Boyatzis et al 2000 Goleman 2001) The following hypothesis is suggested

H8 There is a positive relationship between emotional intelligence and jobperformance of senior managers

The moderator role of emotional intelligenceThe literature suggests that the negative effect of work-family conmacrict on workattitudes may be moderated by several variables (see for example Martins

Emotionalintelligence

797

et al 2002) In this study emotional intelligence is expected to moderate therelationship between work-family conmacrict and job satisfaction and therelationship between work-family conmacrict and career commitment

Family interference with work may have some negative consequences on theextent which an employee will be satisreged with her work and committed to hercareer However emotionally intelligent individuals are likely to have the abilityto control for such interferences or at least moderate them to an acceptable levelOn the basis of this logic the following hypotheses are suggested

H9 Emotional intelligence will moderate the relationship betweenwork-family conmacrict and job satisfaction of senior managersSpeciregcally there will be more negative relationship betweenwork-family conmacrict and job satisfaction for senior managers whoare low on emotional intelligence than for those who are high onemotional intelligence

H10 Emotional intelligence will moderate the relationship betweenwork-family conmacrict and career commitment of senior managersSpeciregcally for low emotionally intelligent senior managers there willbe a strong positive relationship between work-conmacrict family andcareer commitment and for highly emotional intelligent seniormanagers there will be a moderate negative relationship betweenwork-conmacrict family and career commitment

MethodologyRespondents and data collectionThe population of this study was senior managers employed as chief regnancialofregcers in the local government authorities in Israel A direct-mailquestionnaire was sent to 262 senior managers The questionnaire wasmailed from and returned to a university address using a self-addressed replyenvelope Ninety-eight usable questionnaires were returned The respondentsrsquoaverage age was 466 years (SD 924) 11 were women and 794 percent held atleast bachelorrsquos degree Their average tenure in their present organization was1147 (SD 913) The average income of the respondents was 256 (SD 054)(1 = up to 10000 New Israeli Shekel (NIS) 2 = 10001 to 20000 and 3 = 20001and above) Note that annual average value of US$ 1 and 1 Euro in 2001 was4205 NIS and 37644 NIS respectively The average size of the organizations(measured by the number of permanent residents for which the organization isresponsible to provide services see Carmeli 2002) was 24729 (SD 5425937)

Dependent variablesWork outcomes Job performance and withdrawal intentions from theorganization were used to assess employeersquos work outcomes

JMP188

798

(1) Job performance This measure was evaluated by a scale developed byPearce and Porter (1986) and used by Black and Porter (1991) andHochwarter et al (1999) This measure contains regve items (overallperformance ability to get along with others completing tasks on timequality of performance and achievement of work goals) that wereassessed on a seven-point scale (ranging from 1 = strongly disagree to7 = strongly agree) Although such difregculties as self-enhancement andobjectivity and reliability may be encountered Mabe and West (1982)showed that self-evaluation measures were more valid than pointed outin prior research (Hochwarter et al (1999) The Cronbachrsquos alpha for thisscale was 087

(2) Withdrawal intentions from the organization This measure was drawnfrom the measure examined by Mobley et al (1978) and widely used inthe literature (Michaels and Spector 1982 Miller et al 1979) It assesseswithdrawal intentions of an employee from hisher organization andconsists of three items I think a lot about leaving the organization I am actively searching for an alternative to the organization and As soon as it is possible I will leave the organization

This measure was assessed on a 5-point scale from 1 = strongly disagree to5 = strongly agree The Cronbachrsquos alpha for this scale was 090

Work behavior

(1) Altruistic behavior This variable was drawn from the multi-dimensionalscale of organizational citizenship behavior developed by Podsakoff andMacKenzie (1989) and modireged and validated by Podsakoff et al (1990)Altruistic behavior was measured using three items that were assessedon a regve-point scale ranging from 1 = strongly disagree to 5 = stronglyagree Sample items are ordfI help others who have heavy workloadsordm ordfIhelp others who have been absentordm The Cronbachrsquos alpha for this scalewas 082

Work attitudesFour work commitment forms (career commitment jobinvolvement affective commitment and continuance commitment) and jobsatisfaction were used to assess employeersquos work attitudes In additionwork-family conmacrict was examined as follows

(1) Career commitment This measure was assessed by a scale developed byBlau (1985) Sample items are ordfI like this profession too much to give itupordm and ordfI am disappointed with being a CEOordm (reverse scored) Themeasure was assessed on a regve-point scale (ranging from 1 = stronglydisagree to 5 = strongly agree) The Cronbachrsquos alpha for this scalewas 074

Emotionalintelligence

799

(2) Job involvement This measure is based on a 10-item scale developed byKanungo (1982) Sample items are ordfThe most important things thathappen to me involve my present jobordm and ordfMost of my personal lifegoals are job-orientedordm The measure was assessed on a seven-pointscale ranging from 1 = strongly disagree to 7 = strongly agree TheCronbachrsquos alpha for this scale was 082

(3) Affective organizational commitmentThis measure is based on the scaledeveloped and validated by Allen and Meyer (1990) Sample items are ordfIreally feel as if this organizationrsquos problems are my ownordm and ordfI do not feellike ordfpart of the familyordm at my organizationordm (reversed item) The measurewas assessed on a seven-point scale (ranging from 1 = strongly disagreeto 7 = strongly agree) The Cronbachrsquos alpha for this scale was 073

(4) Continuance organizational commitmentThis measure is based on thescale developed and validated by Allen and Meyer (1990) Sample itemsare ordfRight now staying with my organization is a matter of necessity asmuch as desireordm and ordfToo much in my life would be disrupted if Idecided I wanted to leave my organization nowordm The measure wasassessed on a seven-point scale (ranging from 1 = strongly disagree to7 = strongly agree) The Cronbachrsquos alpha for this scale was 082

(5) Job satisfaction This measure was estimated by a 6-items scaleemployed by Tsui et al (1992) Sample items are ordfHow satisreged are youwith the nature of the work you performordm and ordfConsidering everythinghow satisreged are you with your current job situationordm The measure wasassessed on a regve-point scale (ranging from 1 = very dissatisreged to5 = very satisreged) The Cronbachrsquos alpha for this scale was 068

(6) Work-family conmacrict This measure was based on a measure developedand validated by Carlson et al 2000) Since this study examines the role ofemotional intelligence in the workplace we concentrated on familyinterference with work exploring a combination of three forms ofwork-family conmacrict (time strain and behavior) which consisted of threeitems each Sample items are ordfThe time I spend on family responsibilitiesoften interferes with my work responsibilitiesordm (time-based familyinterference) ordfDue to stress at home I am often preoccupied with familymatters at workordm (strain-based family interference) ordfThe behaviors thatwork for me at home do not seem to be effective at workordm (behavior-basedfamily interference) All items were ranged from 1 = strongly disagree to5 = strongly agree (5 = presents high conmacrict) The nine items wereloaded onto a single factor The Cronbachrsquos alpha for this scale was 079

Independentmoderator variableEmotional intelligence Over the years considerable research effort resulted invarious instruments for measuring emotional intelligence (EQi of Bar-On 1996

JMP188

800

Executive EQ of Cooper and Sawaf 1997 EIQ Dulewicz and Higgs 1999MSCEIT of Mayer et al 2000 ECI of Boyatzis and Goleman 1998)

In this study emotional intelligence was measured with the self-reportmeasure of emotional intelligence developed by Schutte et al (1998) for severalreasons First this measure is based on the framework of emotional intelligencedeveloped by Salovey and Mayer 1989-1990 and later formulated (Mayer andSalovey 1997)[1] Second previous study found some limitations in earlyself-report measures of emotional intelligence such as insufregcient reliabilityand connections with personality factors (Davies et al 1998) Third studiesthat evaluated the measure of Schutte and her colleagues (1998) in both adultand adolescents population indicate that this measure seems to overcome theobserved difregculties in other measures of emotional intelligence (Ciarrochi et al2000 Ciarrochi et al 2001) Finally in macro level studies self report measureof emotional intelligence which is brief validated and based on a cohesive andcomprehensive model of emotional intelligence (Salovey and Mayer 1989-1990Mayer and Salovey 1997) is very useful

The measure used in this study consists of 33 items Sample items are ordfIknow when to speak about my personal problems to othersordm and ordfI am awareof my emotions as I experience themordm (appraisal and expression of emotion) ordfIpresent myself in a way that makes a good impression on othersordm and I havecontrol over my emotionsordm (regulation of emotion) ordfwhen I feel a change inemotions I tend to come up with new ideasordm and I use good moods to helpmyself keep trying in the face of obstaclesordm (utilization) All items were rangedfrom 1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree The Cronbachrsquos alpha forthis scale was 090

Control variablesWe control for

(1) Organizational size Measured by the number of permanent residents forwhich the organization is responsible for provision of services (Carmeli2002)

(2) Tenure in the organization Measured by the number of years therespondent is employed in the current organization

(3) Gross income (1 = up to 10000 NIS New Israeli Shekel 2 = 10001 to20000 NIS 3 = 20001 to 30000 NIS 4 = 30001 to 40000 NIS and4 = above 40000 NIS)

(4) Respondentsrsquo age

Because the vast majority of the respondents were male differences betweenmale and female respondents could not be established

Data analysisTo assess the relationship between emotional intelligence and work attitudesbehavior and outcomes we performed a series of separate hierarchical

Emotionalintelligence

801

regression analyses Each model had two steps The regrst step involvedentering the control variables and the second step involved entering theindependent variable

To examine the interaction hypotheses the variables were entered into theregression equations in three steps The control variables were entered in theregrst step In the second step we entered the ordfmain effectsordm (work-familyconmacrict and emotional intelligence) Finally the work-family conmacrict Xemotional intelligence product term variable was entered in the third step Bothvariables were mean-centered as is suggested for variables that are to beconstituents of product terms (Aiken and West 1991)

ResultsTable I reports the means standard deviations and correlation coefregcients ofvariables used in the analysis Though several variables are related Table Iindicates no severe problems of multicolinearity as none of the related variablesexceeded the value of 060 Furthermore we performed separate hierarchicalregressions for the effect of emotional intelligence on each one of the dependentvariables Table I also provides a preliminary support for the signiregcantrelationships between emotional intelligence and work attitudes workbehavior and work outcomes

Table II presents the results of hierarchical regression Emotionalintelligence was positively and signiregcantly related to job satisfaction(b = 032 p 001) supporting H1 This regnding is consistent with theargument according to which emotionally intelligent individuals are likely todisplay higher overall satisfaction in the workplace

Supporting H2a we provide evidence that when senior managers have highemotional intelligence they tend to develop high affective commitment(emotional attachment) to the organization for which they work (b = 023p 005) H2b on the other hand was not supported as the relationshipbetween emotional intelligence and continuance commitment was notsigniregcant (b = 2 012 p = ns) The beta coefregcient though not statisticallysigniregcant was in the expected direction

We found support for H3 Emotionally intelligent senior managers develophigh commitment toward their career (b = 034 p 0001) However contraryto H4 emotional intelligence was statistically unrelated to job involvement Itmay be that the involvement of senior managers is more complex than weassumed and is affected by other important factors not examined here Thoughno prediction was made we found that job involvement was signiregcantlyrelated to tenure in the organization (b = 020 p 010) as well as to grossincome (b = 025 p 005)

The results support H5 stating that senior managers who have highemotional intelligence are more likely to effectively control work-family conmacrict(b = 2 031 p 001) Compared to low and middle-level position employees

JMP188

802

Mea

ns

d

12

34

56

78

910

1112

13

Job

per

form

ance

561

078

100

Wit

hdra

wal

inte

nti

ons

from

an

organ

izat

ion

218

094

20

18

Alt

ruis

tic

beh

avio

r3

780

630

32

0

11

Car

eer

com

mit

men

t3

590

600

22

20

47

0

07

Job

invol

vem

ent

440

089

003

20

130

160

24

Aff

ecti

ve

com

mit

men

t4

730

880

31

20

39

0

160

42

0

48

Con

tinuan

ce

com

mit

men

t3

871

172

030

2

005

20

28

20

100

022

007

Job

sati

sfac

tion

374

051

045

2

038

031

0

39

0

27

055

2

029

Wor

k-f

amily

conmacr

ict

212

049

20

190

042

015

20

152

001

20

190

34

2

011

Em

otio

nal

inte

llig

ence

371

037

032

2

020

0

38

0

38

0

140

24

20

070

27

20

27

Org

aniz

atio

nal

size

247

2954

259

20

012

001

20

010

050

21

011

005

008

021

2

007

Ten

ure

in

organ

izat

ion

114

79

130

022

024

0

120

21

017

006

005

004

010

20

050

03

Age

466

39

242

001

20

190

030

120

31

021

0

150

170

150

100

170

43

Inco

me

256

054

014

20

020

26

006

031

0

172

010

022

2

011

001

016

013

025

Note

saT

wo-

tailed

test

s

p

005

p

001

p

0

001

Table IMeans standard

deviations andcorrelationsa

Emotionalintelligence

803

Job

per

form

Wit

hdrw

l

inte

nt

Alt

ruis

tic

beh

avio

r

Car

eer

com

mit

Job

invol

ve

Aff

ecti

ve

com

mit

Con

tin

com

mit

Job

sati

sfac

tion

Wor

k

fam

ily

conmacr

ict

b(t)

b(t

)b

(t)

b(t)

b(t

)b

(t)

b(t)

b(t)

b(t

)

Ste

p1

Org

aniz

a-

tion

alsi

ze0

00(0

01)

20

01(0

93)

001

(00

7)0

07(0

73)

015

(14

7)0

09(0

83)

005

(04

3)0

06(0

56)

019

(19

3)

Ten

ure

in

organ

iza-

tion

al2

009

(20

75)

20

10(2

087

)2

009

(20

87)

20

03(2

023

)0

20(1

76

)0

15(1

24)

019

(15

8)0

12(1

06)

018

(16

2)

Inco

me

016

(15

4)0

03(0

31)

018

(19

1)

005

(04

5)0

25(2

43

)

011

(10

8)2

016

(21

48)

013

(12

1)2

016

(21

59)

Age

006

(05

8)2

022

(21

94)

008

(08

7)0

27(2

53

)

006

(05

7)0

00(2

004

)0

00(0

00)

20

04(2

036

)2

003

(20

29)

R2

003

80

068

005

50

082

019

30

064

005

10

058

009

3

Ste

p2

Em

otio

nal

inte

llig

ence

032

(30

8)

20

20(2

193

)

054

(60

3)

034

(34

4)

004

(04

5)0

23(2

21

)

20

12(2

111

)0

32(3

12

)2

031

(23

20 )

DR

20

090

039

028

60

113

000

20

050

001

40

098

009

6

Ffo

rD

R2

949

371

36

41

118

3

019

487

123

970

991

R2

for

tota

l

equat

ion

013

50

107

034

10

195

019

50

114

006

50

155

018

9

Note

s

p

010

p

005

p

001

p

000

1

Table IIResults of hierarchicalregression analysis theinmacruence of emotionalintelligence on workattitudes behavior andoutcomes

JMP188

804

senior managers may encounter a higher level of job demands that result inwork-family conmacrict The results indicate that senior managers who have highemotional intelligence may better and more carefully handle the inherentwork-family conmacrict than those who have low emotional intelligence

H6 which states that emotionally intelligent senior managers will displayhigher levels of altruistic behavior was strongly supported (b = 054p 0001) In addition H7 which states that emotional intelligence will benegatively related to withdrawal intentions from the organization and H8which states that emotionally intelligent senior managers will perform the jobbetter than senior managers with low emotional intelligence were supported(b = 2 020 p 010 b = 032 p 001 respectively) These results indicatethat emotional intelligence is an important predictor of both contextualperformance and task performance Note however that H9 which states thatthe higher a senior manager is on emotional intelligence the weaker will be thenegative effect of work-family conmacrict on job satisfaction was not supported(see Table III) The interactive effect of work-family conmacrict and emotionalintelligence on job satisfaction was not signiregcant (b = 003 p = ns)

H10 postulated that the higher a senior manager is on emotionalintelligence the weaker will be the negative effect of work-family conmacrict oncareer commitment The interactive effect of work-family conmacrict andemotional intelligence on career commitment was signiregcant at the 005 level(see Table III) and explained an additional 34 percent of explained variance inthe career commitment

In accordance with convention for plotting interactions (Aiken and West1991 Cohen and Cohen 1983) the cut values for the high and low states on themoderator variable (emotional intelligence) were plus and minus one standarddeviation from the mean Figure 1 presents the interaction of work-familyconmacrict and emotional intelligence in predicting career commitment As shown

Job satisfaction Career commitmentb R 2 DR 2 b R 2 DR 2

Step 1Organizational size 003 004Tenure in organization 014 002Income 016 002

Age 2 005 0058 0058 020 0048 0048Step 2Work-family conmacrict (WF) 2 005 2 009Emotional intelligence (EI) 030 0157 0097 037 0205 0156

Step 3EI pound WF 003 0158 0001 021 0239 0034

Notes p 010 p 005 p 001 p 0001

Table IIIResults of the

moderating role ofemotional intelligence

(EI)

Emotionalintelligence

805

in Figure 1 the interaction of emotional intelligence with work-family conmacrictaffects both the strength and direction of this relationship For senior managerswho are low on emotional intelligence there is a strong positive relationshipand for those who are high on emotional intelligence there is a moderatenegative relationship That is when senior managers with low emotionalintelligence experience high work-family conmacrict they manage to maintainhigh career commitment When highly emotionally intelligent senior managersexperience high work-conmacrict they reduce their career commitment to a morereasonable level to deal with work-family conmacrict

DiscussionThe major goal of this study was to examine the extent to which a criticalcomponent of managerial skills - emotional intelligence - augments positivework attitudes and the contextual and task performance of senior managersemployed in a public sector setting This study advances the literaturepertaining to emotional intelligence by empirically demonstrating theimportance of emotional intelligence for developing positive work-relatedattitudes and contextual and task performance

These regndings are especially of importance for organizations whichrecognize the critical role the top management team plays in their success (seeFinkelstein and Hambrick 1996 Hambrick and Mason 1984) Theeffectiveness of the top management team is a function inter alia of themanagement skills (Whetten and Cameron 2001) possessed by the seniormanagers from which it is comprised Skills of managing people are of uniqueimportance for the creation of effective management and leadership andemotional intelligence as ordfthe subset of social intelligenceordm (Salovey and Mayer1989-1990) may be the most critical component of this class of skills Hencehaving senior executives with high emotional intelligence is a necessity forattaining sustainable results

This study went beyond the simple premise of the importance of emotionalintelligence to demonstrate the extent to which the latter augments favorableattitudes and outcomes The results indicate for example that emotionallyintelligent senior managers develop emotional attachment to their

Figure 1Interaction betweenemotional intelligence(EI) and work-familyconmacrict (WF) predictingcareer commitment (CC)

JMP188

806

organizations and are also more committed to their career In addition regndingsalso indicate that emotionally intelligent senior managers tend to be moresatisreged with their work Retaining talented and knowledgeable seniormanagers becomes a major concern for many organizations Selecting seniormanagers who have high emotional intelligence may have a positive impact onthe extent to which an organization succeeds in retaining its most criticalworkforce Research regndings revealed that occupational commitment (Lee et al2000) and organizational commitment (Mathieu and Zajac 1990) aresigniregcantly related to withdrawal intentions and that job satisfaction andorganizational commitment are by far the main predictors of turnover (Griffethet al 2000) Interestingly however emotional intelligence was not signiregcantlyassociated with job involvement It may be that senior managers exhibit highinvolvement in their jobs because of the role itself which demands much timeand effort Another possible explanation is manifested by the relationshipbetween income and job involvement (b = 025 p 005) suggesting thateconomic factors inmacruence the subjective felt of job involvement Emotionalintelligence may help an individual to better handle demanding managerialwork Nevertheless we are still in need of further investigation regarding thefactors that foster an individualrsquos high level of involvement in her job (Brown1996)

Another important relationship examined in this study is the relationshipbetween emotional intelligence and work-family conmacrict Work-family policiesadopted and implemented by an organization may not provide the wholesolution especially with respect to family interference with work simplybecause employees have some responsibility in determining their own familybalance The results of this study advance the literature by indicating thatemotionally intelligent employees may better handle this conmacrict Anintegration of work-family programs and an emotionally intelligentworkforce can better attain the desired balance This study indicates thatcompared to emotionally intelligent senior managers low-emotionallyintelligent senior managers are not less able to be sensitive enough toacknowledge how work is affected by family matters and thus feel no need toreduce their career commitment Senior managers who are high on emotionalintelligence recognize having important responsibilities at work and at thesame time realize that they may neglect their family and their needs In otherwords they are equally sensitive to what they feel when they are consumedwith my work all the time This recognition help them balance their careercommitment to a healthy mid point (not very high but not very low either)Further examination of the interactive effect of work-family conmacrict andemotional intelligence on career commitment and job satisfaction revealed thatemotional intelligence moderated only the negative inmacruence of work-family oncareer commitment Clearly this regnding should receive further investigation

Emotionalintelligence

807

but it illuminate the kind of role emotional intelligence may play in therelationship of ordfwork stressordm and work attitudes

We found a direct and signiregcant relationship between emotionalintelligence and withdrawal intentions from the organization This intensiregesthe important role that emotional intelligence may have in retaining valuableorganization members The results of this study also indicate that emotionalintelligence augments both contextual (altruistic citizenship behavior) and taskperformance Contextual performance of senior managers is valued becausethe latter oftentimes serves as a ordfrole modelordm and ordfcharacterordm for theorganizationrsquos members to follow This process may have a positive effect onthe organization since organizational citizenship behavior has the potential forexample to enhance co-worker and managerial productivity freeing themanagement from work-related problems so that it can deal with moreproductive tasks and enhancing the sustainability of the organizationrsquosperformance In addition the regnding that emotionally intelligent seniormanagers perform better on the job provides clear evidence to the questionasked by Cherniss (2000) regarding ordfhow important it (emotional intelligence)is for effective performance at workordm and is consistent with Cavallo andBrienzarsquos regndings of a ordfstrong relationship between superior performingleaders and emotional competenceordm

Limitation and directions for future researchSeveral limitations constrain the interpretation and application of the studyrsquosregndings The aim of this study to explore the role of emotional intelligenceamong senior managers is also a weakness because it has not includednon-managerial employees Future studies may be beneregted from anexploration of a wider range of employees at different organizational levelsOne should also be cautious while generalizing the results of this study to othercultures or sectors Prospective research should be directed to exploredifferences among for-proregt governmental and not-for-proregt organizations

Validated and usable measures were employed to reduce the possibility ofbias in general method variance and data was collected from a large number oforganizational units to allow for better external validity and increasedgenerality of the results (Cook and Campbell 1979) Still the reader is cautionedto recognize the limitations of relying on self-reported data This may carry abias of general method variance As can be seen results of hierarchicalregressions provided a relatively small proportion of the explained variance ofthe dependent variables We also compared subjective-reported data toobjective data on organizational size and the comparison yielded no differenceAnd as Xie (1996) indicated there is no theoretical foundation to expect thatinteractions are associated with common method variance Future studies maybeneregt from a longitudinal research design One however must recognize thatcollecting data from a large number of organizations is problematic Finally

JMP188

808

this study used a relatively new measure of emotional intelligence and thoughstudies reported good reliability and evidence of validity it would be useful toconduct a study which compare results of this study with those used otheracceptable measures of emotional intelligence

Note

1 When this study was conducted the MSCEIT instrument was not available to the author

References

Abraham R (1999) ordfEmotional intelligence in organizations a conceptualizationordm GeneticSocial and General Psychology Monographs Vol 125 No 2 pp 209-24

Aiken LS and West SG (1991) Multiple Regression Testing and Interpreting InteractionsSage Newbury Park CA

Allen NJ and Meyer JP (1990) ordfThe measurement and antecedents of affective continuanceand normative commitment to the organizationordm Journal of Occupational PsychologyVol 63 pp 1-18

Allen NJ and Meyer JP (1996) ordfAffective continuance and normative commitment to theorganization an examination of construct validityordm Journal of Vocational Behavior Vol 49No 3 pp 252-76

Ashforth BE and Humphrey RH (1995) ordfEmotion in the workplace a reappraisalordm HumanRelations Vol 48 No 2 pp 97-125

Bar-On R (1996) The Emotional Quotient Inventory (EQ-i) A Test of Emotional IntelligenceMulti-Health Systems Toronto

Bar-On R and Parker JDA (2000) The Handbook of Emotional Intelligence TheoryDevelopment Assessment and Application at Home School and in the WorkplaceJossey-Bass San Francisco CA

Bar-On R Brown JM Kirkcaldy BD and Thome EP (2000) ordfEmotional expression andimplications for occupational stress an applicationordm Personality and IndividualDifferences Vol 28 pp 1107-18

Becker HS (1960) ordfNotes on the concept of commitmentordm American Journal of Sociology Vol 66No 1 pp 33-42

Black J and Porter L (1991) ordfManagerial behavior and job performance a successful managerin Los Angeles may not succeed in Hong Kongordm Journal of International Business StudiesVol 22 pp 99-114

Blau GJ (1985) ordfThe measurement and prediction of career commitmentordm Journal ofOccupational Psychology Vol 58 pp 277-88

Blood MR (1969) ordfWork values and job satisfactionordm Journal of Applied Psychology Vol 53pp 456-9

Boyatzis R Goleman D and Rhee K (2000) ordfClustering competence in emotional intelligenceinsights from the emotional competence inventory (ECI)ordm in Bar-On R and Parker JDA(Eds) Handbook of Emotional Intelligence Jossey-Bass San Francisco CA

Brown SP (1996) ordfA meta-analysis and review of organizational research on job involvementordmPsychological Bulletin Vol 120 No 2 pp 235-55

Carlson DS Kacmar MK and Williams LJ (2000) ordfConstruction and initial validations of amultidimensional measure of work-family conmacrictordm Journal of Vocational BehaviorVol 56 pp 249-76

Emotionalintelligence

809

Carmeli A (2002) ordfA conceptual and practical framework of measuring performance of localauthorities in regnancial terms analysing the case of Israelordm Local Government StudiesVol 28 No 1 pp 21-36

Cherniss C (2000) ordfordfEmotional intelligence what it is and why it mattersordm paper presented atthe Annual Meeting of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology NewOrleans LA April p 15

Ciarrochi J Chan AYC and Bajgar J (2001) ordfMeasuring emotional intelligence inadolescentsordm Personality and Individual Differences Vol 31 pp 1105-19

Ciarrochi J Chan AYC and Caputi P (2000) ordfA critical evaluation of the emotionalintelligence constructordm Personality and Individual Differences Vol 28 pp 539-61

Cohen J and Cohen P (1983) Applied Multiple RegressionCorrelation Analysis for theBehavioral Sciences Lawrence Erlbaum Hillsdale NJ

Cook TD and Campbell TD (1979) Quasi-Experimentation Design and Analytical Issues forField Settings Rand-McNally Chicago IL

Cooper RK and Sawaf A (1997) Executive EQ Emotional Intelligence in Leadership andOrganizations GrossetPutnam New York NY

Davies M Stankov L and Roberts R (1998) ordfEmotional intelligence in search of an elusiveconstructordm Journal of Personality and Social Psychology Vol 75 pp 989-1015

Dulewicz V and Higgs MJ (1999) Usersrsquo Guide for the Emotional Intelligence QuestionnaireNFER-Nelson Windsor

Dulewicz V and Higgs MJ (2000) ordfEmotional intelligence a review and evaluation studyordmJournal of Managerial Psychology Vol 15 No 4 pp 341-72

Finkelstein S and Hambrick D (1996) Strategic Leadership Top Executives and Their Effectson Organizations West Publishing Company St Paul MN

Furnham A (1990) The Protestant Work Ethic The Psychology of Work-Related Beliefs andBehaviors Routledge New York NY

GardnerH (1983) Frames of Mind The Theory of Multiple Intelligences Basic Books New YorkNY

George JM (2000) ordfEmotions and leadership the role of emotional intelligenceordm HumanRelations Vol 53 No 8 pp 1027-55

Goleman D (1995) Emotional Intelligence Why It Can Matter More than IQ Bantam BooksNew York NY

Goleman D (1998) Working with Emotional Intelligence Bantam Books New York NY

Goleman D (2001) ordfAn EI-based theory of performanceordm in Cherniss C and Goleman D (Eds)The Emotionally Intelligent Workplace How to Select for Measure and Improve EmotionalIntelligence in Individuals Groups and Organizations Jossey-Bass San Francisco CApp 27-44

Grandey AA (2000) ordfEmotion regulation in the workplace a new way to conceptualizeemotional laborordm Journal of Occupational Health Psychology Vol 5 No 1 pp 95-110

Greenhaus JH and Beutell NJ (1985) ordfSources of conmacrict between work and family rolesordmAcademy of Management Review Vol 10 No 1 pp 76-88

Griffeth RW Hom PW and Gaertner S (2000) ordfA meta-analysis of antecedents and correlatesof employee turnover update moderator test and research implications for the nextmillenniumordm Journal of Management Vol 26 No 3 pp 463-88

Hambrick DC and Mason PA (1984) ordfUpper echelons the organization as a remacrection of itstop managementordm Academy of Management Review Vol 9 pp 193-206

JMP188

810

et al 2002) In this study emotional intelligence is expected to moderate therelationship between work-family conmacrict and job satisfaction and therelationship between work-family conmacrict and career commitment

Family interference with work may have some negative consequences on theextent which an employee will be satisreged with her work and committed to hercareer However emotionally intelligent individuals are likely to have the abilityto control for such interferences or at least moderate them to an acceptable levelOn the basis of this logic the following hypotheses are suggested

H9 Emotional intelligence will moderate the relationship betweenwork-family conmacrict and job satisfaction of senior managersSpeciregcally there will be more negative relationship betweenwork-family conmacrict and job satisfaction for senior managers whoare low on emotional intelligence than for those who are high onemotional intelligence

H10 Emotional intelligence will moderate the relationship betweenwork-family conmacrict and career commitment of senior managersSpeciregcally for low emotionally intelligent senior managers there willbe a strong positive relationship between work-conmacrict family andcareer commitment and for highly emotional intelligent seniormanagers there will be a moderate negative relationship betweenwork-conmacrict family and career commitment

MethodologyRespondents and data collectionThe population of this study was senior managers employed as chief regnancialofregcers in the local government authorities in Israel A direct-mailquestionnaire was sent to 262 senior managers The questionnaire wasmailed from and returned to a university address using a self-addressed replyenvelope Ninety-eight usable questionnaires were returned The respondentsrsquoaverage age was 466 years (SD 924) 11 were women and 794 percent held atleast bachelorrsquos degree Their average tenure in their present organization was1147 (SD 913) The average income of the respondents was 256 (SD 054)(1 = up to 10000 New Israeli Shekel (NIS) 2 = 10001 to 20000 and 3 = 20001and above) Note that annual average value of US$ 1 and 1 Euro in 2001 was4205 NIS and 37644 NIS respectively The average size of the organizations(measured by the number of permanent residents for which the organization isresponsible to provide services see Carmeli 2002) was 24729 (SD 5425937)

Dependent variablesWork outcomes Job performance and withdrawal intentions from theorganization were used to assess employeersquos work outcomes

JMP188

798

(1) Job performance This measure was evaluated by a scale developed byPearce and Porter (1986) and used by Black and Porter (1991) andHochwarter et al (1999) This measure contains regve items (overallperformance ability to get along with others completing tasks on timequality of performance and achievement of work goals) that wereassessed on a seven-point scale (ranging from 1 = strongly disagree to7 = strongly agree) Although such difregculties as self-enhancement andobjectivity and reliability may be encountered Mabe and West (1982)showed that self-evaluation measures were more valid than pointed outin prior research (Hochwarter et al (1999) The Cronbachrsquos alpha for thisscale was 087

(2) Withdrawal intentions from the organization This measure was drawnfrom the measure examined by Mobley et al (1978) and widely used inthe literature (Michaels and Spector 1982 Miller et al 1979) It assesseswithdrawal intentions of an employee from hisher organization andconsists of three items I think a lot about leaving the organization I am actively searching for an alternative to the organization and As soon as it is possible I will leave the organization

This measure was assessed on a 5-point scale from 1 = strongly disagree to5 = strongly agree The Cronbachrsquos alpha for this scale was 090

Work behavior

(1) Altruistic behavior This variable was drawn from the multi-dimensionalscale of organizational citizenship behavior developed by Podsakoff andMacKenzie (1989) and modireged and validated by Podsakoff et al (1990)Altruistic behavior was measured using three items that were assessedon a regve-point scale ranging from 1 = strongly disagree to 5 = stronglyagree Sample items are ordfI help others who have heavy workloadsordm ordfIhelp others who have been absentordm The Cronbachrsquos alpha for this scalewas 082

Work attitudesFour work commitment forms (career commitment jobinvolvement affective commitment and continuance commitment) and jobsatisfaction were used to assess employeersquos work attitudes In additionwork-family conmacrict was examined as follows

(1) Career commitment This measure was assessed by a scale developed byBlau (1985) Sample items are ordfI like this profession too much to give itupordm and ordfI am disappointed with being a CEOordm (reverse scored) Themeasure was assessed on a regve-point scale (ranging from 1 = stronglydisagree to 5 = strongly agree) The Cronbachrsquos alpha for this scalewas 074

Emotionalintelligence

799

(2) Job involvement This measure is based on a 10-item scale developed byKanungo (1982) Sample items are ordfThe most important things thathappen to me involve my present jobordm and ordfMost of my personal lifegoals are job-orientedordm The measure was assessed on a seven-pointscale ranging from 1 = strongly disagree to 7 = strongly agree TheCronbachrsquos alpha for this scale was 082

(3) Affective organizational commitmentThis measure is based on the scaledeveloped and validated by Allen and Meyer (1990) Sample items are ordfIreally feel as if this organizationrsquos problems are my ownordm and ordfI do not feellike ordfpart of the familyordm at my organizationordm (reversed item) The measurewas assessed on a seven-point scale (ranging from 1 = strongly disagreeto 7 = strongly agree) The Cronbachrsquos alpha for this scale was 073

(4) Continuance organizational commitmentThis measure is based on thescale developed and validated by Allen and Meyer (1990) Sample itemsare ordfRight now staying with my organization is a matter of necessity asmuch as desireordm and ordfToo much in my life would be disrupted if Idecided I wanted to leave my organization nowordm The measure wasassessed on a seven-point scale (ranging from 1 = strongly disagree to7 = strongly agree) The Cronbachrsquos alpha for this scale was 082

(5) Job satisfaction This measure was estimated by a 6-items scaleemployed by Tsui et al (1992) Sample items are ordfHow satisreged are youwith the nature of the work you performordm and ordfConsidering everythinghow satisreged are you with your current job situationordm The measure wasassessed on a regve-point scale (ranging from 1 = very dissatisreged to5 = very satisreged) The Cronbachrsquos alpha for this scale was 068

(6) Work-family conmacrict This measure was based on a measure developedand validated by Carlson et al 2000) Since this study examines the role ofemotional intelligence in the workplace we concentrated on familyinterference with work exploring a combination of three forms ofwork-family conmacrict (time strain and behavior) which consisted of threeitems each Sample items are ordfThe time I spend on family responsibilitiesoften interferes with my work responsibilitiesordm (time-based familyinterference) ordfDue to stress at home I am often preoccupied with familymatters at workordm (strain-based family interference) ordfThe behaviors thatwork for me at home do not seem to be effective at workordm (behavior-basedfamily interference) All items were ranged from 1 = strongly disagree to5 = strongly agree (5 = presents high conmacrict) The nine items wereloaded onto a single factor The Cronbachrsquos alpha for this scale was 079

Independentmoderator variableEmotional intelligence Over the years considerable research effort resulted invarious instruments for measuring emotional intelligence (EQi of Bar-On 1996

JMP188

800

Executive EQ of Cooper and Sawaf 1997 EIQ Dulewicz and Higgs 1999MSCEIT of Mayer et al 2000 ECI of Boyatzis and Goleman 1998)

In this study emotional intelligence was measured with the self-reportmeasure of emotional intelligence developed by Schutte et al (1998) for severalreasons First this measure is based on the framework of emotional intelligencedeveloped by Salovey and Mayer 1989-1990 and later formulated (Mayer andSalovey 1997)[1] Second previous study found some limitations in earlyself-report measures of emotional intelligence such as insufregcient reliabilityand connections with personality factors (Davies et al 1998) Third studiesthat evaluated the measure of Schutte and her colleagues (1998) in both adultand adolescents population indicate that this measure seems to overcome theobserved difregculties in other measures of emotional intelligence (Ciarrochi et al2000 Ciarrochi et al 2001) Finally in macro level studies self report measureof emotional intelligence which is brief validated and based on a cohesive andcomprehensive model of emotional intelligence (Salovey and Mayer 1989-1990Mayer and Salovey 1997) is very useful

The measure used in this study consists of 33 items Sample items are ordfIknow when to speak about my personal problems to othersordm and ordfI am awareof my emotions as I experience themordm (appraisal and expression of emotion) ordfIpresent myself in a way that makes a good impression on othersordm and I havecontrol over my emotionsordm (regulation of emotion) ordfwhen I feel a change inemotions I tend to come up with new ideasordm and I use good moods to helpmyself keep trying in the face of obstaclesordm (utilization) All items were rangedfrom 1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree The Cronbachrsquos alpha forthis scale was 090

Control variablesWe control for

(1) Organizational size Measured by the number of permanent residents forwhich the organization is responsible for provision of services (Carmeli2002)

(2) Tenure in the organization Measured by the number of years therespondent is employed in the current organization

(3) Gross income (1 = up to 10000 NIS New Israeli Shekel 2 = 10001 to20000 NIS 3 = 20001 to 30000 NIS 4 = 30001 to 40000 NIS and4 = above 40000 NIS)

(4) Respondentsrsquo age

Because the vast majority of the respondents were male differences betweenmale and female respondents could not be established

Data analysisTo assess the relationship between emotional intelligence and work attitudesbehavior and outcomes we performed a series of separate hierarchical

Emotionalintelligence

801

regression analyses Each model had two steps The regrst step involvedentering the control variables and the second step involved entering theindependent variable

To examine the interaction hypotheses the variables were entered into theregression equations in three steps The control variables were entered in theregrst step In the second step we entered the ordfmain effectsordm (work-familyconmacrict and emotional intelligence) Finally the work-family conmacrict Xemotional intelligence product term variable was entered in the third step Bothvariables were mean-centered as is suggested for variables that are to beconstituents of product terms (Aiken and West 1991)

ResultsTable I reports the means standard deviations and correlation coefregcients ofvariables used in the analysis Though several variables are related Table Iindicates no severe problems of multicolinearity as none of the related variablesexceeded the value of 060 Furthermore we performed separate hierarchicalregressions for the effect of emotional intelligence on each one of the dependentvariables Table I also provides a preliminary support for the signiregcantrelationships between emotional intelligence and work attitudes workbehavior and work outcomes

Table II presents the results of hierarchical regression Emotionalintelligence was positively and signiregcantly related to job satisfaction(b = 032 p 001) supporting H1 This regnding is consistent with theargument according to which emotionally intelligent individuals are likely todisplay higher overall satisfaction in the workplace

Supporting H2a we provide evidence that when senior managers have highemotional intelligence they tend to develop high affective commitment(emotional attachment) to the organization for which they work (b = 023p 005) H2b on the other hand was not supported as the relationshipbetween emotional intelligence and continuance commitment was notsigniregcant (b = 2 012 p = ns) The beta coefregcient though not statisticallysigniregcant was in the expected direction

We found support for H3 Emotionally intelligent senior managers develophigh commitment toward their career (b = 034 p 0001) However contraryto H4 emotional intelligence was statistically unrelated to job involvement Itmay be that the involvement of senior managers is more complex than weassumed and is affected by other important factors not examined here Thoughno prediction was made we found that job involvement was signiregcantlyrelated to tenure in the organization (b = 020 p 010) as well as to grossincome (b = 025 p 005)

The results support H5 stating that senior managers who have highemotional intelligence are more likely to effectively control work-family conmacrict(b = 2 031 p 001) Compared to low and middle-level position employees

JMP188

802

Mea

ns

d

12

34

56

78

910

1112

13

Job

per

form

ance

561

078

100

Wit

hdra

wal

inte

nti

ons

from

an

organ

izat

ion

218

094

20

18

Alt

ruis

tic

beh

avio

r3

780

630

32

0

11

Car

eer

com

mit

men

t3

590

600

22

20

47

0

07

Job

invol

vem

ent

440

089

003

20

130

160

24

Aff

ecti

ve

com

mit

men

t4

730

880

31

20

39

0

160

42

0

48

Con

tinuan

ce

com

mit

men

t3

871

172

030

2

005

20

28

20

100

022

007

Job

sati

sfac

tion

374

051

045

2

038

031

0

39

0

27

055

2

029

Wor

k-f

amily

conmacr

ict

212

049

20

190

042

015

20

152

001

20

190

34

2

011

Em

otio

nal

inte

llig

ence

371

037

032

2

020

0

38

0

38

0

140

24

20

070

27

20

27

Org

aniz

atio

nal

size

247

2954

259

20

012

001

20

010

050

21

011

005

008

021

2

007

Ten

ure

in

organ

izat

ion

114

79

130

022

024

0

120

21

017

006

005

004

010

20

050

03

Age

466

39

242

001

20

190

030

120

31

021

0

150

170

150

100

170

43

Inco

me

256

054

014

20

020

26

006

031

0

172

010

022

2

011

001

016

013

025

Note

saT

wo-

tailed

test

s

p

005

p

001

p

0

001

Table IMeans standard

deviations andcorrelationsa

Emotionalintelligence

803

Job

per

form

Wit

hdrw

l

inte

nt

Alt

ruis

tic

beh

avio

r

Car

eer

com

mit

Job

invol

ve

Aff

ecti

ve

com

mit

Con

tin

com

mit

Job

sati

sfac

tion

Wor

k

fam

ily

conmacr

ict

b(t)

b(t

)b

(t)

b(t)

b(t

)b

(t)

b(t)

b(t)

b(t

)

Ste

p1

Org

aniz

a-

tion

alsi

ze0

00(0

01)

20

01(0

93)

001

(00

7)0

07(0

73)

015

(14

7)0

09(0

83)

005

(04

3)0

06(0

56)

019

(19

3)

Ten

ure

in

organ

iza-

tion

al2

009

(20

75)

20

10(2

087

)2

009

(20

87)

20

03(2

023

)0

20(1

76

)0

15(1

24)

019

(15

8)0

12(1

06)

018

(16

2)

Inco

me

016

(15

4)0

03(0

31)

018

(19

1)

005

(04

5)0

25(2

43

)

011

(10

8)2

016

(21

48)

013

(12

1)2

016

(21

59)

Age

006

(05

8)2

022

(21

94)

008

(08

7)0

27(2

53

)

006

(05

7)0

00(2

004

)0

00(0

00)

20

04(2

036

)2

003

(20

29)

R2

003

80

068

005

50

082

019

30

064

005

10

058

009

3

Ste

p2

Em

otio

nal

inte

llig

ence

032

(30

8)

20

20(2

193

)

054

(60

3)

034

(34

4)

004

(04

5)0

23(2

21

)

20

12(2

111

)0

32(3

12

)2

031

(23

20 )

DR

20

090

039

028

60

113

000

20

050

001

40

098

009

6

Ffo

rD

R2

949

371

36

41

118

3

019

487

123

970

991

R2

for

tota

l

equat

ion

013

50

107

034

10

195

019

50

114

006

50

155

018

9

Note

s

p

010

p

005

p

001

p

000

1

Table IIResults of hierarchicalregression analysis theinmacruence of emotionalintelligence on workattitudes behavior andoutcomes

JMP188

804

senior managers may encounter a higher level of job demands that result inwork-family conmacrict The results indicate that senior managers who have highemotional intelligence may better and more carefully handle the inherentwork-family conmacrict than those who have low emotional intelligence

H6 which states that emotionally intelligent senior managers will displayhigher levels of altruistic behavior was strongly supported (b = 054p 0001) In addition H7 which states that emotional intelligence will benegatively related to withdrawal intentions from the organization and H8which states that emotionally intelligent senior managers will perform the jobbetter than senior managers with low emotional intelligence were supported(b = 2 020 p 010 b = 032 p 001 respectively) These results indicatethat emotional intelligence is an important predictor of both contextualperformance and task performance Note however that H9 which states thatthe higher a senior manager is on emotional intelligence the weaker will be thenegative effect of work-family conmacrict on job satisfaction was not supported(see Table III) The interactive effect of work-family conmacrict and emotionalintelligence on job satisfaction was not signiregcant (b = 003 p = ns)

H10 postulated that the higher a senior manager is on emotionalintelligence the weaker will be the negative effect of work-family conmacrict oncareer commitment The interactive effect of work-family conmacrict andemotional intelligence on career commitment was signiregcant at the 005 level(see Table III) and explained an additional 34 percent of explained variance inthe career commitment

In accordance with convention for plotting interactions (Aiken and West1991 Cohen and Cohen 1983) the cut values for the high and low states on themoderator variable (emotional intelligence) were plus and minus one standarddeviation from the mean Figure 1 presents the interaction of work-familyconmacrict and emotional intelligence in predicting career commitment As shown

Job satisfaction Career commitmentb R 2 DR 2 b R 2 DR 2

Step 1Organizational size 003 004Tenure in organization 014 002Income 016 002

Age 2 005 0058 0058 020 0048 0048Step 2Work-family conmacrict (WF) 2 005 2 009Emotional intelligence (EI) 030 0157 0097 037 0205 0156

Step 3EI pound WF 003 0158 0001 021 0239 0034

Notes p 010 p 005 p 001 p 0001

Table IIIResults of the

moderating role ofemotional intelligence

(EI)

Emotionalintelligence

805

in Figure 1 the interaction of emotional intelligence with work-family conmacrictaffects both the strength and direction of this relationship For senior managerswho are low on emotional intelligence there is a strong positive relationshipand for those who are high on emotional intelligence there is a moderatenegative relationship That is when senior managers with low emotionalintelligence experience high work-family conmacrict they manage to maintainhigh career commitment When highly emotionally intelligent senior managersexperience high work-conmacrict they reduce their career commitment to a morereasonable level to deal with work-family conmacrict

DiscussionThe major goal of this study was to examine the extent to which a criticalcomponent of managerial skills - emotional intelligence - augments positivework attitudes and the contextual and task performance of senior managersemployed in a public sector setting This study advances the literaturepertaining to emotional intelligence by empirically demonstrating theimportance of emotional intelligence for developing positive work-relatedattitudes and contextual and task performance

These regndings are especially of importance for organizations whichrecognize the critical role the top management team plays in their success (seeFinkelstein and Hambrick 1996 Hambrick and Mason 1984) Theeffectiveness of the top management team is a function inter alia of themanagement skills (Whetten and Cameron 2001) possessed by the seniormanagers from which it is comprised Skills of managing people are of uniqueimportance for the creation of effective management and leadership andemotional intelligence as ordfthe subset of social intelligenceordm (Salovey and Mayer1989-1990) may be the most critical component of this class of skills Hencehaving senior executives with high emotional intelligence is a necessity forattaining sustainable results

This study went beyond the simple premise of the importance of emotionalintelligence to demonstrate the extent to which the latter augments favorableattitudes and outcomes The results indicate for example that emotionallyintelligent senior managers develop emotional attachment to their

Figure 1Interaction betweenemotional intelligence(EI) and work-familyconmacrict (WF) predictingcareer commitment (CC)

JMP188

806

organizations and are also more committed to their career In addition regndingsalso indicate that emotionally intelligent senior managers tend to be moresatisreged with their work Retaining talented and knowledgeable seniormanagers becomes a major concern for many organizations Selecting seniormanagers who have high emotional intelligence may have a positive impact onthe extent to which an organization succeeds in retaining its most criticalworkforce Research regndings revealed that occupational commitment (Lee et al2000) and organizational commitment (Mathieu and Zajac 1990) aresigniregcantly related to withdrawal intentions and that job satisfaction andorganizational commitment are by far the main predictors of turnover (Griffethet al 2000) Interestingly however emotional intelligence was not signiregcantlyassociated with job involvement It may be that senior managers exhibit highinvolvement in their jobs because of the role itself which demands much timeand effort Another possible explanation is manifested by the relationshipbetween income and job involvement (b = 025 p 005) suggesting thateconomic factors inmacruence the subjective felt of job involvement Emotionalintelligence may help an individual to better handle demanding managerialwork Nevertheless we are still in need of further investigation regarding thefactors that foster an individualrsquos high level of involvement in her job (Brown1996)

Another important relationship examined in this study is the relationshipbetween emotional intelligence and work-family conmacrict Work-family policiesadopted and implemented by an organization may not provide the wholesolution especially with respect to family interference with work simplybecause employees have some responsibility in determining their own familybalance The results of this study advance the literature by indicating thatemotionally intelligent employees may better handle this conmacrict Anintegration of work-family programs and an emotionally intelligentworkforce can better attain the desired balance This study indicates thatcompared to emotionally intelligent senior managers low-emotionallyintelligent senior managers are not less able to be sensitive enough toacknowledge how work is affected by family matters and thus feel no need toreduce their career commitment Senior managers who are high on emotionalintelligence recognize having important responsibilities at work and at thesame time realize that they may neglect their family and their needs In otherwords they are equally sensitive to what they feel when they are consumedwith my work all the time This recognition help them balance their careercommitment to a healthy mid point (not very high but not very low either)Further examination of the interactive effect of work-family conmacrict andemotional intelligence on career commitment and job satisfaction revealed thatemotional intelligence moderated only the negative inmacruence of work-family oncareer commitment Clearly this regnding should receive further investigation

Emotionalintelligence

807

but it illuminate the kind of role emotional intelligence may play in therelationship of ordfwork stressordm and work attitudes

We found a direct and signiregcant relationship between emotionalintelligence and withdrawal intentions from the organization This intensiregesthe important role that emotional intelligence may have in retaining valuableorganization members The results of this study also indicate that emotionalintelligence augments both contextual (altruistic citizenship behavior) and taskperformance Contextual performance of senior managers is valued becausethe latter oftentimes serves as a ordfrole modelordm and ordfcharacterordm for theorganizationrsquos members to follow This process may have a positive effect onthe organization since organizational citizenship behavior has the potential forexample to enhance co-worker and managerial productivity freeing themanagement from work-related problems so that it can deal with moreproductive tasks and enhancing the sustainability of the organizationrsquosperformance In addition the regnding that emotionally intelligent seniormanagers perform better on the job provides clear evidence to the questionasked by Cherniss (2000) regarding ordfhow important it (emotional intelligence)is for effective performance at workordm and is consistent with Cavallo andBrienzarsquos regndings of a ordfstrong relationship between superior performingleaders and emotional competenceordm

Limitation and directions for future researchSeveral limitations constrain the interpretation and application of the studyrsquosregndings The aim of this study to explore the role of emotional intelligenceamong senior managers is also a weakness because it has not includednon-managerial employees Future studies may be beneregted from anexploration of a wider range of employees at different organizational levelsOne should also be cautious while generalizing the results of this study to othercultures or sectors Prospective research should be directed to exploredifferences among for-proregt governmental and not-for-proregt organizations

Validated and usable measures were employed to reduce the possibility ofbias in general method variance and data was collected from a large number oforganizational units to allow for better external validity and increasedgenerality of the results (Cook and Campbell 1979) Still the reader is cautionedto recognize the limitations of relying on self-reported data This may carry abias of general method variance As can be seen results of hierarchicalregressions provided a relatively small proportion of the explained variance ofthe dependent variables We also compared subjective-reported data toobjective data on organizational size and the comparison yielded no differenceAnd as Xie (1996) indicated there is no theoretical foundation to expect thatinteractions are associated with common method variance Future studies maybeneregt from a longitudinal research design One however must recognize thatcollecting data from a large number of organizations is problematic Finally

JMP188

808

this study used a relatively new measure of emotional intelligence and thoughstudies reported good reliability and evidence of validity it would be useful toconduct a study which compare results of this study with those used otheracceptable measures of emotional intelligence

Note

1 When this study was conducted the MSCEIT instrument was not available to the author

References

Abraham R (1999) ordfEmotional intelligence in organizations a conceptualizationordm GeneticSocial and General Psychology Monographs Vol 125 No 2 pp 209-24

Aiken LS and West SG (1991) Multiple Regression Testing and Interpreting InteractionsSage Newbury Park CA

Allen NJ and Meyer JP (1990) ordfThe measurement and antecedents of affective continuanceand normative commitment to the organizationordm Journal of Occupational PsychologyVol 63 pp 1-18

Allen NJ and Meyer JP (1996) ordfAffective continuance and normative commitment to theorganization an examination of construct validityordm Journal of Vocational Behavior Vol 49No 3 pp 252-76

Ashforth BE and Humphrey RH (1995) ordfEmotion in the workplace a reappraisalordm HumanRelations Vol 48 No 2 pp 97-125

Bar-On R (1996) The Emotional Quotient Inventory (EQ-i) A Test of Emotional IntelligenceMulti-Health Systems Toronto

Bar-On R and Parker JDA (2000) The Handbook of Emotional Intelligence TheoryDevelopment Assessment and Application at Home School and in the WorkplaceJossey-Bass San Francisco CA

Bar-On R Brown JM Kirkcaldy BD and Thome EP (2000) ordfEmotional expression andimplications for occupational stress an applicationordm Personality and IndividualDifferences Vol 28 pp 1107-18

Becker HS (1960) ordfNotes on the concept of commitmentordm American Journal of Sociology Vol 66No 1 pp 33-42

Black J and Porter L (1991) ordfManagerial behavior and job performance a successful managerin Los Angeles may not succeed in Hong Kongordm Journal of International Business StudiesVol 22 pp 99-114

Blau GJ (1985) ordfThe measurement and prediction of career commitmentordm Journal ofOccupational Psychology Vol 58 pp 277-88

Blood MR (1969) ordfWork values and job satisfactionordm Journal of Applied Psychology Vol 53pp 456-9

Boyatzis R Goleman D and Rhee K (2000) ordfClustering competence in emotional intelligenceinsights from the emotional competence inventory (ECI)ordm in Bar-On R and Parker JDA(Eds) Handbook of Emotional Intelligence Jossey-Bass San Francisco CA

Brown SP (1996) ordfA meta-analysis and review of organizational research on job involvementordmPsychological Bulletin Vol 120 No 2 pp 235-55

Carlson DS Kacmar MK and Williams LJ (2000) ordfConstruction and initial validations of amultidimensional measure of work-family conmacrictordm Journal of Vocational BehaviorVol 56 pp 249-76

Emotionalintelligence

809

Carmeli A (2002) ordfA conceptual and practical framework of measuring performance of localauthorities in regnancial terms analysing the case of Israelordm Local Government StudiesVol 28 No 1 pp 21-36

Cherniss C (2000) ordfordfEmotional intelligence what it is and why it mattersordm paper presented atthe Annual Meeting of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology NewOrleans LA April p 15

Ciarrochi J Chan AYC and Bajgar J (2001) ordfMeasuring emotional intelligence inadolescentsordm Personality and Individual Differences Vol 31 pp 1105-19

Ciarrochi J Chan AYC and Caputi P (2000) ordfA critical evaluation of the emotionalintelligence constructordm Personality and Individual Differences Vol 28 pp 539-61

Cohen J and Cohen P (1983) Applied Multiple RegressionCorrelation Analysis for theBehavioral Sciences Lawrence Erlbaum Hillsdale NJ

Cook TD and Campbell TD (1979) Quasi-Experimentation Design and Analytical Issues forField Settings Rand-McNally Chicago IL

Cooper RK and Sawaf A (1997) Executive EQ Emotional Intelligence in Leadership andOrganizations GrossetPutnam New York NY

Davies M Stankov L and Roberts R (1998) ordfEmotional intelligence in search of an elusiveconstructordm Journal of Personality and Social Psychology Vol 75 pp 989-1015

Dulewicz V and Higgs MJ (1999) Usersrsquo Guide for the Emotional Intelligence QuestionnaireNFER-Nelson Windsor

Dulewicz V and Higgs MJ (2000) ordfEmotional intelligence a review and evaluation studyordmJournal of Managerial Psychology Vol 15 No 4 pp 341-72

Finkelstein S and Hambrick D (1996) Strategic Leadership Top Executives and Their Effectson Organizations West Publishing Company St Paul MN

Furnham A (1990) The Protestant Work Ethic The Psychology of Work-Related Beliefs andBehaviors Routledge New York NY

GardnerH (1983) Frames of Mind The Theory of Multiple Intelligences Basic Books New YorkNY

George JM (2000) ordfEmotions and leadership the role of emotional intelligenceordm HumanRelations Vol 53 No 8 pp 1027-55

Goleman D (1995) Emotional Intelligence Why It Can Matter More than IQ Bantam BooksNew York NY

Goleman D (1998) Working with Emotional Intelligence Bantam Books New York NY

Goleman D (2001) ordfAn EI-based theory of performanceordm in Cherniss C and Goleman D (Eds)The Emotionally Intelligent Workplace How to Select for Measure and Improve EmotionalIntelligence in Individuals Groups and Organizations Jossey-Bass San Francisco CApp 27-44

Grandey AA (2000) ordfEmotion regulation in the workplace a new way to conceptualizeemotional laborordm Journal of Occupational Health Psychology Vol 5 No 1 pp 95-110

Greenhaus JH and Beutell NJ (1985) ordfSources of conmacrict between work and family rolesordmAcademy of Management Review Vol 10 No 1 pp 76-88

Griffeth RW Hom PW and Gaertner S (2000) ordfA meta-analysis of antecedents and correlatesof employee turnover update moderator test and research implications for the nextmillenniumordm Journal of Management Vol 26 No 3 pp 463-88

Hambrick DC and Mason PA (1984) ordfUpper echelons the organization as a remacrection of itstop managementordm Academy of Management Review Vol 9 pp 193-206

JMP188

810

(1) Job performance This measure was evaluated by a scale developed byPearce and Porter (1986) and used by Black and Porter (1991) andHochwarter et al (1999) This measure contains regve items (overallperformance ability to get along with others completing tasks on timequality of performance and achievement of work goals) that wereassessed on a seven-point scale (ranging from 1 = strongly disagree to7 = strongly agree) Although such difregculties as self-enhancement andobjectivity and reliability may be encountered Mabe and West (1982)showed that self-evaluation measures were more valid than pointed outin prior research (Hochwarter et al (1999) The Cronbachrsquos alpha for thisscale was 087

(2) Withdrawal intentions from the organization This measure was drawnfrom the measure examined by Mobley et al (1978) and widely used inthe literature (Michaels and Spector 1982 Miller et al 1979) It assesseswithdrawal intentions of an employee from hisher organization andconsists of three items I think a lot about leaving the organization I am actively searching for an alternative to the organization and As soon as it is possible I will leave the organization

This measure was assessed on a 5-point scale from 1 = strongly disagree to5 = strongly agree The Cronbachrsquos alpha for this scale was 090

Work behavior

(1) Altruistic behavior This variable was drawn from the multi-dimensionalscale of organizational citizenship behavior developed by Podsakoff andMacKenzie (1989) and modireged and validated by Podsakoff et al (1990)Altruistic behavior was measured using three items that were assessedon a regve-point scale ranging from 1 = strongly disagree to 5 = stronglyagree Sample items are ordfI help others who have heavy workloadsordm ordfIhelp others who have been absentordm The Cronbachrsquos alpha for this scalewas 082

Work attitudesFour work commitment forms (career commitment jobinvolvement affective commitment and continuance commitment) and jobsatisfaction were used to assess employeersquos work attitudes In additionwork-family conmacrict was examined as follows

(1) Career commitment This measure was assessed by a scale developed byBlau (1985) Sample items are ordfI like this profession too much to give itupordm and ordfI am disappointed with being a CEOordm (reverse scored) Themeasure was assessed on a regve-point scale (ranging from 1 = stronglydisagree to 5 = strongly agree) The Cronbachrsquos alpha for this scalewas 074

Emotionalintelligence

799

(2) Job involvement This measure is based on a 10-item scale developed byKanungo (1982) Sample items are ordfThe most important things thathappen to me involve my present jobordm and ordfMost of my personal lifegoals are job-orientedordm The measure was assessed on a seven-pointscale ranging from 1 = strongly disagree to 7 = strongly agree TheCronbachrsquos alpha for this scale was 082

(3) Affective organizational commitmentThis measure is based on the scaledeveloped and validated by Allen and Meyer (1990) Sample items are ordfIreally feel as if this organizationrsquos problems are my ownordm and ordfI do not feellike ordfpart of the familyordm at my organizationordm (reversed item) The measurewas assessed on a seven-point scale (ranging from 1 = strongly disagreeto 7 = strongly agree) The Cronbachrsquos alpha for this scale was 073

(4) Continuance organizational commitmentThis measure is based on thescale developed and validated by Allen and Meyer (1990) Sample itemsare ordfRight now staying with my organization is a matter of necessity asmuch as desireordm and ordfToo much in my life would be disrupted if Idecided I wanted to leave my organization nowordm The measure wasassessed on a seven-point scale (ranging from 1 = strongly disagree to7 = strongly agree) The Cronbachrsquos alpha for this scale was 082

(5) Job satisfaction This measure was estimated by a 6-items scaleemployed by Tsui et al (1992) Sample items are ordfHow satisreged are youwith the nature of the work you performordm and ordfConsidering everythinghow satisreged are you with your current job situationordm The measure wasassessed on a regve-point scale (ranging from 1 = very dissatisreged to5 = very satisreged) The Cronbachrsquos alpha for this scale was 068

(6) Work-family conmacrict This measure was based on a measure developedand validated by Carlson et al 2000) Since this study examines the role ofemotional intelligence in the workplace we concentrated on familyinterference with work exploring a combination of three forms ofwork-family conmacrict (time strain and behavior) which consisted of threeitems each Sample items are ordfThe time I spend on family responsibilitiesoften interferes with my work responsibilitiesordm (time-based familyinterference) ordfDue to stress at home I am often preoccupied with familymatters at workordm (strain-based family interference) ordfThe behaviors thatwork for me at home do not seem to be effective at workordm (behavior-basedfamily interference) All items were ranged from 1 = strongly disagree to5 = strongly agree (5 = presents high conmacrict) The nine items wereloaded onto a single factor The Cronbachrsquos alpha for this scale was 079

Independentmoderator variableEmotional intelligence Over the years considerable research effort resulted invarious instruments for measuring emotional intelligence (EQi of Bar-On 1996

JMP188

800

Executive EQ of Cooper and Sawaf 1997 EIQ Dulewicz and Higgs 1999MSCEIT of Mayer et al 2000 ECI of Boyatzis and Goleman 1998)

In this study emotional intelligence was measured with the self-reportmeasure of emotional intelligence developed by Schutte et al (1998) for severalreasons First this measure is based on the framework of emotional intelligencedeveloped by Salovey and Mayer 1989-1990 and later formulated (Mayer andSalovey 1997)[1] Second previous study found some limitations in earlyself-report measures of emotional intelligence such as insufregcient reliabilityand connections with personality factors (Davies et al 1998) Third studiesthat evaluated the measure of Schutte and her colleagues (1998) in both adultand adolescents population indicate that this measure seems to overcome theobserved difregculties in other measures of emotional intelligence (Ciarrochi et al2000 Ciarrochi et al 2001) Finally in macro level studies self report measureof emotional intelligence which is brief validated and based on a cohesive andcomprehensive model of emotional intelligence (Salovey and Mayer 1989-1990Mayer and Salovey 1997) is very useful

The measure used in this study consists of 33 items Sample items are ordfIknow when to speak about my personal problems to othersordm and ordfI am awareof my emotions as I experience themordm (appraisal and expression of emotion) ordfIpresent myself in a way that makes a good impression on othersordm and I havecontrol over my emotionsordm (regulation of emotion) ordfwhen I feel a change inemotions I tend to come up with new ideasordm and I use good moods to helpmyself keep trying in the face of obstaclesordm (utilization) All items were rangedfrom 1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree The Cronbachrsquos alpha forthis scale was 090

Control variablesWe control for

(1) Organizational size Measured by the number of permanent residents forwhich the organization is responsible for provision of services (Carmeli2002)

(2) Tenure in the organization Measured by the number of years therespondent is employed in the current organization

(3) Gross income (1 = up to 10000 NIS New Israeli Shekel 2 = 10001 to20000 NIS 3 = 20001 to 30000 NIS 4 = 30001 to 40000 NIS and4 = above 40000 NIS)

(4) Respondentsrsquo age

Because the vast majority of the respondents were male differences betweenmale and female respondents could not be established

Data analysisTo assess the relationship between emotional intelligence and work attitudesbehavior and outcomes we performed a series of separate hierarchical

Emotionalintelligence

801

regression analyses Each model had two steps The regrst step involvedentering the control variables and the second step involved entering theindependent variable

To examine the interaction hypotheses the variables were entered into theregression equations in three steps The control variables were entered in theregrst step In the second step we entered the ordfmain effectsordm (work-familyconmacrict and emotional intelligence) Finally the work-family conmacrict Xemotional intelligence product term variable was entered in the third step Bothvariables were mean-centered as is suggested for variables that are to beconstituents of product terms (Aiken and West 1991)

ResultsTable I reports the means standard deviations and correlation coefregcients ofvariables used in the analysis Though several variables are related Table Iindicates no severe problems of multicolinearity as none of the related variablesexceeded the value of 060 Furthermore we performed separate hierarchicalregressions for the effect of emotional intelligence on each one of the dependentvariables Table I also provides a preliminary support for the signiregcantrelationships between emotional intelligence and work attitudes workbehavior and work outcomes

Table II presents the results of hierarchical regression Emotionalintelligence was positively and signiregcantly related to job satisfaction(b = 032 p 001) supporting H1 This regnding is consistent with theargument according to which emotionally intelligent individuals are likely todisplay higher overall satisfaction in the workplace

Supporting H2a we provide evidence that when senior managers have highemotional intelligence they tend to develop high affective commitment(emotional attachment) to the organization for which they work (b = 023p 005) H2b on the other hand was not supported as the relationshipbetween emotional intelligence and continuance commitment was notsigniregcant (b = 2 012 p = ns) The beta coefregcient though not statisticallysigniregcant was in the expected direction

We found support for H3 Emotionally intelligent senior managers develophigh commitment toward their career (b = 034 p 0001) However contraryto H4 emotional intelligence was statistically unrelated to job involvement Itmay be that the involvement of senior managers is more complex than weassumed and is affected by other important factors not examined here Thoughno prediction was made we found that job involvement was signiregcantlyrelated to tenure in the organization (b = 020 p 010) as well as to grossincome (b = 025 p 005)

The results support H5 stating that senior managers who have highemotional intelligence are more likely to effectively control work-family conmacrict(b = 2 031 p 001) Compared to low and middle-level position employees

JMP188

802

Mea

ns

d

12

34

56

78

910

1112

13

Job

per

form

ance

561

078

100

Wit

hdra

wal

inte

nti

ons

from

an

organ

izat

ion

218

094

20

18

Alt

ruis

tic

beh

avio

r3

780

630

32

0

11

Car

eer

com

mit

men

t3

590

600

22

20

47

0

07

Job

invol

vem

ent

440

089

003

20

130

160

24

Aff

ecti

ve

com

mit

men

t4

730

880

31

20

39

0

160

42

0

48

Con

tinuan

ce

com

mit

men

t3

871

172

030

2

005

20

28

20

100

022

007

Job

sati

sfac

tion

374

051

045

2

038

031

0

39

0

27

055

2

029

Wor

k-f

amily

conmacr

ict

212

049

20

190

042

015

20

152

001

20

190

34

2

011

Em

otio

nal

inte

llig

ence

371

037

032

2

020

0

38

0

38

0

140

24

20

070

27

20

27

Org

aniz

atio

nal

size

247

2954

259

20

012

001

20

010

050

21

011

005

008

021

2

007

Ten

ure

in

organ

izat

ion

114

79

130

022

024

0

120

21

017

006

005

004

010

20

050

03

Age

466

39

242

001

20

190

030

120

31

021

0

150

170

150

100

170

43

Inco

me

256

054

014

20

020

26

006

031

0

172

010

022

2

011

001

016

013

025

Note

saT

wo-

tailed

test

s

p

005

p

001

p

0

001

Table IMeans standard

deviations andcorrelationsa

Emotionalintelligence

803

Job

per

form

Wit

hdrw

l

inte

nt

Alt

ruis

tic

beh

avio

r

Car

eer

com

mit

Job

invol

ve

Aff

ecti

ve

com

mit

Con

tin

com

mit

Job

sati

sfac

tion

Wor

k

fam

ily

conmacr

ict

b(t)

b(t

)b

(t)

b(t)

b(t

)b

(t)

b(t)

b(t)

b(t

)

Ste

p1

Org

aniz

a-

tion

alsi

ze0

00(0

01)

20

01(0

93)

001

(00

7)0

07(0

73)

015

(14

7)0

09(0

83)

005

(04

3)0

06(0

56)

019

(19

3)

Ten

ure

in

organ

iza-

tion

al2

009

(20

75)

20

10(2

087

)2

009

(20

87)

20

03(2

023

)0

20(1

76

)0

15(1

24)

019

(15

8)0

12(1

06)

018

(16

2)

Inco

me

016

(15

4)0

03(0

31)

018

(19

1)

005

(04

5)0

25(2

43

)

011

(10

8)2

016

(21

48)

013

(12

1)2

016

(21

59)

Age

006

(05

8)2

022

(21

94)

008

(08

7)0

27(2

53

)

006

(05

7)0

00(2

004

)0

00(0

00)

20

04(2

036

)2

003

(20

29)

R2

003

80

068

005

50

082

019

30

064

005

10

058

009

3

Ste

p2

Em

otio

nal

inte

llig

ence

032

(30

8)

20

20(2

193

)

054

(60

3)

034

(34

4)

004

(04

5)0

23(2

21

)

20

12(2

111

)0

32(3

12

)2

031

(23

20 )

DR

20

090

039

028

60

113

000

20

050

001

40

098

009

6

Ffo

rD

R2

949

371

36

41

118

3

019

487

123

970

991

R2

for

tota

l

equat

ion

013

50

107

034

10

195

019

50

114

006

50

155

018

9

Note

s

p

010

p

005

p

001

p

000

1

Table IIResults of hierarchicalregression analysis theinmacruence of emotionalintelligence on workattitudes behavior andoutcomes

JMP188

804

senior managers may encounter a higher level of job demands that result inwork-family conmacrict The results indicate that senior managers who have highemotional intelligence may better and more carefully handle the inherentwork-family conmacrict than those who have low emotional intelligence

H6 which states that emotionally intelligent senior managers will displayhigher levels of altruistic behavior was strongly supported (b = 054p 0001) In addition H7 which states that emotional intelligence will benegatively related to withdrawal intentions from the organization and H8which states that emotionally intelligent senior managers will perform the jobbetter than senior managers with low emotional intelligence were supported(b = 2 020 p 010 b = 032 p 001 respectively) These results indicatethat emotional intelligence is an important predictor of both contextualperformance and task performance Note however that H9 which states thatthe higher a senior manager is on emotional intelligence the weaker will be thenegative effect of work-family conmacrict on job satisfaction was not supported(see Table III) The interactive effect of work-family conmacrict and emotionalintelligence on job satisfaction was not signiregcant (b = 003 p = ns)

H10 postulated that the higher a senior manager is on emotionalintelligence the weaker will be the negative effect of work-family conmacrict oncareer commitment The interactive effect of work-family conmacrict andemotional intelligence on career commitment was signiregcant at the 005 level(see Table III) and explained an additional 34 percent of explained variance inthe career commitment

In accordance with convention for plotting interactions (Aiken and West1991 Cohen and Cohen 1983) the cut values for the high and low states on themoderator variable (emotional intelligence) were plus and minus one standarddeviation from the mean Figure 1 presents the interaction of work-familyconmacrict and emotional intelligence in predicting career commitment As shown

Job satisfaction Career commitmentb R 2 DR 2 b R 2 DR 2

Step 1Organizational size 003 004Tenure in organization 014 002Income 016 002

Age 2 005 0058 0058 020 0048 0048Step 2Work-family conmacrict (WF) 2 005 2 009Emotional intelligence (EI) 030 0157 0097 037 0205 0156

Step 3EI pound WF 003 0158 0001 021 0239 0034

Notes p 010 p 005 p 001 p 0001

Table IIIResults of the

moderating role ofemotional intelligence

(EI)

Emotionalintelligence

805

in Figure 1 the interaction of emotional intelligence with work-family conmacrictaffects both the strength and direction of this relationship For senior managerswho are low on emotional intelligence there is a strong positive relationshipand for those who are high on emotional intelligence there is a moderatenegative relationship That is when senior managers with low emotionalintelligence experience high work-family conmacrict they manage to maintainhigh career commitment When highly emotionally intelligent senior managersexperience high work-conmacrict they reduce their career commitment to a morereasonable level to deal with work-family conmacrict

DiscussionThe major goal of this study was to examine the extent to which a criticalcomponent of managerial skills - emotional intelligence - augments positivework attitudes and the contextual and task performance of senior managersemployed in a public sector setting This study advances the literaturepertaining to emotional intelligence by empirically demonstrating theimportance of emotional intelligence for developing positive work-relatedattitudes and contextual and task performance

These regndings are especially of importance for organizations whichrecognize the critical role the top management team plays in their success (seeFinkelstein and Hambrick 1996 Hambrick and Mason 1984) Theeffectiveness of the top management team is a function inter alia of themanagement skills (Whetten and Cameron 2001) possessed by the seniormanagers from which it is comprised Skills of managing people are of uniqueimportance for the creation of effective management and leadership andemotional intelligence as ordfthe subset of social intelligenceordm (Salovey and Mayer1989-1990) may be the most critical component of this class of skills Hencehaving senior executives with high emotional intelligence is a necessity forattaining sustainable results

This study went beyond the simple premise of the importance of emotionalintelligence to demonstrate the extent to which the latter augments favorableattitudes and outcomes The results indicate for example that emotionallyintelligent senior managers develop emotional attachment to their

Figure 1Interaction betweenemotional intelligence(EI) and work-familyconmacrict (WF) predictingcareer commitment (CC)

JMP188

806

organizations and are also more committed to their career In addition regndingsalso indicate that emotionally intelligent senior managers tend to be moresatisreged with their work Retaining talented and knowledgeable seniormanagers becomes a major concern for many organizations Selecting seniormanagers who have high emotional intelligence may have a positive impact onthe extent to which an organization succeeds in retaining its most criticalworkforce Research regndings revealed that occupational commitment (Lee et al2000) and organizational commitment (Mathieu and Zajac 1990) aresigniregcantly related to withdrawal intentions and that job satisfaction andorganizational commitment are by far the main predictors of turnover (Griffethet al 2000) Interestingly however emotional intelligence was not signiregcantlyassociated with job involvement It may be that senior managers exhibit highinvolvement in their jobs because of the role itself which demands much timeand effort Another possible explanation is manifested by the relationshipbetween income and job involvement (b = 025 p 005) suggesting thateconomic factors inmacruence the subjective felt of job involvement Emotionalintelligence may help an individual to better handle demanding managerialwork Nevertheless we are still in need of further investigation regarding thefactors that foster an individualrsquos high level of involvement in her job (Brown1996)

Another important relationship examined in this study is the relationshipbetween emotional intelligence and work-family conmacrict Work-family policiesadopted and implemented by an organization may not provide the wholesolution especially with respect to family interference with work simplybecause employees have some responsibility in determining their own familybalance The results of this study advance the literature by indicating thatemotionally intelligent employees may better handle this conmacrict Anintegration of work-family programs and an emotionally intelligentworkforce can better attain the desired balance This study indicates thatcompared to emotionally intelligent senior managers low-emotionallyintelligent senior managers are not less able to be sensitive enough toacknowledge how work is affected by family matters and thus feel no need toreduce their career commitment Senior managers who are high on emotionalintelligence recognize having important responsibilities at work and at thesame time realize that they may neglect their family and their needs In otherwords they are equally sensitive to what they feel when they are consumedwith my work all the time This recognition help them balance their careercommitment to a healthy mid point (not very high but not very low either)Further examination of the interactive effect of work-family conmacrict andemotional intelligence on career commitment and job satisfaction revealed thatemotional intelligence moderated only the negative inmacruence of work-family oncareer commitment Clearly this regnding should receive further investigation

Emotionalintelligence

807

but it illuminate the kind of role emotional intelligence may play in therelationship of ordfwork stressordm and work attitudes

We found a direct and signiregcant relationship between emotionalintelligence and withdrawal intentions from the organization This intensiregesthe important role that emotional intelligence may have in retaining valuableorganization members The results of this study also indicate that emotionalintelligence augments both contextual (altruistic citizenship behavior) and taskperformance Contextual performance of senior managers is valued becausethe latter oftentimes serves as a ordfrole modelordm and ordfcharacterordm for theorganizationrsquos members to follow This process may have a positive effect onthe organization since organizational citizenship behavior has the potential forexample to enhance co-worker and managerial productivity freeing themanagement from work-related problems so that it can deal with moreproductive tasks and enhancing the sustainability of the organizationrsquosperformance In addition the regnding that emotionally intelligent seniormanagers perform better on the job provides clear evidence to the questionasked by Cherniss (2000) regarding ordfhow important it (emotional intelligence)is for effective performance at workordm and is consistent with Cavallo andBrienzarsquos regndings of a ordfstrong relationship between superior performingleaders and emotional competenceordm

Limitation and directions for future researchSeveral limitations constrain the interpretation and application of the studyrsquosregndings The aim of this study to explore the role of emotional intelligenceamong senior managers is also a weakness because it has not includednon-managerial employees Future studies may be beneregted from anexploration of a wider range of employees at different organizational levelsOne should also be cautious while generalizing the results of this study to othercultures or sectors Prospective research should be directed to exploredifferences among for-proregt governmental and not-for-proregt organizations

Validated and usable measures were employed to reduce the possibility ofbias in general method variance and data was collected from a large number oforganizational units to allow for better external validity and increasedgenerality of the results (Cook and Campbell 1979) Still the reader is cautionedto recognize the limitations of relying on self-reported data This may carry abias of general method variance As can be seen results of hierarchicalregressions provided a relatively small proportion of the explained variance ofthe dependent variables We also compared subjective-reported data toobjective data on organizational size and the comparison yielded no differenceAnd as Xie (1996) indicated there is no theoretical foundation to expect thatinteractions are associated with common method variance Future studies maybeneregt from a longitudinal research design One however must recognize thatcollecting data from a large number of organizations is problematic Finally

JMP188

808

this study used a relatively new measure of emotional intelligence and thoughstudies reported good reliability and evidence of validity it would be useful toconduct a study which compare results of this study with those used otheracceptable measures of emotional intelligence

Note

1 When this study was conducted the MSCEIT instrument was not available to the author

References

Abraham R (1999) ordfEmotional intelligence in organizations a conceptualizationordm GeneticSocial and General Psychology Monographs Vol 125 No 2 pp 209-24

Aiken LS and West SG (1991) Multiple Regression Testing and Interpreting InteractionsSage Newbury Park CA

Allen NJ and Meyer JP (1990) ordfThe measurement and antecedents of affective continuanceand normative commitment to the organizationordm Journal of Occupational PsychologyVol 63 pp 1-18

Allen NJ and Meyer JP (1996) ordfAffective continuance and normative commitment to theorganization an examination of construct validityordm Journal of Vocational Behavior Vol 49No 3 pp 252-76

Ashforth BE and Humphrey RH (1995) ordfEmotion in the workplace a reappraisalordm HumanRelations Vol 48 No 2 pp 97-125

Bar-On R (1996) The Emotional Quotient Inventory (EQ-i) A Test of Emotional IntelligenceMulti-Health Systems Toronto

Bar-On R and Parker JDA (2000) The Handbook of Emotional Intelligence TheoryDevelopment Assessment and Application at Home School and in the WorkplaceJossey-Bass San Francisco CA

Bar-On R Brown JM Kirkcaldy BD and Thome EP (2000) ordfEmotional expression andimplications for occupational stress an applicationordm Personality and IndividualDifferences Vol 28 pp 1107-18

Becker HS (1960) ordfNotes on the concept of commitmentordm American Journal of Sociology Vol 66No 1 pp 33-42

Black J and Porter L (1991) ordfManagerial behavior and job performance a successful managerin Los Angeles may not succeed in Hong Kongordm Journal of International Business StudiesVol 22 pp 99-114

Blau GJ (1985) ordfThe measurement and prediction of career commitmentordm Journal ofOccupational Psychology Vol 58 pp 277-88

Blood MR (1969) ordfWork values and job satisfactionordm Journal of Applied Psychology Vol 53pp 456-9

Boyatzis R Goleman D and Rhee K (2000) ordfClustering competence in emotional intelligenceinsights from the emotional competence inventory (ECI)ordm in Bar-On R and Parker JDA(Eds) Handbook of Emotional Intelligence Jossey-Bass San Francisco CA

Brown SP (1996) ordfA meta-analysis and review of organizational research on job involvementordmPsychological Bulletin Vol 120 No 2 pp 235-55

Carlson DS Kacmar MK and Williams LJ (2000) ordfConstruction and initial validations of amultidimensional measure of work-family conmacrictordm Journal of Vocational BehaviorVol 56 pp 249-76

Emotionalintelligence

809

Carmeli A (2002) ordfA conceptual and practical framework of measuring performance of localauthorities in regnancial terms analysing the case of Israelordm Local Government StudiesVol 28 No 1 pp 21-36

Cherniss C (2000) ordfordfEmotional intelligence what it is and why it mattersordm paper presented atthe Annual Meeting of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology NewOrleans LA April p 15

Ciarrochi J Chan AYC and Bajgar J (2001) ordfMeasuring emotional intelligence inadolescentsordm Personality and Individual Differences Vol 31 pp 1105-19

Ciarrochi J Chan AYC and Caputi P (2000) ordfA critical evaluation of the emotionalintelligence constructordm Personality and Individual Differences Vol 28 pp 539-61

Cohen J and Cohen P (1983) Applied Multiple RegressionCorrelation Analysis for theBehavioral Sciences Lawrence Erlbaum Hillsdale NJ

Cook TD and Campbell TD (1979) Quasi-Experimentation Design and Analytical Issues forField Settings Rand-McNally Chicago IL

Cooper RK and Sawaf A (1997) Executive EQ Emotional Intelligence in Leadership andOrganizations GrossetPutnam New York NY

Davies M Stankov L and Roberts R (1998) ordfEmotional intelligence in search of an elusiveconstructordm Journal of Personality and Social Psychology Vol 75 pp 989-1015

Dulewicz V and Higgs MJ (1999) Usersrsquo Guide for the Emotional Intelligence QuestionnaireNFER-Nelson Windsor

Dulewicz V and Higgs MJ (2000) ordfEmotional intelligence a review and evaluation studyordmJournal of Managerial Psychology Vol 15 No 4 pp 341-72

Finkelstein S and Hambrick D (1996) Strategic Leadership Top Executives and Their Effectson Organizations West Publishing Company St Paul MN

Furnham A (1990) The Protestant Work Ethic The Psychology of Work-Related Beliefs andBehaviors Routledge New York NY

GardnerH (1983) Frames of Mind The Theory of Multiple Intelligences Basic Books New YorkNY

George JM (2000) ordfEmotions and leadership the role of emotional intelligenceordm HumanRelations Vol 53 No 8 pp 1027-55

Goleman D (1995) Emotional Intelligence Why It Can Matter More than IQ Bantam BooksNew York NY

Goleman D (1998) Working with Emotional Intelligence Bantam Books New York NY

Goleman D (2001) ordfAn EI-based theory of performanceordm in Cherniss C and Goleman D (Eds)The Emotionally Intelligent Workplace How to Select for Measure and Improve EmotionalIntelligence in Individuals Groups and Organizations Jossey-Bass San Francisco CApp 27-44

Grandey AA (2000) ordfEmotion regulation in the workplace a new way to conceptualizeemotional laborordm Journal of Occupational Health Psychology Vol 5 No 1 pp 95-110

Greenhaus JH and Beutell NJ (1985) ordfSources of conmacrict between work and family rolesordmAcademy of Management Review Vol 10 No 1 pp 76-88

Griffeth RW Hom PW and Gaertner S (2000) ordfA meta-analysis of antecedents and correlatesof employee turnover update moderator test and research implications for the nextmillenniumordm Journal of Management Vol 26 No 3 pp 463-88

Hambrick DC and Mason PA (1984) ordfUpper echelons the organization as a remacrection of itstop managementordm Academy of Management Review Vol 9 pp 193-206

JMP188

810

(2) Job involvement This measure is based on a 10-item scale developed byKanungo (1982) Sample items are ordfThe most important things thathappen to me involve my present jobordm and ordfMost of my personal lifegoals are job-orientedordm The measure was assessed on a seven-pointscale ranging from 1 = strongly disagree to 7 = strongly agree TheCronbachrsquos alpha for this scale was 082

(3) Affective organizational commitmentThis measure is based on the scaledeveloped and validated by Allen and Meyer (1990) Sample items are ordfIreally feel as if this organizationrsquos problems are my ownordm and ordfI do not feellike ordfpart of the familyordm at my organizationordm (reversed item) The measurewas assessed on a seven-point scale (ranging from 1 = strongly disagreeto 7 = strongly agree) The Cronbachrsquos alpha for this scale was 073

(4) Continuance organizational commitmentThis measure is based on thescale developed and validated by Allen and Meyer (1990) Sample itemsare ordfRight now staying with my organization is a matter of necessity asmuch as desireordm and ordfToo much in my life would be disrupted if Idecided I wanted to leave my organization nowordm The measure wasassessed on a seven-point scale (ranging from 1 = strongly disagree to7 = strongly agree) The Cronbachrsquos alpha for this scale was 082

(5) Job satisfaction This measure was estimated by a 6-items scaleemployed by Tsui et al (1992) Sample items are ordfHow satisreged are youwith the nature of the work you performordm and ordfConsidering everythinghow satisreged are you with your current job situationordm The measure wasassessed on a regve-point scale (ranging from 1 = very dissatisreged to5 = very satisreged) The Cronbachrsquos alpha for this scale was 068

(6) Work-family conmacrict This measure was based on a measure developedand validated by Carlson et al 2000) Since this study examines the role ofemotional intelligence in the workplace we concentrated on familyinterference with work exploring a combination of three forms ofwork-family conmacrict (time strain and behavior) which consisted of threeitems each Sample items are ordfThe time I spend on family responsibilitiesoften interferes with my work responsibilitiesordm (time-based familyinterference) ordfDue to stress at home I am often preoccupied with familymatters at workordm (strain-based family interference) ordfThe behaviors thatwork for me at home do not seem to be effective at workordm (behavior-basedfamily interference) All items were ranged from 1 = strongly disagree to5 = strongly agree (5 = presents high conmacrict) The nine items wereloaded onto a single factor The Cronbachrsquos alpha for this scale was 079

Independentmoderator variableEmotional intelligence Over the years considerable research effort resulted invarious instruments for measuring emotional intelligence (EQi of Bar-On 1996

JMP188

800

Executive EQ of Cooper and Sawaf 1997 EIQ Dulewicz and Higgs 1999MSCEIT of Mayer et al 2000 ECI of Boyatzis and Goleman 1998)

In this study emotional intelligence was measured with the self-reportmeasure of emotional intelligence developed by Schutte et al (1998) for severalreasons First this measure is based on the framework of emotional intelligencedeveloped by Salovey and Mayer 1989-1990 and later formulated (Mayer andSalovey 1997)[1] Second previous study found some limitations in earlyself-report measures of emotional intelligence such as insufregcient reliabilityand connections with personality factors (Davies et al 1998) Third studiesthat evaluated the measure of Schutte and her colleagues (1998) in both adultand adolescents population indicate that this measure seems to overcome theobserved difregculties in other measures of emotional intelligence (Ciarrochi et al2000 Ciarrochi et al 2001) Finally in macro level studies self report measureof emotional intelligence which is brief validated and based on a cohesive andcomprehensive model of emotional intelligence (Salovey and Mayer 1989-1990Mayer and Salovey 1997) is very useful

The measure used in this study consists of 33 items Sample items are ordfIknow when to speak about my personal problems to othersordm and ordfI am awareof my emotions as I experience themordm (appraisal and expression of emotion) ordfIpresent myself in a way that makes a good impression on othersordm and I havecontrol over my emotionsordm (regulation of emotion) ordfwhen I feel a change inemotions I tend to come up with new ideasordm and I use good moods to helpmyself keep trying in the face of obstaclesordm (utilization) All items were rangedfrom 1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree The Cronbachrsquos alpha forthis scale was 090

Control variablesWe control for

(1) Organizational size Measured by the number of permanent residents forwhich the organization is responsible for provision of services (Carmeli2002)

(2) Tenure in the organization Measured by the number of years therespondent is employed in the current organization

(3) Gross income (1 = up to 10000 NIS New Israeli Shekel 2 = 10001 to20000 NIS 3 = 20001 to 30000 NIS 4 = 30001 to 40000 NIS and4 = above 40000 NIS)

(4) Respondentsrsquo age

Because the vast majority of the respondents were male differences betweenmale and female respondents could not be established

Data analysisTo assess the relationship between emotional intelligence and work attitudesbehavior and outcomes we performed a series of separate hierarchical

Emotionalintelligence

801

regression analyses Each model had two steps The regrst step involvedentering the control variables and the second step involved entering theindependent variable

To examine the interaction hypotheses the variables were entered into theregression equations in three steps The control variables were entered in theregrst step In the second step we entered the ordfmain effectsordm (work-familyconmacrict and emotional intelligence) Finally the work-family conmacrict Xemotional intelligence product term variable was entered in the third step Bothvariables were mean-centered as is suggested for variables that are to beconstituents of product terms (Aiken and West 1991)

ResultsTable I reports the means standard deviations and correlation coefregcients ofvariables used in the analysis Though several variables are related Table Iindicates no severe problems of multicolinearity as none of the related variablesexceeded the value of 060 Furthermore we performed separate hierarchicalregressions for the effect of emotional intelligence on each one of the dependentvariables Table I also provides a preliminary support for the signiregcantrelationships between emotional intelligence and work attitudes workbehavior and work outcomes

Table II presents the results of hierarchical regression Emotionalintelligence was positively and signiregcantly related to job satisfaction(b = 032 p 001) supporting H1 This regnding is consistent with theargument according to which emotionally intelligent individuals are likely todisplay higher overall satisfaction in the workplace

Supporting H2a we provide evidence that when senior managers have highemotional intelligence they tend to develop high affective commitment(emotional attachment) to the organization for which they work (b = 023p 005) H2b on the other hand was not supported as the relationshipbetween emotional intelligence and continuance commitment was notsigniregcant (b = 2 012 p = ns) The beta coefregcient though not statisticallysigniregcant was in the expected direction

We found support for H3 Emotionally intelligent senior managers develophigh commitment toward their career (b = 034 p 0001) However contraryto H4 emotional intelligence was statistically unrelated to job involvement Itmay be that the involvement of senior managers is more complex than weassumed and is affected by other important factors not examined here Thoughno prediction was made we found that job involvement was signiregcantlyrelated to tenure in the organization (b = 020 p 010) as well as to grossincome (b = 025 p 005)

The results support H5 stating that senior managers who have highemotional intelligence are more likely to effectively control work-family conmacrict(b = 2 031 p 001) Compared to low and middle-level position employees

JMP188

802

Mea

ns

d

12

34

56

78

910

1112

13

Job

per

form

ance

561

078

100

Wit

hdra

wal

inte

nti

ons

from

an

organ

izat

ion

218

094

20

18

Alt

ruis

tic

beh

avio

r3

780

630

32

0

11

Car

eer

com

mit

men

t3

590

600

22

20

47

0

07

Job

invol

vem

ent

440

089

003

20

130

160

24

Aff

ecti

ve

com

mit

men

t4

730

880

31

20

39

0

160

42

0

48

Con

tinuan

ce

com

mit

men

t3

871

172

030

2

005

20

28

20

100

022

007

Job

sati

sfac

tion

374

051

045

2

038

031

0

39

0

27

055

2

029

Wor

k-f

amily

conmacr

ict

212

049

20

190

042

015

20

152

001

20

190

34

2

011

Em

otio

nal

inte

llig

ence

371

037

032

2

020

0

38

0

38

0

140

24

20

070

27

20

27

Org

aniz

atio

nal

size

247

2954

259

20

012

001

20

010

050

21

011

005

008

021

2

007

Ten

ure

in

organ

izat

ion

114

79

130

022

024

0

120

21

017

006

005

004

010

20

050

03

Age

466

39

242

001

20

190

030

120

31

021

0

150

170

150

100

170

43

Inco

me

256

054

014

20

020

26

006

031

0

172

010

022

2

011

001

016

013

025

Note

saT

wo-

tailed

test

s

p

005

p

001

p

0

001

Table IMeans standard

deviations andcorrelationsa

Emotionalintelligence

803

Job

per

form

Wit

hdrw

l

inte

nt

Alt

ruis

tic

beh

avio

r

Car

eer

com

mit

Job

invol

ve

Aff

ecti

ve

com

mit

Con

tin

com

mit

Job

sati

sfac

tion

Wor

k

fam

ily

conmacr

ict

b(t)

b(t

)b

(t)

b(t)

b(t

)b

(t)

b(t)

b(t)

b(t

)

Ste

p1

Org

aniz

a-

tion

alsi

ze0

00(0

01)

20

01(0

93)

001

(00

7)0

07(0

73)

015

(14

7)0

09(0

83)

005

(04

3)0

06(0

56)

019

(19

3)

Ten

ure

in

organ

iza-

tion

al2

009

(20

75)

20

10(2

087

)2

009

(20

87)

20

03(2

023

)0

20(1

76

)0

15(1

24)

019

(15

8)0

12(1

06)

018

(16

2)

Inco

me

016

(15

4)0

03(0

31)

018

(19

1)

005

(04

5)0

25(2

43

)

011

(10

8)2

016

(21

48)

013

(12

1)2

016

(21

59)

Age

006

(05

8)2

022

(21

94)

008

(08

7)0

27(2

53

)

006

(05

7)0

00(2

004

)0

00(0

00)

20

04(2

036

)2

003

(20

29)

R2

003

80

068

005

50

082

019

30

064

005

10

058

009

3

Ste

p2

Em

otio

nal

inte

llig

ence

032

(30

8)

20

20(2

193

)

054

(60

3)

034

(34

4)

004

(04

5)0

23(2

21

)

20

12(2

111

)0

32(3

12

)2

031

(23

20 )

DR

20

090

039

028

60

113

000

20

050

001

40

098

009

6

Ffo

rD

R2

949

371

36

41

118

3

019

487

123

970

991

R2

for

tota

l

equat

ion

013

50

107

034

10

195

019

50

114

006

50

155

018

9

Note

s

p

010

p

005

p

001

p

000

1

Table IIResults of hierarchicalregression analysis theinmacruence of emotionalintelligence on workattitudes behavior andoutcomes

JMP188

804

senior managers may encounter a higher level of job demands that result inwork-family conmacrict The results indicate that senior managers who have highemotional intelligence may better and more carefully handle the inherentwork-family conmacrict than those who have low emotional intelligence

H6 which states that emotionally intelligent senior managers will displayhigher levels of altruistic behavior was strongly supported (b = 054p 0001) In addition H7 which states that emotional intelligence will benegatively related to withdrawal intentions from the organization and H8which states that emotionally intelligent senior managers will perform the jobbetter than senior managers with low emotional intelligence were supported(b = 2 020 p 010 b = 032 p 001 respectively) These results indicatethat emotional intelligence is an important predictor of both contextualperformance and task performance Note however that H9 which states thatthe higher a senior manager is on emotional intelligence the weaker will be thenegative effect of work-family conmacrict on job satisfaction was not supported(see Table III) The interactive effect of work-family conmacrict and emotionalintelligence on job satisfaction was not signiregcant (b = 003 p = ns)

H10 postulated that the higher a senior manager is on emotionalintelligence the weaker will be the negative effect of work-family conmacrict oncareer commitment The interactive effect of work-family conmacrict andemotional intelligence on career commitment was signiregcant at the 005 level(see Table III) and explained an additional 34 percent of explained variance inthe career commitment

In accordance with convention for plotting interactions (Aiken and West1991 Cohen and Cohen 1983) the cut values for the high and low states on themoderator variable (emotional intelligence) were plus and minus one standarddeviation from the mean Figure 1 presents the interaction of work-familyconmacrict and emotional intelligence in predicting career commitment As shown

Job satisfaction Career commitmentb R 2 DR 2 b R 2 DR 2

Step 1Organizational size 003 004Tenure in organization 014 002Income 016 002

Age 2 005 0058 0058 020 0048 0048Step 2Work-family conmacrict (WF) 2 005 2 009Emotional intelligence (EI) 030 0157 0097 037 0205 0156

Step 3EI pound WF 003 0158 0001 021 0239 0034

Notes p 010 p 005 p 001 p 0001

Table IIIResults of the

moderating role ofemotional intelligence

(EI)

Emotionalintelligence

805

in Figure 1 the interaction of emotional intelligence with work-family conmacrictaffects both the strength and direction of this relationship For senior managerswho are low on emotional intelligence there is a strong positive relationshipand for those who are high on emotional intelligence there is a moderatenegative relationship That is when senior managers with low emotionalintelligence experience high work-family conmacrict they manage to maintainhigh career commitment When highly emotionally intelligent senior managersexperience high work-conmacrict they reduce their career commitment to a morereasonable level to deal with work-family conmacrict

DiscussionThe major goal of this study was to examine the extent to which a criticalcomponent of managerial skills - emotional intelligence - augments positivework attitudes and the contextual and task performance of senior managersemployed in a public sector setting This study advances the literaturepertaining to emotional intelligence by empirically demonstrating theimportance of emotional intelligence for developing positive work-relatedattitudes and contextual and task performance

These regndings are especially of importance for organizations whichrecognize the critical role the top management team plays in their success (seeFinkelstein and Hambrick 1996 Hambrick and Mason 1984) Theeffectiveness of the top management team is a function inter alia of themanagement skills (Whetten and Cameron 2001) possessed by the seniormanagers from which it is comprised Skills of managing people are of uniqueimportance for the creation of effective management and leadership andemotional intelligence as ordfthe subset of social intelligenceordm (Salovey and Mayer1989-1990) may be the most critical component of this class of skills Hencehaving senior executives with high emotional intelligence is a necessity forattaining sustainable results

This study went beyond the simple premise of the importance of emotionalintelligence to demonstrate the extent to which the latter augments favorableattitudes and outcomes The results indicate for example that emotionallyintelligent senior managers develop emotional attachment to their

Figure 1Interaction betweenemotional intelligence(EI) and work-familyconmacrict (WF) predictingcareer commitment (CC)

JMP188

806

organizations and are also more committed to their career In addition regndingsalso indicate that emotionally intelligent senior managers tend to be moresatisreged with their work Retaining talented and knowledgeable seniormanagers becomes a major concern for many organizations Selecting seniormanagers who have high emotional intelligence may have a positive impact onthe extent to which an organization succeeds in retaining its most criticalworkforce Research regndings revealed that occupational commitment (Lee et al2000) and organizational commitment (Mathieu and Zajac 1990) aresigniregcantly related to withdrawal intentions and that job satisfaction andorganizational commitment are by far the main predictors of turnover (Griffethet al 2000) Interestingly however emotional intelligence was not signiregcantlyassociated with job involvement It may be that senior managers exhibit highinvolvement in their jobs because of the role itself which demands much timeand effort Another possible explanation is manifested by the relationshipbetween income and job involvement (b = 025 p 005) suggesting thateconomic factors inmacruence the subjective felt of job involvement Emotionalintelligence may help an individual to better handle demanding managerialwork Nevertheless we are still in need of further investigation regarding thefactors that foster an individualrsquos high level of involvement in her job (Brown1996)

Another important relationship examined in this study is the relationshipbetween emotional intelligence and work-family conmacrict Work-family policiesadopted and implemented by an organization may not provide the wholesolution especially with respect to family interference with work simplybecause employees have some responsibility in determining their own familybalance The results of this study advance the literature by indicating thatemotionally intelligent employees may better handle this conmacrict Anintegration of work-family programs and an emotionally intelligentworkforce can better attain the desired balance This study indicates thatcompared to emotionally intelligent senior managers low-emotionallyintelligent senior managers are not less able to be sensitive enough toacknowledge how work is affected by family matters and thus feel no need toreduce their career commitment Senior managers who are high on emotionalintelligence recognize having important responsibilities at work and at thesame time realize that they may neglect their family and their needs In otherwords they are equally sensitive to what they feel when they are consumedwith my work all the time This recognition help them balance their careercommitment to a healthy mid point (not very high but not very low either)Further examination of the interactive effect of work-family conmacrict andemotional intelligence on career commitment and job satisfaction revealed thatemotional intelligence moderated only the negative inmacruence of work-family oncareer commitment Clearly this regnding should receive further investigation

Emotionalintelligence

807

but it illuminate the kind of role emotional intelligence may play in therelationship of ordfwork stressordm and work attitudes

We found a direct and signiregcant relationship between emotionalintelligence and withdrawal intentions from the organization This intensiregesthe important role that emotional intelligence may have in retaining valuableorganization members The results of this study also indicate that emotionalintelligence augments both contextual (altruistic citizenship behavior) and taskperformance Contextual performance of senior managers is valued becausethe latter oftentimes serves as a ordfrole modelordm and ordfcharacterordm for theorganizationrsquos members to follow This process may have a positive effect onthe organization since organizational citizenship behavior has the potential forexample to enhance co-worker and managerial productivity freeing themanagement from work-related problems so that it can deal with moreproductive tasks and enhancing the sustainability of the organizationrsquosperformance In addition the regnding that emotionally intelligent seniormanagers perform better on the job provides clear evidence to the questionasked by Cherniss (2000) regarding ordfhow important it (emotional intelligence)is for effective performance at workordm and is consistent with Cavallo andBrienzarsquos regndings of a ordfstrong relationship between superior performingleaders and emotional competenceordm

Limitation and directions for future researchSeveral limitations constrain the interpretation and application of the studyrsquosregndings The aim of this study to explore the role of emotional intelligenceamong senior managers is also a weakness because it has not includednon-managerial employees Future studies may be beneregted from anexploration of a wider range of employees at different organizational levelsOne should also be cautious while generalizing the results of this study to othercultures or sectors Prospective research should be directed to exploredifferences among for-proregt governmental and not-for-proregt organizations

Validated and usable measures were employed to reduce the possibility ofbias in general method variance and data was collected from a large number oforganizational units to allow for better external validity and increasedgenerality of the results (Cook and Campbell 1979) Still the reader is cautionedto recognize the limitations of relying on self-reported data This may carry abias of general method variance As can be seen results of hierarchicalregressions provided a relatively small proportion of the explained variance ofthe dependent variables We also compared subjective-reported data toobjective data on organizational size and the comparison yielded no differenceAnd as Xie (1996) indicated there is no theoretical foundation to expect thatinteractions are associated with common method variance Future studies maybeneregt from a longitudinal research design One however must recognize thatcollecting data from a large number of organizations is problematic Finally

JMP188

808

this study used a relatively new measure of emotional intelligence and thoughstudies reported good reliability and evidence of validity it would be useful toconduct a study which compare results of this study with those used otheracceptable measures of emotional intelligence

Note

1 When this study was conducted the MSCEIT instrument was not available to the author

References

Abraham R (1999) ordfEmotional intelligence in organizations a conceptualizationordm GeneticSocial and General Psychology Monographs Vol 125 No 2 pp 209-24

Aiken LS and West SG (1991) Multiple Regression Testing and Interpreting InteractionsSage Newbury Park CA

Allen NJ and Meyer JP (1990) ordfThe measurement and antecedents of affective continuanceand normative commitment to the organizationordm Journal of Occupational PsychologyVol 63 pp 1-18

Allen NJ and Meyer JP (1996) ordfAffective continuance and normative commitment to theorganization an examination of construct validityordm Journal of Vocational Behavior Vol 49No 3 pp 252-76

Ashforth BE and Humphrey RH (1995) ordfEmotion in the workplace a reappraisalordm HumanRelations Vol 48 No 2 pp 97-125

Bar-On R (1996) The Emotional Quotient Inventory (EQ-i) A Test of Emotional IntelligenceMulti-Health Systems Toronto

Bar-On R and Parker JDA (2000) The Handbook of Emotional Intelligence TheoryDevelopment Assessment and Application at Home School and in the WorkplaceJossey-Bass San Francisco CA

Bar-On R Brown JM Kirkcaldy BD and Thome EP (2000) ordfEmotional expression andimplications for occupational stress an applicationordm Personality and IndividualDifferences Vol 28 pp 1107-18

Becker HS (1960) ordfNotes on the concept of commitmentordm American Journal of Sociology Vol 66No 1 pp 33-42

Black J and Porter L (1991) ordfManagerial behavior and job performance a successful managerin Los Angeles may not succeed in Hong Kongordm Journal of International Business StudiesVol 22 pp 99-114

Blau GJ (1985) ordfThe measurement and prediction of career commitmentordm Journal ofOccupational Psychology Vol 58 pp 277-88

Blood MR (1969) ordfWork values and job satisfactionordm Journal of Applied Psychology Vol 53pp 456-9

Boyatzis R Goleman D and Rhee K (2000) ordfClustering competence in emotional intelligenceinsights from the emotional competence inventory (ECI)ordm in Bar-On R and Parker JDA(Eds) Handbook of Emotional Intelligence Jossey-Bass San Francisco CA

Brown SP (1996) ordfA meta-analysis and review of organizational research on job involvementordmPsychological Bulletin Vol 120 No 2 pp 235-55

Carlson DS Kacmar MK and Williams LJ (2000) ordfConstruction and initial validations of amultidimensional measure of work-family conmacrictordm Journal of Vocational BehaviorVol 56 pp 249-76

Emotionalintelligence

809

Carmeli A (2002) ordfA conceptual and practical framework of measuring performance of localauthorities in regnancial terms analysing the case of Israelordm Local Government StudiesVol 28 No 1 pp 21-36

Cherniss C (2000) ordfordfEmotional intelligence what it is and why it mattersordm paper presented atthe Annual Meeting of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology NewOrleans LA April p 15

Ciarrochi J Chan AYC and Bajgar J (2001) ordfMeasuring emotional intelligence inadolescentsordm Personality and Individual Differences Vol 31 pp 1105-19

Ciarrochi J Chan AYC and Caputi P (2000) ordfA critical evaluation of the emotionalintelligence constructordm Personality and Individual Differences Vol 28 pp 539-61

Cohen J and Cohen P (1983) Applied Multiple RegressionCorrelation Analysis for theBehavioral Sciences Lawrence Erlbaum Hillsdale NJ

Cook TD and Campbell TD (1979) Quasi-Experimentation Design and Analytical Issues forField Settings Rand-McNally Chicago IL

Cooper RK and Sawaf A (1997) Executive EQ Emotional Intelligence in Leadership andOrganizations GrossetPutnam New York NY

Davies M Stankov L and Roberts R (1998) ordfEmotional intelligence in search of an elusiveconstructordm Journal of Personality and Social Psychology Vol 75 pp 989-1015

Dulewicz V and Higgs MJ (1999) Usersrsquo Guide for the Emotional Intelligence QuestionnaireNFER-Nelson Windsor

Dulewicz V and Higgs MJ (2000) ordfEmotional intelligence a review and evaluation studyordmJournal of Managerial Psychology Vol 15 No 4 pp 341-72

Finkelstein S and Hambrick D (1996) Strategic Leadership Top Executives and Their Effectson Organizations West Publishing Company St Paul MN

Furnham A (1990) The Protestant Work Ethic The Psychology of Work-Related Beliefs andBehaviors Routledge New York NY

GardnerH (1983) Frames of Mind The Theory of Multiple Intelligences Basic Books New YorkNY

George JM (2000) ordfEmotions and leadership the role of emotional intelligenceordm HumanRelations Vol 53 No 8 pp 1027-55

Goleman D (1995) Emotional Intelligence Why It Can Matter More than IQ Bantam BooksNew York NY

Goleman D (1998) Working with Emotional Intelligence Bantam Books New York NY

Goleman D (2001) ordfAn EI-based theory of performanceordm in Cherniss C and Goleman D (Eds)The Emotionally Intelligent Workplace How to Select for Measure and Improve EmotionalIntelligence in Individuals Groups and Organizations Jossey-Bass San Francisco CApp 27-44

Grandey AA (2000) ordfEmotion regulation in the workplace a new way to conceptualizeemotional laborordm Journal of Occupational Health Psychology Vol 5 No 1 pp 95-110

Greenhaus JH and Beutell NJ (1985) ordfSources of conmacrict between work and family rolesordmAcademy of Management Review Vol 10 No 1 pp 76-88

Griffeth RW Hom PW and Gaertner S (2000) ordfA meta-analysis of antecedents and correlatesof employee turnover update moderator test and research implications for the nextmillenniumordm Journal of Management Vol 26 No 3 pp 463-88

Hambrick DC and Mason PA (1984) ordfUpper echelons the organization as a remacrection of itstop managementordm Academy of Management Review Vol 9 pp 193-206

JMP188

810

Executive EQ of Cooper and Sawaf 1997 EIQ Dulewicz and Higgs 1999MSCEIT of Mayer et al 2000 ECI of Boyatzis and Goleman 1998)

In this study emotional intelligence was measured with the self-reportmeasure of emotional intelligence developed by Schutte et al (1998) for severalreasons First this measure is based on the framework of emotional intelligencedeveloped by Salovey and Mayer 1989-1990 and later formulated (Mayer andSalovey 1997)[1] Second previous study found some limitations in earlyself-report measures of emotional intelligence such as insufregcient reliabilityand connections with personality factors (Davies et al 1998) Third studiesthat evaluated the measure of Schutte and her colleagues (1998) in both adultand adolescents population indicate that this measure seems to overcome theobserved difregculties in other measures of emotional intelligence (Ciarrochi et al2000 Ciarrochi et al 2001) Finally in macro level studies self report measureof emotional intelligence which is brief validated and based on a cohesive andcomprehensive model of emotional intelligence (Salovey and Mayer 1989-1990Mayer and Salovey 1997) is very useful

The measure used in this study consists of 33 items Sample items are ordfIknow when to speak about my personal problems to othersordm and ordfI am awareof my emotions as I experience themordm (appraisal and expression of emotion) ordfIpresent myself in a way that makes a good impression on othersordm and I havecontrol over my emotionsordm (regulation of emotion) ordfwhen I feel a change inemotions I tend to come up with new ideasordm and I use good moods to helpmyself keep trying in the face of obstaclesordm (utilization) All items were rangedfrom 1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree The Cronbachrsquos alpha forthis scale was 090

Control variablesWe control for

(1) Organizational size Measured by the number of permanent residents forwhich the organization is responsible for provision of services (Carmeli2002)

(2) Tenure in the organization Measured by the number of years therespondent is employed in the current organization

(3) Gross income (1 = up to 10000 NIS New Israeli Shekel 2 = 10001 to20000 NIS 3 = 20001 to 30000 NIS 4 = 30001 to 40000 NIS and4 = above 40000 NIS)

(4) Respondentsrsquo age

Because the vast majority of the respondents were male differences betweenmale and female respondents could not be established

Data analysisTo assess the relationship between emotional intelligence and work attitudesbehavior and outcomes we performed a series of separate hierarchical

Emotionalintelligence

801

regression analyses Each model had two steps The regrst step involvedentering the control variables and the second step involved entering theindependent variable

To examine the interaction hypotheses the variables were entered into theregression equations in three steps The control variables were entered in theregrst step In the second step we entered the ordfmain effectsordm (work-familyconmacrict and emotional intelligence) Finally the work-family conmacrict Xemotional intelligence product term variable was entered in the third step Bothvariables were mean-centered as is suggested for variables that are to beconstituents of product terms (Aiken and West 1991)

ResultsTable I reports the means standard deviations and correlation coefregcients ofvariables used in the analysis Though several variables are related Table Iindicates no severe problems of multicolinearity as none of the related variablesexceeded the value of 060 Furthermore we performed separate hierarchicalregressions for the effect of emotional intelligence on each one of the dependentvariables Table I also provides a preliminary support for the signiregcantrelationships between emotional intelligence and work attitudes workbehavior and work outcomes

Table II presents the results of hierarchical regression Emotionalintelligence was positively and signiregcantly related to job satisfaction(b = 032 p 001) supporting H1 This regnding is consistent with theargument according to which emotionally intelligent individuals are likely todisplay higher overall satisfaction in the workplace

Supporting H2a we provide evidence that when senior managers have highemotional intelligence they tend to develop high affective commitment(emotional attachment) to the organization for which they work (b = 023p 005) H2b on the other hand was not supported as the relationshipbetween emotional intelligence and continuance commitment was notsigniregcant (b = 2 012 p = ns) The beta coefregcient though not statisticallysigniregcant was in the expected direction

We found support for H3 Emotionally intelligent senior managers develophigh commitment toward their career (b = 034 p 0001) However contraryto H4 emotional intelligence was statistically unrelated to job involvement Itmay be that the involvement of senior managers is more complex than weassumed and is affected by other important factors not examined here Thoughno prediction was made we found that job involvement was signiregcantlyrelated to tenure in the organization (b = 020 p 010) as well as to grossincome (b = 025 p 005)

The results support H5 stating that senior managers who have highemotional intelligence are more likely to effectively control work-family conmacrict(b = 2 031 p 001) Compared to low and middle-level position employees

JMP188

802

Mea

ns

d

12

34

56

78

910

1112

13

Job

per

form

ance

561

078

100

Wit

hdra

wal

inte

nti

ons

from

an

organ

izat

ion

218

094

20

18

Alt

ruis

tic

beh

avio

r3

780

630

32

0

11

Car

eer

com

mit

men

t3

590

600

22

20

47

0

07

Job

invol

vem

ent

440

089

003

20

130

160

24

Aff

ecti

ve

com

mit

men

t4

730

880

31

20

39

0

160

42

0

48

Con

tinuan

ce

com

mit

men

t3

871

172

030

2

005

20

28

20

100

022

007

Job

sati

sfac

tion

374

051

045

2

038

031

0

39

0

27

055

2

029

Wor

k-f

amily

conmacr

ict

212

049

20

190

042

015

20

152

001

20

190

34

2

011

Em

otio

nal

inte

llig

ence

371

037

032

2

020

0

38

0

38

0

140

24

20

070

27

20

27

Org

aniz

atio

nal

size

247

2954

259

20

012

001

20

010

050

21

011

005

008

021

2

007

Ten

ure

in

organ

izat

ion

114

79

130

022

024

0

120

21

017

006

005

004

010

20

050

03

Age

466

39

242

001

20

190

030

120

31

021

0

150

170

150

100

170

43

Inco

me

256

054

014

20

020

26

006

031

0

172

010

022

2

011

001

016

013

025

Note

saT

wo-

tailed

test

s

p

005

p

001

p

0

001

Table IMeans standard

deviations andcorrelationsa

Emotionalintelligence

803

Job

per

form

Wit

hdrw

l

inte

nt

Alt

ruis

tic

beh

avio

r

Car

eer

com

mit

Job

invol

ve

Aff

ecti

ve

com

mit

Con

tin

com

mit

Job

sati

sfac

tion

Wor

k

fam

ily

conmacr

ict

b(t)

b(t

)b

(t)

b(t)

b(t

)b

(t)

b(t)

b(t)

b(t

)

Ste

p1

Org

aniz

a-

tion

alsi

ze0

00(0

01)

20

01(0

93)

001

(00

7)0

07(0

73)

015

(14

7)0

09(0

83)

005

(04

3)0

06(0

56)

019

(19

3)

Ten

ure

in

organ

iza-

tion

al2

009

(20

75)

20

10(2

087

)2

009

(20

87)

20

03(2

023

)0

20(1

76

)0

15(1

24)

019

(15

8)0

12(1

06)

018

(16

2)

Inco

me

016

(15

4)0

03(0

31)

018

(19

1)

005

(04

5)0

25(2

43

)

011

(10

8)2

016

(21

48)

013

(12

1)2

016

(21

59)

Age

006

(05

8)2

022

(21

94)

008

(08

7)0

27(2

53

)

006

(05

7)0

00(2

004

)0

00(0

00)

20

04(2

036

)2

003

(20

29)

R2

003

80

068

005

50

082

019

30

064

005

10

058

009

3

Ste

p2

Em

otio

nal

inte

llig

ence

032

(30

8)

20

20(2

193

)

054

(60

3)

034

(34

4)

004

(04

5)0

23(2

21

)

20

12(2

111

)0

32(3

12

)2

031

(23

20 )

DR

20

090

039

028

60

113

000

20

050

001

40

098

009

6

Ffo

rD

R2

949

371

36

41

118

3

019

487

123

970

991

R2

for

tota

l

equat

ion

013

50

107

034

10

195

019

50

114

006

50

155

018

9

Note

s

p

010

p

005

p

001

p

000

1

Table IIResults of hierarchicalregression analysis theinmacruence of emotionalintelligence on workattitudes behavior andoutcomes

JMP188

804

senior managers may encounter a higher level of job demands that result inwork-family conmacrict The results indicate that senior managers who have highemotional intelligence may better and more carefully handle the inherentwork-family conmacrict than those who have low emotional intelligence

H6 which states that emotionally intelligent senior managers will displayhigher levels of altruistic behavior was strongly supported (b = 054p 0001) In addition H7 which states that emotional intelligence will benegatively related to withdrawal intentions from the organization and H8which states that emotionally intelligent senior managers will perform the jobbetter than senior managers with low emotional intelligence were supported(b = 2 020 p 010 b = 032 p 001 respectively) These results indicatethat emotional intelligence is an important predictor of both contextualperformance and task performance Note however that H9 which states thatthe higher a senior manager is on emotional intelligence the weaker will be thenegative effect of work-family conmacrict on job satisfaction was not supported(see Table III) The interactive effect of work-family conmacrict and emotionalintelligence on job satisfaction was not signiregcant (b = 003 p = ns)

H10 postulated that the higher a senior manager is on emotionalintelligence the weaker will be the negative effect of work-family conmacrict oncareer commitment The interactive effect of work-family conmacrict andemotional intelligence on career commitment was signiregcant at the 005 level(see Table III) and explained an additional 34 percent of explained variance inthe career commitment

In accordance with convention for plotting interactions (Aiken and West1991 Cohen and Cohen 1983) the cut values for the high and low states on themoderator variable (emotional intelligence) were plus and minus one standarddeviation from the mean Figure 1 presents the interaction of work-familyconmacrict and emotional intelligence in predicting career commitment As shown

Job satisfaction Career commitmentb R 2 DR 2 b R 2 DR 2

Step 1Organizational size 003 004Tenure in organization 014 002Income 016 002

Age 2 005 0058 0058 020 0048 0048Step 2Work-family conmacrict (WF) 2 005 2 009Emotional intelligence (EI) 030 0157 0097 037 0205 0156

Step 3EI pound WF 003 0158 0001 021 0239 0034

Notes p 010 p 005 p 001 p 0001

Table IIIResults of the

moderating role ofemotional intelligence

(EI)

Emotionalintelligence

805

in Figure 1 the interaction of emotional intelligence with work-family conmacrictaffects both the strength and direction of this relationship For senior managerswho are low on emotional intelligence there is a strong positive relationshipand for those who are high on emotional intelligence there is a moderatenegative relationship That is when senior managers with low emotionalintelligence experience high work-family conmacrict they manage to maintainhigh career commitment When highly emotionally intelligent senior managersexperience high work-conmacrict they reduce their career commitment to a morereasonable level to deal with work-family conmacrict

DiscussionThe major goal of this study was to examine the extent to which a criticalcomponent of managerial skills - emotional intelligence - augments positivework attitudes and the contextual and task performance of senior managersemployed in a public sector setting This study advances the literaturepertaining to emotional intelligence by empirically demonstrating theimportance of emotional intelligence for developing positive work-relatedattitudes and contextual and task performance

These regndings are especially of importance for organizations whichrecognize the critical role the top management team plays in their success (seeFinkelstein and Hambrick 1996 Hambrick and Mason 1984) Theeffectiveness of the top management team is a function inter alia of themanagement skills (Whetten and Cameron 2001) possessed by the seniormanagers from which it is comprised Skills of managing people are of uniqueimportance for the creation of effective management and leadership andemotional intelligence as ordfthe subset of social intelligenceordm (Salovey and Mayer1989-1990) may be the most critical component of this class of skills Hencehaving senior executives with high emotional intelligence is a necessity forattaining sustainable results

This study went beyond the simple premise of the importance of emotionalintelligence to demonstrate the extent to which the latter augments favorableattitudes and outcomes The results indicate for example that emotionallyintelligent senior managers develop emotional attachment to their

Figure 1Interaction betweenemotional intelligence(EI) and work-familyconmacrict (WF) predictingcareer commitment (CC)

JMP188

806

organizations and are also more committed to their career In addition regndingsalso indicate that emotionally intelligent senior managers tend to be moresatisreged with their work Retaining talented and knowledgeable seniormanagers becomes a major concern for many organizations Selecting seniormanagers who have high emotional intelligence may have a positive impact onthe extent to which an organization succeeds in retaining its most criticalworkforce Research regndings revealed that occupational commitment (Lee et al2000) and organizational commitment (Mathieu and Zajac 1990) aresigniregcantly related to withdrawal intentions and that job satisfaction andorganizational commitment are by far the main predictors of turnover (Griffethet al 2000) Interestingly however emotional intelligence was not signiregcantlyassociated with job involvement It may be that senior managers exhibit highinvolvement in their jobs because of the role itself which demands much timeand effort Another possible explanation is manifested by the relationshipbetween income and job involvement (b = 025 p 005) suggesting thateconomic factors inmacruence the subjective felt of job involvement Emotionalintelligence may help an individual to better handle demanding managerialwork Nevertheless we are still in need of further investigation regarding thefactors that foster an individualrsquos high level of involvement in her job (Brown1996)

Another important relationship examined in this study is the relationshipbetween emotional intelligence and work-family conmacrict Work-family policiesadopted and implemented by an organization may not provide the wholesolution especially with respect to family interference with work simplybecause employees have some responsibility in determining their own familybalance The results of this study advance the literature by indicating thatemotionally intelligent employees may better handle this conmacrict Anintegration of work-family programs and an emotionally intelligentworkforce can better attain the desired balance This study indicates thatcompared to emotionally intelligent senior managers low-emotionallyintelligent senior managers are not less able to be sensitive enough toacknowledge how work is affected by family matters and thus feel no need toreduce their career commitment Senior managers who are high on emotionalintelligence recognize having important responsibilities at work and at thesame time realize that they may neglect their family and their needs In otherwords they are equally sensitive to what they feel when they are consumedwith my work all the time This recognition help them balance their careercommitment to a healthy mid point (not very high but not very low either)Further examination of the interactive effect of work-family conmacrict andemotional intelligence on career commitment and job satisfaction revealed thatemotional intelligence moderated only the negative inmacruence of work-family oncareer commitment Clearly this regnding should receive further investigation

Emotionalintelligence

807

but it illuminate the kind of role emotional intelligence may play in therelationship of ordfwork stressordm and work attitudes

We found a direct and signiregcant relationship between emotionalintelligence and withdrawal intentions from the organization This intensiregesthe important role that emotional intelligence may have in retaining valuableorganization members The results of this study also indicate that emotionalintelligence augments both contextual (altruistic citizenship behavior) and taskperformance Contextual performance of senior managers is valued becausethe latter oftentimes serves as a ordfrole modelordm and ordfcharacterordm for theorganizationrsquos members to follow This process may have a positive effect onthe organization since organizational citizenship behavior has the potential forexample to enhance co-worker and managerial productivity freeing themanagement from work-related problems so that it can deal with moreproductive tasks and enhancing the sustainability of the organizationrsquosperformance In addition the regnding that emotionally intelligent seniormanagers perform better on the job provides clear evidence to the questionasked by Cherniss (2000) regarding ordfhow important it (emotional intelligence)is for effective performance at workordm and is consistent with Cavallo andBrienzarsquos regndings of a ordfstrong relationship between superior performingleaders and emotional competenceordm

Limitation and directions for future researchSeveral limitations constrain the interpretation and application of the studyrsquosregndings The aim of this study to explore the role of emotional intelligenceamong senior managers is also a weakness because it has not includednon-managerial employees Future studies may be beneregted from anexploration of a wider range of employees at different organizational levelsOne should also be cautious while generalizing the results of this study to othercultures or sectors Prospective research should be directed to exploredifferences among for-proregt governmental and not-for-proregt organizations

Validated and usable measures were employed to reduce the possibility ofbias in general method variance and data was collected from a large number oforganizational units to allow for better external validity and increasedgenerality of the results (Cook and Campbell 1979) Still the reader is cautionedto recognize the limitations of relying on self-reported data This may carry abias of general method variance As can be seen results of hierarchicalregressions provided a relatively small proportion of the explained variance ofthe dependent variables We also compared subjective-reported data toobjective data on organizational size and the comparison yielded no differenceAnd as Xie (1996) indicated there is no theoretical foundation to expect thatinteractions are associated with common method variance Future studies maybeneregt from a longitudinal research design One however must recognize thatcollecting data from a large number of organizations is problematic Finally

JMP188

808

this study used a relatively new measure of emotional intelligence and thoughstudies reported good reliability and evidence of validity it would be useful toconduct a study which compare results of this study with those used otheracceptable measures of emotional intelligence

Note

1 When this study was conducted the MSCEIT instrument was not available to the author

References

Abraham R (1999) ordfEmotional intelligence in organizations a conceptualizationordm GeneticSocial and General Psychology Monographs Vol 125 No 2 pp 209-24

Aiken LS and West SG (1991) Multiple Regression Testing and Interpreting InteractionsSage Newbury Park CA

Allen NJ and Meyer JP (1990) ordfThe measurement and antecedents of affective continuanceand normative commitment to the organizationordm Journal of Occupational PsychologyVol 63 pp 1-18

Allen NJ and Meyer JP (1996) ordfAffective continuance and normative commitment to theorganization an examination of construct validityordm Journal of Vocational Behavior Vol 49No 3 pp 252-76

Ashforth BE and Humphrey RH (1995) ordfEmotion in the workplace a reappraisalordm HumanRelations Vol 48 No 2 pp 97-125

Bar-On R (1996) The Emotional Quotient Inventory (EQ-i) A Test of Emotional IntelligenceMulti-Health Systems Toronto

Bar-On R and Parker JDA (2000) The Handbook of Emotional Intelligence TheoryDevelopment Assessment and Application at Home School and in the WorkplaceJossey-Bass San Francisco CA

Bar-On R Brown JM Kirkcaldy BD and Thome EP (2000) ordfEmotional expression andimplications for occupational stress an applicationordm Personality and IndividualDifferences Vol 28 pp 1107-18

Becker HS (1960) ordfNotes on the concept of commitmentordm American Journal of Sociology Vol 66No 1 pp 33-42

Black J and Porter L (1991) ordfManagerial behavior and job performance a successful managerin Los Angeles may not succeed in Hong Kongordm Journal of International Business StudiesVol 22 pp 99-114

Blau GJ (1985) ordfThe measurement and prediction of career commitmentordm Journal ofOccupational Psychology Vol 58 pp 277-88

Blood MR (1969) ordfWork values and job satisfactionordm Journal of Applied Psychology Vol 53pp 456-9

Boyatzis R Goleman D and Rhee K (2000) ordfClustering competence in emotional intelligenceinsights from the emotional competence inventory (ECI)ordm in Bar-On R and Parker JDA(Eds) Handbook of Emotional Intelligence Jossey-Bass San Francisco CA

Brown SP (1996) ordfA meta-analysis and review of organizational research on job involvementordmPsychological Bulletin Vol 120 No 2 pp 235-55

Carlson DS Kacmar MK and Williams LJ (2000) ordfConstruction and initial validations of amultidimensional measure of work-family conmacrictordm Journal of Vocational BehaviorVol 56 pp 249-76

Emotionalintelligence

809

Carmeli A (2002) ordfA conceptual and practical framework of measuring performance of localauthorities in regnancial terms analysing the case of Israelordm Local Government StudiesVol 28 No 1 pp 21-36

Cherniss C (2000) ordfordfEmotional intelligence what it is and why it mattersordm paper presented atthe Annual Meeting of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology NewOrleans LA April p 15

Ciarrochi J Chan AYC and Bajgar J (2001) ordfMeasuring emotional intelligence inadolescentsordm Personality and Individual Differences Vol 31 pp 1105-19

Ciarrochi J Chan AYC and Caputi P (2000) ordfA critical evaluation of the emotionalintelligence constructordm Personality and Individual Differences Vol 28 pp 539-61

Cohen J and Cohen P (1983) Applied Multiple RegressionCorrelation Analysis for theBehavioral Sciences Lawrence Erlbaum Hillsdale NJ

Cook TD and Campbell TD (1979) Quasi-Experimentation Design and Analytical Issues forField Settings Rand-McNally Chicago IL

Cooper RK and Sawaf A (1997) Executive EQ Emotional Intelligence in Leadership andOrganizations GrossetPutnam New York NY

Davies M Stankov L and Roberts R (1998) ordfEmotional intelligence in search of an elusiveconstructordm Journal of Personality and Social Psychology Vol 75 pp 989-1015

Dulewicz V and Higgs MJ (1999) Usersrsquo Guide for the Emotional Intelligence QuestionnaireNFER-Nelson Windsor

Dulewicz V and Higgs MJ (2000) ordfEmotional intelligence a review and evaluation studyordmJournal of Managerial Psychology Vol 15 No 4 pp 341-72

Finkelstein S and Hambrick D (1996) Strategic Leadership Top Executives and Their Effectson Organizations West Publishing Company St Paul MN

Furnham A (1990) The Protestant Work Ethic The Psychology of Work-Related Beliefs andBehaviors Routledge New York NY

GardnerH (1983) Frames of Mind The Theory of Multiple Intelligences Basic Books New YorkNY

George JM (2000) ordfEmotions and leadership the role of emotional intelligenceordm HumanRelations Vol 53 No 8 pp 1027-55

Goleman D (1995) Emotional Intelligence Why It Can Matter More than IQ Bantam BooksNew York NY

Goleman D (1998) Working with Emotional Intelligence Bantam Books New York NY

Goleman D (2001) ordfAn EI-based theory of performanceordm in Cherniss C and Goleman D (Eds)The Emotionally Intelligent Workplace How to Select for Measure and Improve EmotionalIntelligence in Individuals Groups and Organizations Jossey-Bass San Francisco CApp 27-44

Grandey AA (2000) ordfEmotion regulation in the workplace a new way to conceptualizeemotional laborordm Journal of Occupational Health Psychology Vol 5 No 1 pp 95-110

Greenhaus JH and Beutell NJ (1985) ordfSources of conmacrict between work and family rolesordmAcademy of Management Review Vol 10 No 1 pp 76-88

Griffeth RW Hom PW and Gaertner S (2000) ordfA meta-analysis of antecedents and correlatesof employee turnover update moderator test and research implications for the nextmillenniumordm Journal of Management Vol 26 No 3 pp 463-88

Hambrick DC and Mason PA (1984) ordfUpper echelons the organization as a remacrection of itstop managementordm Academy of Management Review Vol 9 pp 193-206

JMP188

810

regression analyses Each model had two steps The regrst step involvedentering the control variables and the second step involved entering theindependent variable

To examine the interaction hypotheses the variables were entered into theregression equations in three steps The control variables were entered in theregrst step In the second step we entered the ordfmain effectsordm (work-familyconmacrict and emotional intelligence) Finally the work-family conmacrict Xemotional intelligence product term variable was entered in the third step Bothvariables were mean-centered as is suggested for variables that are to beconstituents of product terms (Aiken and West 1991)

ResultsTable I reports the means standard deviations and correlation coefregcients ofvariables used in the analysis Though several variables are related Table Iindicates no severe problems of multicolinearity as none of the related variablesexceeded the value of 060 Furthermore we performed separate hierarchicalregressions for the effect of emotional intelligence on each one of the dependentvariables Table I also provides a preliminary support for the signiregcantrelationships between emotional intelligence and work attitudes workbehavior and work outcomes

Table II presents the results of hierarchical regression Emotionalintelligence was positively and signiregcantly related to job satisfaction(b = 032 p 001) supporting H1 This regnding is consistent with theargument according to which emotionally intelligent individuals are likely todisplay higher overall satisfaction in the workplace

Supporting H2a we provide evidence that when senior managers have highemotional intelligence they tend to develop high affective commitment(emotional attachment) to the organization for which they work (b = 023p 005) H2b on the other hand was not supported as the relationshipbetween emotional intelligence and continuance commitment was notsigniregcant (b = 2 012 p = ns) The beta coefregcient though not statisticallysigniregcant was in the expected direction

We found support for H3 Emotionally intelligent senior managers develophigh commitment toward their career (b = 034 p 0001) However contraryto H4 emotional intelligence was statistically unrelated to job involvement Itmay be that the involvement of senior managers is more complex than weassumed and is affected by other important factors not examined here Thoughno prediction was made we found that job involvement was signiregcantlyrelated to tenure in the organization (b = 020 p 010) as well as to grossincome (b = 025 p 005)

The results support H5 stating that senior managers who have highemotional intelligence are more likely to effectively control work-family conmacrict(b = 2 031 p 001) Compared to low and middle-level position employees

JMP188

802

Mea

ns

d

12

34

56

78

910

1112

13

Job

per

form

ance

561

078

100

Wit

hdra

wal

inte

nti

ons

from

an

organ

izat

ion

218

094

20

18

Alt

ruis

tic

beh

avio

r3

780

630

32

0

11

Car

eer

com

mit

men

t3

590

600

22

20

47

0

07

Job

invol

vem

ent

440

089

003

20

130

160

24

Aff

ecti

ve

com

mit

men

t4

730

880

31

20

39

0

160

42

0

48

Con

tinuan

ce

com

mit

men

t3

871

172

030

2

005

20

28

20

100

022

007

Job

sati

sfac

tion

374

051

045

2

038

031

0

39

0

27

055

2

029

Wor

k-f

amily

conmacr

ict

212

049

20

190

042

015

20

152

001

20

190

34

2

011

Em

otio

nal

inte

llig

ence

371

037

032

2

020

0

38

0

38

0

140

24

20

070

27

20

27

Org

aniz

atio

nal

size

247

2954

259

20

012

001

20

010

050

21

011

005

008

021

2

007

Ten

ure

in

organ

izat

ion

114

79

130

022

024

0

120

21

017

006

005

004

010

20

050

03

Age

466

39

242

001

20

190

030

120

31

021

0

150

170

150

100

170

43

Inco

me

256

054

014

20

020

26

006

031

0

172

010

022

2

011

001

016

013

025

Note

saT

wo-

tailed

test

s

p

005

p

001

p

0

001

Table IMeans standard

deviations andcorrelationsa

Emotionalintelligence

803

Job

per

form

Wit

hdrw

l

inte

nt

Alt

ruis

tic

beh

avio

r

Car

eer

com

mit

Job

invol

ve

Aff

ecti

ve

com

mit

Con

tin

com

mit

Job

sati

sfac

tion

Wor

k

fam

ily

conmacr

ict

b(t)

b(t

)b

(t)

b(t)

b(t

)b

(t)

b(t)

b(t)

b(t

)

Ste

p1

Org

aniz

a-

tion

alsi

ze0

00(0

01)

20

01(0

93)

001

(00

7)0

07(0

73)

015

(14

7)0

09(0

83)

005

(04

3)0

06(0

56)

019

(19

3)

Ten

ure

in

organ

iza-

tion

al2

009

(20

75)

20

10(2

087

)2

009

(20

87)

20

03(2

023

)0

20(1

76

)0

15(1

24)

019

(15

8)0

12(1

06)

018

(16

2)

Inco

me

016

(15

4)0

03(0

31)

018

(19

1)

005

(04

5)0

25(2

43

)

011

(10

8)2

016

(21

48)

013

(12

1)2

016

(21

59)

Age

006

(05

8)2

022

(21

94)

008

(08

7)0

27(2

53

)

006

(05

7)0

00(2

004

)0

00(0

00)

20

04(2

036

)2

003

(20

29)

R2

003

80

068

005

50

082

019

30

064

005

10

058

009

3

Ste

p2

Em

otio

nal

inte

llig

ence

032

(30

8)

20

20(2

193

)

054

(60

3)

034

(34

4)

004

(04

5)0

23(2

21

)

20

12(2

111

)0

32(3

12

)2

031

(23

20 )

DR

20

090

039

028

60

113

000

20

050

001

40

098

009

6

Ffo

rD

R2

949

371

36

41

118

3

019

487

123

970

991

R2

for

tota

l

equat

ion

013

50

107

034

10

195

019

50

114

006

50

155

018

9

Note

s

p

010

p

005

p

001

p

000

1

Table IIResults of hierarchicalregression analysis theinmacruence of emotionalintelligence on workattitudes behavior andoutcomes

JMP188

804

senior managers may encounter a higher level of job demands that result inwork-family conmacrict The results indicate that senior managers who have highemotional intelligence may better and more carefully handle the inherentwork-family conmacrict than those who have low emotional intelligence

H6 which states that emotionally intelligent senior managers will displayhigher levels of altruistic behavior was strongly supported (b = 054p 0001) In addition H7 which states that emotional intelligence will benegatively related to withdrawal intentions from the organization and H8which states that emotionally intelligent senior managers will perform the jobbetter than senior managers with low emotional intelligence were supported(b = 2 020 p 010 b = 032 p 001 respectively) These results indicatethat emotional intelligence is an important predictor of both contextualperformance and task performance Note however that H9 which states thatthe higher a senior manager is on emotional intelligence the weaker will be thenegative effect of work-family conmacrict on job satisfaction was not supported(see Table III) The interactive effect of work-family conmacrict and emotionalintelligence on job satisfaction was not signiregcant (b = 003 p = ns)

H10 postulated that the higher a senior manager is on emotionalintelligence the weaker will be the negative effect of work-family conmacrict oncareer commitment The interactive effect of work-family conmacrict andemotional intelligence on career commitment was signiregcant at the 005 level(see Table III) and explained an additional 34 percent of explained variance inthe career commitment

In accordance with convention for plotting interactions (Aiken and West1991 Cohen and Cohen 1983) the cut values for the high and low states on themoderator variable (emotional intelligence) were plus and minus one standarddeviation from the mean Figure 1 presents the interaction of work-familyconmacrict and emotional intelligence in predicting career commitment As shown

Job satisfaction Career commitmentb R 2 DR 2 b R 2 DR 2

Step 1Organizational size 003 004Tenure in organization 014 002Income 016 002

Age 2 005 0058 0058 020 0048 0048Step 2Work-family conmacrict (WF) 2 005 2 009Emotional intelligence (EI) 030 0157 0097 037 0205 0156

Step 3EI pound WF 003 0158 0001 021 0239 0034

Notes p 010 p 005 p 001 p 0001

Table IIIResults of the

moderating role ofemotional intelligence

(EI)

Emotionalintelligence

805

in Figure 1 the interaction of emotional intelligence with work-family conmacrictaffects both the strength and direction of this relationship For senior managerswho are low on emotional intelligence there is a strong positive relationshipand for those who are high on emotional intelligence there is a moderatenegative relationship That is when senior managers with low emotionalintelligence experience high work-family conmacrict they manage to maintainhigh career commitment When highly emotionally intelligent senior managersexperience high work-conmacrict they reduce their career commitment to a morereasonable level to deal with work-family conmacrict

DiscussionThe major goal of this study was to examine the extent to which a criticalcomponent of managerial skills - emotional intelligence - augments positivework attitudes and the contextual and task performance of senior managersemployed in a public sector setting This study advances the literaturepertaining to emotional intelligence by empirically demonstrating theimportance of emotional intelligence for developing positive work-relatedattitudes and contextual and task performance

These regndings are especially of importance for organizations whichrecognize the critical role the top management team plays in their success (seeFinkelstein and Hambrick 1996 Hambrick and Mason 1984) Theeffectiveness of the top management team is a function inter alia of themanagement skills (Whetten and Cameron 2001) possessed by the seniormanagers from which it is comprised Skills of managing people are of uniqueimportance for the creation of effective management and leadership andemotional intelligence as ordfthe subset of social intelligenceordm (Salovey and Mayer1989-1990) may be the most critical component of this class of skills Hencehaving senior executives with high emotional intelligence is a necessity forattaining sustainable results

This study went beyond the simple premise of the importance of emotionalintelligence to demonstrate the extent to which the latter augments favorableattitudes and outcomes The results indicate for example that emotionallyintelligent senior managers develop emotional attachment to their

Figure 1Interaction betweenemotional intelligence(EI) and work-familyconmacrict (WF) predictingcareer commitment (CC)

JMP188

806

organizations and are also more committed to their career In addition regndingsalso indicate that emotionally intelligent senior managers tend to be moresatisreged with their work Retaining talented and knowledgeable seniormanagers becomes a major concern for many organizations Selecting seniormanagers who have high emotional intelligence may have a positive impact onthe extent to which an organization succeeds in retaining its most criticalworkforce Research regndings revealed that occupational commitment (Lee et al2000) and organizational commitment (Mathieu and Zajac 1990) aresigniregcantly related to withdrawal intentions and that job satisfaction andorganizational commitment are by far the main predictors of turnover (Griffethet al 2000) Interestingly however emotional intelligence was not signiregcantlyassociated with job involvement It may be that senior managers exhibit highinvolvement in their jobs because of the role itself which demands much timeand effort Another possible explanation is manifested by the relationshipbetween income and job involvement (b = 025 p 005) suggesting thateconomic factors inmacruence the subjective felt of job involvement Emotionalintelligence may help an individual to better handle demanding managerialwork Nevertheless we are still in need of further investigation regarding thefactors that foster an individualrsquos high level of involvement in her job (Brown1996)

Another important relationship examined in this study is the relationshipbetween emotional intelligence and work-family conmacrict Work-family policiesadopted and implemented by an organization may not provide the wholesolution especially with respect to family interference with work simplybecause employees have some responsibility in determining their own familybalance The results of this study advance the literature by indicating thatemotionally intelligent employees may better handle this conmacrict Anintegration of work-family programs and an emotionally intelligentworkforce can better attain the desired balance This study indicates thatcompared to emotionally intelligent senior managers low-emotionallyintelligent senior managers are not less able to be sensitive enough toacknowledge how work is affected by family matters and thus feel no need toreduce their career commitment Senior managers who are high on emotionalintelligence recognize having important responsibilities at work and at thesame time realize that they may neglect their family and their needs In otherwords they are equally sensitive to what they feel when they are consumedwith my work all the time This recognition help them balance their careercommitment to a healthy mid point (not very high but not very low either)Further examination of the interactive effect of work-family conmacrict andemotional intelligence on career commitment and job satisfaction revealed thatemotional intelligence moderated only the negative inmacruence of work-family oncareer commitment Clearly this regnding should receive further investigation

Emotionalintelligence

807

but it illuminate the kind of role emotional intelligence may play in therelationship of ordfwork stressordm and work attitudes

We found a direct and signiregcant relationship between emotionalintelligence and withdrawal intentions from the organization This intensiregesthe important role that emotional intelligence may have in retaining valuableorganization members The results of this study also indicate that emotionalintelligence augments both contextual (altruistic citizenship behavior) and taskperformance Contextual performance of senior managers is valued becausethe latter oftentimes serves as a ordfrole modelordm and ordfcharacterordm for theorganizationrsquos members to follow This process may have a positive effect onthe organization since organizational citizenship behavior has the potential forexample to enhance co-worker and managerial productivity freeing themanagement from work-related problems so that it can deal with moreproductive tasks and enhancing the sustainability of the organizationrsquosperformance In addition the regnding that emotionally intelligent seniormanagers perform better on the job provides clear evidence to the questionasked by Cherniss (2000) regarding ordfhow important it (emotional intelligence)is for effective performance at workordm and is consistent with Cavallo andBrienzarsquos regndings of a ordfstrong relationship between superior performingleaders and emotional competenceordm

Limitation and directions for future researchSeveral limitations constrain the interpretation and application of the studyrsquosregndings The aim of this study to explore the role of emotional intelligenceamong senior managers is also a weakness because it has not includednon-managerial employees Future studies may be beneregted from anexploration of a wider range of employees at different organizational levelsOne should also be cautious while generalizing the results of this study to othercultures or sectors Prospective research should be directed to exploredifferences among for-proregt governmental and not-for-proregt organizations

Validated and usable measures were employed to reduce the possibility ofbias in general method variance and data was collected from a large number oforganizational units to allow for better external validity and increasedgenerality of the results (Cook and Campbell 1979) Still the reader is cautionedto recognize the limitations of relying on self-reported data This may carry abias of general method variance As can be seen results of hierarchicalregressions provided a relatively small proportion of the explained variance ofthe dependent variables We also compared subjective-reported data toobjective data on organizational size and the comparison yielded no differenceAnd as Xie (1996) indicated there is no theoretical foundation to expect thatinteractions are associated with common method variance Future studies maybeneregt from a longitudinal research design One however must recognize thatcollecting data from a large number of organizations is problematic Finally

JMP188

808

this study used a relatively new measure of emotional intelligence and thoughstudies reported good reliability and evidence of validity it would be useful toconduct a study which compare results of this study with those used otheracceptable measures of emotional intelligence

Note

1 When this study was conducted the MSCEIT instrument was not available to the author

References

Abraham R (1999) ordfEmotional intelligence in organizations a conceptualizationordm GeneticSocial and General Psychology Monographs Vol 125 No 2 pp 209-24

Aiken LS and West SG (1991) Multiple Regression Testing and Interpreting InteractionsSage Newbury Park CA

Allen NJ and Meyer JP (1990) ordfThe measurement and antecedents of affective continuanceand normative commitment to the organizationordm Journal of Occupational PsychologyVol 63 pp 1-18

Allen NJ and Meyer JP (1996) ordfAffective continuance and normative commitment to theorganization an examination of construct validityordm Journal of Vocational Behavior Vol 49No 3 pp 252-76

Ashforth BE and Humphrey RH (1995) ordfEmotion in the workplace a reappraisalordm HumanRelations Vol 48 No 2 pp 97-125

Bar-On R (1996) The Emotional Quotient Inventory (EQ-i) A Test of Emotional IntelligenceMulti-Health Systems Toronto

Bar-On R and Parker JDA (2000) The Handbook of Emotional Intelligence TheoryDevelopment Assessment and Application at Home School and in the WorkplaceJossey-Bass San Francisco CA

Bar-On R Brown JM Kirkcaldy BD and Thome EP (2000) ordfEmotional expression andimplications for occupational stress an applicationordm Personality and IndividualDifferences Vol 28 pp 1107-18

Becker HS (1960) ordfNotes on the concept of commitmentordm American Journal of Sociology Vol 66No 1 pp 33-42

Black J and Porter L (1991) ordfManagerial behavior and job performance a successful managerin Los Angeles may not succeed in Hong Kongordm Journal of International Business StudiesVol 22 pp 99-114

Blau GJ (1985) ordfThe measurement and prediction of career commitmentordm Journal ofOccupational Psychology Vol 58 pp 277-88

Blood MR (1969) ordfWork values and job satisfactionordm Journal of Applied Psychology Vol 53pp 456-9

Boyatzis R Goleman D and Rhee K (2000) ordfClustering competence in emotional intelligenceinsights from the emotional competence inventory (ECI)ordm in Bar-On R and Parker JDA(Eds) Handbook of Emotional Intelligence Jossey-Bass San Francisco CA

Brown SP (1996) ordfA meta-analysis and review of organizational research on job involvementordmPsychological Bulletin Vol 120 No 2 pp 235-55

Carlson DS Kacmar MK and Williams LJ (2000) ordfConstruction and initial validations of amultidimensional measure of work-family conmacrictordm Journal of Vocational BehaviorVol 56 pp 249-76

Emotionalintelligence

809

Carmeli A (2002) ordfA conceptual and practical framework of measuring performance of localauthorities in regnancial terms analysing the case of Israelordm Local Government StudiesVol 28 No 1 pp 21-36

Cherniss C (2000) ordfordfEmotional intelligence what it is and why it mattersordm paper presented atthe Annual Meeting of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology NewOrleans LA April p 15

Ciarrochi J Chan AYC and Bajgar J (2001) ordfMeasuring emotional intelligence inadolescentsordm Personality and Individual Differences Vol 31 pp 1105-19

Ciarrochi J Chan AYC and Caputi P (2000) ordfA critical evaluation of the emotionalintelligence constructordm Personality and Individual Differences Vol 28 pp 539-61

Cohen J and Cohen P (1983) Applied Multiple RegressionCorrelation Analysis for theBehavioral Sciences Lawrence Erlbaum Hillsdale NJ

Cook TD and Campbell TD (1979) Quasi-Experimentation Design and Analytical Issues forField Settings Rand-McNally Chicago IL

Cooper RK and Sawaf A (1997) Executive EQ Emotional Intelligence in Leadership andOrganizations GrossetPutnam New York NY

Davies M Stankov L and Roberts R (1998) ordfEmotional intelligence in search of an elusiveconstructordm Journal of Personality and Social Psychology Vol 75 pp 989-1015

Dulewicz V and Higgs MJ (1999) Usersrsquo Guide for the Emotional Intelligence QuestionnaireNFER-Nelson Windsor

Dulewicz V and Higgs MJ (2000) ordfEmotional intelligence a review and evaluation studyordmJournal of Managerial Psychology Vol 15 No 4 pp 341-72

Finkelstein S and Hambrick D (1996) Strategic Leadership Top Executives and Their Effectson Organizations West Publishing Company St Paul MN

Furnham A (1990) The Protestant Work Ethic The Psychology of Work-Related Beliefs andBehaviors Routledge New York NY

GardnerH (1983) Frames of Mind The Theory of Multiple Intelligences Basic Books New YorkNY

George JM (2000) ordfEmotions and leadership the role of emotional intelligenceordm HumanRelations Vol 53 No 8 pp 1027-55

Goleman D (1995) Emotional Intelligence Why It Can Matter More than IQ Bantam BooksNew York NY

Goleman D (1998) Working with Emotional Intelligence Bantam Books New York NY

Goleman D (2001) ordfAn EI-based theory of performanceordm in Cherniss C and Goleman D (Eds)The Emotionally Intelligent Workplace How to Select for Measure and Improve EmotionalIntelligence in Individuals Groups and Organizations Jossey-Bass San Francisco CApp 27-44

Grandey AA (2000) ordfEmotion regulation in the workplace a new way to conceptualizeemotional laborordm Journal of Occupational Health Psychology Vol 5 No 1 pp 95-110

Greenhaus JH and Beutell NJ (1985) ordfSources of conmacrict between work and family rolesordmAcademy of Management Review Vol 10 No 1 pp 76-88

Griffeth RW Hom PW and Gaertner S (2000) ordfA meta-analysis of antecedents and correlatesof employee turnover update moderator test and research implications for the nextmillenniumordm Journal of Management Vol 26 No 3 pp 463-88

Hambrick DC and Mason PA (1984) ordfUpper echelons the organization as a remacrection of itstop managementordm Academy of Management Review Vol 9 pp 193-206

JMP188

810

Mea

ns

d

12

34

56

78

910

1112

13

Job

per

form

ance

561

078

100

Wit

hdra

wal

inte

nti

ons

from

an

organ

izat

ion

218

094

20

18

Alt

ruis

tic

beh

avio

r3

780

630

32

0

11

Car

eer

com

mit

men

t3

590

600

22

20

47

0

07

Job

invol

vem

ent

440

089

003

20

130

160

24

Aff

ecti

ve

com

mit

men

t4

730

880

31

20

39

0

160

42

0

48

Con

tinuan

ce

com

mit

men

t3

871

172

030

2

005

20

28

20

100

022

007

Job

sati

sfac

tion

374

051

045

2

038

031

0

39

0

27

055

2

029

Wor

k-f

amily

conmacr

ict

212

049

20

190

042

015

20

152

001

20

190

34

2

011

Em

otio

nal

inte

llig

ence

371

037

032

2

020

0

38

0

38

0

140

24

20

070

27

20

27

Org

aniz

atio

nal

size

247

2954

259

20

012

001

20

010

050

21

011

005

008

021

2

007

Ten

ure

in

organ

izat

ion

114

79

130

022

024

0

120

21

017

006

005

004

010

20

050

03

Age

466

39

242

001

20

190

030

120

31

021

0

150

170

150

100

170

43

Inco

me

256

054

014

20

020

26

006

031

0

172

010

022

2

011

001

016

013

025

Note

saT

wo-

tailed

test

s

p

005

p

001

p

0

001

Table IMeans standard

deviations andcorrelationsa

Emotionalintelligence

803

Job

per

form

Wit

hdrw

l

inte

nt

Alt

ruis

tic

beh

avio

r

Car

eer

com

mit

Job

invol

ve

Aff

ecti

ve

com

mit

Con

tin

com

mit

Job

sati

sfac

tion

Wor

k

fam

ily

conmacr

ict

b(t)

b(t

)b

(t)

b(t)

b(t

)b

(t)

b(t)

b(t)

b(t

)

Ste

p1

Org

aniz

a-

tion

alsi

ze0

00(0

01)

20

01(0

93)

001

(00

7)0

07(0

73)

015

(14

7)0

09(0

83)

005

(04

3)0

06(0

56)

019

(19

3)

Ten

ure

in

organ

iza-

tion

al2

009

(20

75)

20

10(2

087

)2

009

(20

87)

20

03(2

023

)0

20(1

76

)0

15(1

24)

019

(15

8)0

12(1

06)

018

(16

2)

Inco

me

016

(15

4)0

03(0

31)

018

(19

1)

005

(04

5)0

25(2

43

)

011

(10

8)2

016

(21

48)

013

(12

1)2

016

(21

59)

Age

006

(05

8)2

022

(21

94)

008

(08

7)0

27(2

53

)

006

(05

7)0

00(2

004

)0

00(0

00)

20

04(2

036

)2

003

(20

29)

R2

003

80

068

005

50

082

019

30

064

005

10

058

009

3

Ste

p2

Em

otio

nal

inte

llig

ence

032

(30

8)

20

20(2

193

)

054

(60

3)

034

(34

4)

004

(04

5)0

23(2

21

)

20

12(2

111

)0

32(3

12

)2

031

(23

20 )

DR

20

090

039

028

60

113

000

20

050

001

40

098

009

6

Ffo

rD

R2

949

371

36

41

118

3

019

487

123

970

991

R2

for

tota

l

equat

ion

013

50

107

034

10

195

019

50

114

006

50

155

018

9

Note

s

p

010

p

005

p

001

p

000

1

Table IIResults of hierarchicalregression analysis theinmacruence of emotionalintelligence on workattitudes behavior andoutcomes

JMP188

804

senior managers may encounter a higher level of job demands that result inwork-family conmacrict The results indicate that senior managers who have highemotional intelligence may better and more carefully handle the inherentwork-family conmacrict than those who have low emotional intelligence

H6 which states that emotionally intelligent senior managers will displayhigher levels of altruistic behavior was strongly supported (b = 054p 0001) In addition H7 which states that emotional intelligence will benegatively related to withdrawal intentions from the organization and H8which states that emotionally intelligent senior managers will perform the jobbetter than senior managers with low emotional intelligence were supported(b = 2 020 p 010 b = 032 p 001 respectively) These results indicatethat emotional intelligence is an important predictor of both contextualperformance and task performance Note however that H9 which states thatthe higher a senior manager is on emotional intelligence the weaker will be thenegative effect of work-family conmacrict on job satisfaction was not supported(see Table III) The interactive effect of work-family conmacrict and emotionalintelligence on job satisfaction was not signiregcant (b = 003 p = ns)

H10 postulated that the higher a senior manager is on emotionalintelligence the weaker will be the negative effect of work-family conmacrict oncareer commitment The interactive effect of work-family conmacrict andemotional intelligence on career commitment was signiregcant at the 005 level(see Table III) and explained an additional 34 percent of explained variance inthe career commitment

In accordance with convention for plotting interactions (Aiken and West1991 Cohen and Cohen 1983) the cut values for the high and low states on themoderator variable (emotional intelligence) were plus and minus one standarddeviation from the mean Figure 1 presents the interaction of work-familyconmacrict and emotional intelligence in predicting career commitment As shown

Job satisfaction Career commitmentb R 2 DR 2 b R 2 DR 2

Step 1Organizational size 003 004Tenure in organization 014 002Income 016 002

Age 2 005 0058 0058 020 0048 0048Step 2Work-family conmacrict (WF) 2 005 2 009Emotional intelligence (EI) 030 0157 0097 037 0205 0156

Step 3EI pound WF 003 0158 0001 021 0239 0034

Notes p 010 p 005 p 001 p 0001

Table IIIResults of the

moderating role ofemotional intelligence

(EI)

Emotionalintelligence

805

in Figure 1 the interaction of emotional intelligence with work-family conmacrictaffects both the strength and direction of this relationship For senior managerswho are low on emotional intelligence there is a strong positive relationshipand for those who are high on emotional intelligence there is a moderatenegative relationship That is when senior managers with low emotionalintelligence experience high work-family conmacrict they manage to maintainhigh career commitment When highly emotionally intelligent senior managersexperience high work-conmacrict they reduce their career commitment to a morereasonable level to deal with work-family conmacrict

DiscussionThe major goal of this study was to examine the extent to which a criticalcomponent of managerial skills - emotional intelligence - augments positivework attitudes and the contextual and task performance of senior managersemployed in a public sector setting This study advances the literaturepertaining to emotional intelligence by empirically demonstrating theimportance of emotional intelligence for developing positive work-relatedattitudes and contextual and task performance

These regndings are especially of importance for organizations whichrecognize the critical role the top management team plays in their success (seeFinkelstein and Hambrick 1996 Hambrick and Mason 1984) Theeffectiveness of the top management team is a function inter alia of themanagement skills (Whetten and Cameron 2001) possessed by the seniormanagers from which it is comprised Skills of managing people are of uniqueimportance for the creation of effective management and leadership andemotional intelligence as ordfthe subset of social intelligenceordm (Salovey and Mayer1989-1990) may be the most critical component of this class of skills Hencehaving senior executives with high emotional intelligence is a necessity forattaining sustainable results

This study went beyond the simple premise of the importance of emotionalintelligence to demonstrate the extent to which the latter augments favorableattitudes and outcomes The results indicate for example that emotionallyintelligent senior managers develop emotional attachment to their

Figure 1Interaction betweenemotional intelligence(EI) and work-familyconmacrict (WF) predictingcareer commitment (CC)

JMP188

806

organizations and are also more committed to their career In addition regndingsalso indicate that emotionally intelligent senior managers tend to be moresatisreged with their work Retaining talented and knowledgeable seniormanagers becomes a major concern for many organizations Selecting seniormanagers who have high emotional intelligence may have a positive impact onthe extent to which an organization succeeds in retaining its most criticalworkforce Research regndings revealed that occupational commitment (Lee et al2000) and organizational commitment (Mathieu and Zajac 1990) aresigniregcantly related to withdrawal intentions and that job satisfaction andorganizational commitment are by far the main predictors of turnover (Griffethet al 2000) Interestingly however emotional intelligence was not signiregcantlyassociated with job involvement It may be that senior managers exhibit highinvolvement in their jobs because of the role itself which demands much timeand effort Another possible explanation is manifested by the relationshipbetween income and job involvement (b = 025 p 005) suggesting thateconomic factors inmacruence the subjective felt of job involvement Emotionalintelligence may help an individual to better handle demanding managerialwork Nevertheless we are still in need of further investigation regarding thefactors that foster an individualrsquos high level of involvement in her job (Brown1996)

Another important relationship examined in this study is the relationshipbetween emotional intelligence and work-family conmacrict Work-family policiesadopted and implemented by an organization may not provide the wholesolution especially with respect to family interference with work simplybecause employees have some responsibility in determining their own familybalance The results of this study advance the literature by indicating thatemotionally intelligent employees may better handle this conmacrict Anintegration of work-family programs and an emotionally intelligentworkforce can better attain the desired balance This study indicates thatcompared to emotionally intelligent senior managers low-emotionallyintelligent senior managers are not less able to be sensitive enough toacknowledge how work is affected by family matters and thus feel no need toreduce their career commitment Senior managers who are high on emotionalintelligence recognize having important responsibilities at work and at thesame time realize that they may neglect their family and their needs In otherwords they are equally sensitive to what they feel when they are consumedwith my work all the time This recognition help them balance their careercommitment to a healthy mid point (not very high but not very low either)Further examination of the interactive effect of work-family conmacrict andemotional intelligence on career commitment and job satisfaction revealed thatemotional intelligence moderated only the negative inmacruence of work-family oncareer commitment Clearly this regnding should receive further investigation

Emotionalintelligence

807

but it illuminate the kind of role emotional intelligence may play in therelationship of ordfwork stressordm and work attitudes

We found a direct and signiregcant relationship between emotionalintelligence and withdrawal intentions from the organization This intensiregesthe important role that emotional intelligence may have in retaining valuableorganization members The results of this study also indicate that emotionalintelligence augments both contextual (altruistic citizenship behavior) and taskperformance Contextual performance of senior managers is valued becausethe latter oftentimes serves as a ordfrole modelordm and ordfcharacterordm for theorganizationrsquos members to follow This process may have a positive effect onthe organization since organizational citizenship behavior has the potential forexample to enhance co-worker and managerial productivity freeing themanagement from work-related problems so that it can deal with moreproductive tasks and enhancing the sustainability of the organizationrsquosperformance In addition the regnding that emotionally intelligent seniormanagers perform better on the job provides clear evidence to the questionasked by Cherniss (2000) regarding ordfhow important it (emotional intelligence)is for effective performance at workordm and is consistent with Cavallo andBrienzarsquos regndings of a ordfstrong relationship between superior performingleaders and emotional competenceordm

Limitation and directions for future researchSeveral limitations constrain the interpretation and application of the studyrsquosregndings The aim of this study to explore the role of emotional intelligenceamong senior managers is also a weakness because it has not includednon-managerial employees Future studies may be beneregted from anexploration of a wider range of employees at different organizational levelsOne should also be cautious while generalizing the results of this study to othercultures or sectors Prospective research should be directed to exploredifferences among for-proregt governmental and not-for-proregt organizations

Validated and usable measures were employed to reduce the possibility ofbias in general method variance and data was collected from a large number oforganizational units to allow for better external validity and increasedgenerality of the results (Cook and Campbell 1979) Still the reader is cautionedto recognize the limitations of relying on self-reported data This may carry abias of general method variance As can be seen results of hierarchicalregressions provided a relatively small proportion of the explained variance ofthe dependent variables We also compared subjective-reported data toobjective data on organizational size and the comparison yielded no differenceAnd as Xie (1996) indicated there is no theoretical foundation to expect thatinteractions are associated with common method variance Future studies maybeneregt from a longitudinal research design One however must recognize thatcollecting data from a large number of organizations is problematic Finally

JMP188

808

this study used a relatively new measure of emotional intelligence and thoughstudies reported good reliability and evidence of validity it would be useful toconduct a study which compare results of this study with those used otheracceptable measures of emotional intelligence

Note

1 When this study was conducted the MSCEIT instrument was not available to the author

References

Abraham R (1999) ordfEmotional intelligence in organizations a conceptualizationordm GeneticSocial and General Psychology Monographs Vol 125 No 2 pp 209-24

Aiken LS and West SG (1991) Multiple Regression Testing and Interpreting InteractionsSage Newbury Park CA

Allen NJ and Meyer JP (1990) ordfThe measurement and antecedents of affective continuanceand normative commitment to the organizationordm Journal of Occupational PsychologyVol 63 pp 1-18

Allen NJ and Meyer JP (1996) ordfAffective continuance and normative commitment to theorganization an examination of construct validityordm Journal of Vocational Behavior Vol 49No 3 pp 252-76

Ashforth BE and Humphrey RH (1995) ordfEmotion in the workplace a reappraisalordm HumanRelations Vol 48 No 2 pp 97-125

Bar-On R (1996) The Emotional Quotient Inventory (EQ-i) A Test of Emotional IntelligenceMulti-Health Systems Toronto

Bar-On R and Parker JDA (2000) The Handbook of Emotional Intelligence TheoryDevelopment Assessment and Application at Home School and in the WorkplaceJossey-Bass San Francisco CA

Bar-On R Brown JM Kirkcaldy BD and Thome EP (2000) ordfEmotional expression andimplications for occupational stress an applicationordm Personality and IndividualDifferences Vol 28 pp 1107-18

Becker HS (1960) ordfNotes on the concept of commitmentordm American Journal of Sociology Vol 66No 1 pp 33-42

Black J and Porter L (1991) ordfManagerial behavior and job performance a successful managerin Los Angeles may not succeed in Hong Kongordm Journal of International Business StudiesVol 22 pp 99-114

Blau GJ (1985) ordfThe measurement and prediction of career commitmentordm Journal ofOccupational Psychology Vol 58 pp 277-88

Blood MR (1969) ordfWork values and job satisfactionordm Journal of Applied Psychology Vol 53pp 456-9

Boyatzis R Goleman D and Rhee K (2000) ordfClustering competence in emotional intelligenceinsights from the emotional competence inventory (ECI)ordm in Bar-On R and Parker JDA(Eds) Handbook of Emotional Intelligence Jossey-Bass San Francisco CA

Brown SP (1996) ordfA meta-analysis and review of organizational research on job involvementordmPsychological Bulletin Vol 120 No 2 pp 235-55

Carlson DS Kacmar MK and Williams LJ (2000) ordfConstruction and initial validations of amultidimensional measure of work-family conmacrictordm Journal of Vocational BehaviorVol 56 pp 249-76

Emotionalintelligence

809

Carmeli A (2002) ordfA conceptual and practical framework of measuring performance of localauthorities in regnancial terms analysing the case of Israelordm Local Government StudiesVol 28 No 1 pp 21-36

Cherniss C (2000) ordfordfEmotional intelligence what it is and why it mattersordm paper presented atthe Annual Meeting of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology NewOrleans LA April p 15

Ciarrochi J Chan AYC and Bajgar J (2001) ordfMeasuring emotional intelligence inadolescentsordm Personality and Individual Differences Vol 31 pp 1105-19

Ciarrochi J Chan AYC and Caputi P (2000) ordfA critical evaluation of the emotionalintelligence constructordm Personality and Individual Differences Vol 28 pp 539-61

Cohen J and Cohen P (1983) Applied Multiple RegressionCorrelation Analysis for theBehavioral Sciences Lawrence Erlbaum Hillsdale NJ

Cook TD and Campbell TD (1979) Quasi-Experimentation Design and Analytical Issues forField Settings Rand-McNally Chicago IL

Cooper RK and Sawaf A (1997) Executive EQ Emotional Intelligence in Leadership andOrganizations GrossetPutnam New York NY

Davies M Stankov L and Roberts R (1998) ordfEmotional intelligence in search of an elusiveconstructordm Journal of Personality and Social Psychology Vol 75 pp 989-1015

Dulewicz V and Higgs MJ (1999) Usersrsquo Guide for the Emotional Intelligence QuestionnaireNFER-Nelson Windsor

Dulewicz V and Higgs MJ (2000) ordfEmotional intelligence a review and evaluation studyordmJournal of Managerial Psychology Vol 15 No 4 pp 341-72

Finkelstein S and Hambrick D (1996) Strategic Leadership Top Executives and Their Effectson Organizations West Publishing Company St Paul MN

Furnham A (1990) The Protestant Work Ethic The Psychology of Work-Related Beliefs andBehaviors Routledge New York NY

GardnerH (1983) Frames of Mind The Theory of Multiple Intelligences Basic Books New YorkNY

George JM (2000) ordfEmotions and leadership the role of emotional intelligenceordm HumanRelations Vol 53 No 8 pp 1027-55

Goleman D (1995) Emotional Intelligence Why It Can Matter More than IQ Bantam BooksNew York NY

Goleman D (1998) Working with Emotional Intelligence Bantam Books New York NY

Goleman D (2001) ordfAn EI-based theory of performanceordm in Cherniss C and Goleman D (Eds)The Emotionally Intelligent Workplace How to Select for Measure and Improve EmotionalIntelligence in Individuals Groups and Organizations Jossey-Bass San Francisco CApp 27-44

Grandey AA (2000) ordfEmotion regulation in the workplace a new way to conceptualizeemotional laborordm Journal of Occupational Health Psychology Vol 5 No 1 pp 95-110

Greenhaus JH and Beutell NJ (1985) ordfSources of conmacrict between work and family rolesordmAcademy of Management Review Vol 10 No 1 pp 76-88

Griffeth RW Hom PW and Gaertner S (2000) ordfA meta-analysis of antecedents and correlatesof employee turnover update moderator test and research implications for the nextmillenniumordm Journal of Management Vol 26 No 3 pp 463-88

Hambrick DC and Mason PA (1984) ordfUpper echelons the organization as a remacrection of itstop managementordm Academy of Management Review Vol 9 pp 193-206

JMP188

810

Job

per

form

Wit

hdrw

l

inte

nt

Alt

ruis

tic

beh

avio

r

Car

eer

com

mit

Job

invol

ve

Aff

ecti

ve

com

mit

Con

tin

com

mit

Job

sati

sfac

tion

Wor

k

fam

ily

conmacr

ict

b(t)

b(t

)b

(t)

b(t)

b(t

)b

(t)

b(t)

b(t)

b(t

)

Ste

p1

Org

aniz

a-

tion

alsi

ze0

00(0

01)

20

01(0

93)

001

(00

7)0

07(0

73)

015

(14

7)0

09(0

83)

005

(04

3)0

06(0

56)

019

(19

3)

Ten

ure

in

organ

iza-

tion

al2

009

(20

75)

20

10(2

087

)2

009

(20

87)

20

03(2

023

)0

20(1

76

)0

15(1

24)

019

(15

8)0

12(1

06)

018

(16

2)

Inco

me

016

(15

4)0

03(0

31)

018

(19

1)

005

(04

5)0

25(2

43

)

011

(10

8)2

016

(21

48)

013

(12

1)2

016

(21

59)

Age

006

(05

8)2

022

(21

94)

008

(08

7)0

27(2

53

)

006

(05

7)0

00(2

004

)0

00(0

00)

20

04(2

036

)2

003

(20

29)

R2

003

80

068

005

50

082

019

30

064

005

10

058

009

3

Ste

p2

Em

otio

nal

inte

llig

ence

032

(30

8)

20

20(2

193

)

054

(60

3)

034

(34

4)

004

(04

5)0

23(2

21

)

20

12(2

111

)0

32(3

12

)2

031

(23

20 )

DR

20

090

039

028

60

113

000

20

050

001

40

098

009

6

Ffo

rD

R2

949

371

36

41

118

3

019

487

123

970

991

R2

for

tota

l

equat

ion

013

50

107

034

10

195

019

50

114

006

50

155

018

9

Note

s

p

010

p

005

p

001

p

000

1

Table IIResults of hierarchicalregression analysis theinmacruence of emotionalintelligence on workattitudes behavior andoutcomes

JMP188

804

senior managers may encounter a higher level of job demands that result inwork-family conmacrict The results indicate that senior managers who have highemotional intelligence may better and more carefully handle the inherentwork-family conmacrict than those who have low emotional intelligence

H6 which states that emotionally intelligent senior managers will displayhigher levels of altruistic behavior was strongly supported (b = 054p 0001) In addition H7 which states that emotional intelligence will benegatively related to withdrawal intentions from the organization and H8which states that emotionally intelligent senior managers will perform the jobbetter than senior managers with low emotional intelligence were supported(b = 2 020 p 010 b = 032 p 001 respectively) These results indicatethat emotional intelligence is an important predictor of both contextualperformance and task performance Note however that H9 which states thatthe higher a senior manager is on emotional intelligence the weaker will be thenegative effect of work-family conmacrict on job satisfaction was not supported(see Table III) The interactive effect of work-family conmacrict and emotionalintelligence on job satisfaction was not signiregcant (b = 003 p = ns)

H10 postulated that the higher a senior manager is on emotionalintelligence the weaker will be the negative effect of work-family conmacrict oncareer commitment The interactive effect of work-family conmacrict andemotional intelligence on career commitment was signiregcant at the 005 level(see Table III) and explained an additional 34 percent of explained variance inthe career commitment

In accordance with convention for plotting interactions (Aiken and West1991 Cohen and Cohen 1983) the cut values for the high and low states on themoderator variable (emotional intelligence) were plus and minus one standarddeviation from the mean Figure 1 presents the interaction of work-familyconmacrict and emotional intelligence in predicting career commitment As shown

Job satisfaction Career commitmentb R 2 DR 2 b R 2 DR 2

Step 1Organizational size 003 004Tenure in organization 014 002Income 016 002

Age 2 005 0058 0058 020 0048 0048Step 2Work-family conmacrict (WF) 2 005 2 009Emotional intelligence (EI) 030 0157 0097 037 0205 0156

Step 3EI pound WF 003 0158 0001 021 0239 0034

Notes p 010 p 005 p 001 p 0001

Table IIIResults of the

moderating role ofemotional intelligence

(EI)

Emotionalintelligence

805

in Figure 1 the interaction of emotional intelligence with work-family conmacrictaffects both the strength and direction of this relationship For senior managerswho are low on emotional intelligence there is a strong positive relationshipand for those who are high on emotional intelligence there is a moderatenegative relationship That is when senior managers with low emotionalintelligence experience high work-family conmacrict they manage to maintainhigh career commitment When highly emotionally intelligent senior managersexperience high work-conmacrict they reduce their career commitment to a morereasonable level to deal with work-family conmacrict

DiscussionThe major goal of this study was to examine the extent to which a criticalcomponent of managerial skills - emotional intelligence - augments positivework attitudes and the contextual and task performance of senior managersemployed in a public sector setting This study advances the literaturepertaining to emotional intelligence by empirically demonstrating theimportance of emotional intelligence for developing positive work-relatedattitudes and contextual and task performance

These regndings are especially of importance for organizations whichrecognize the critical role the top management team plays in their success (seeFinkelstein and Hambrick 1996 Hambrick and Mason 1984) Theeffectiveness of the top management team is a function inter alia of themanagement skills (Whetten and Cameron 2001) possessed by the seniormanagers from which it is comprised Skills of managing people are of uniqueimportance for the creation of effective management and leadership andemotional intelligence as ordfthe subset of social intelligenceordm (Salovey and Mayer1989-1990) may be the most critical component of this class of skills Hencehaving senior executives with high emotional intelligence is a necessity forattaining sustainable results

This study went beyond the simple premise of the importance of emotionalintelligence to demonstrate the extent to which the latter augments favorableattitudes and outcomes The results indicate for example that emotionallyintelligent senior managers develop emotional attachment to their

Figure 1Interaction betweenemotional intelligence(EI) and work-familyconmacrict (WF) predictingcareer commitment (CC)

JMP188

806

organizations and are also more committed to their career In addition regndingsalso indicate that emotionally intelligent senior managers tend to be moresatisreged with their work Retaining talented and knowledgeable seniormanagers becomes a major concern for many organizations Selecting seniormanagers who have high emotional intelligence may have a positive impact onthe extent to which an organization succeeds in retaining its most criticalworkforce Research regndings revealed that occupational commitment (Lee et al2000) and organizational commitment (Mathieu and Zajac 1990) aresigniregcantly related to withdrawal intentions and that job satisfaction andorganizational commitment are by far the main predictors of turnover (Griffethet al 2000) Interestingly however emotional intelligence was not signiregcantlyassociated with job involvement It may be that senior managers exhibit highinvolvement in their jobs because of the role itself which demands much timeand effort Another possible explanation is manifested by the relationshipbetween income and job involvement (b = 025 p 005) suggesting thateconomic factors inmacruence the subjective felt of job involvement Emotionalintelligence may help an individual to better handle demanding managerialwork Nevertheless we are still in need of further investigation regarding thefactors that foster an individualrsquos high level of involvement in her job (Brown1996)

Another important relationship examined in this study is the relationshipbetween emotional intelligence and work-family conmacrict Work-family policiesadopted and implemented by an organization may not provide the wholesolution especially with respect to family interference with work simplybecause employees have some responsibility in determining their own familybalance The results of this study advance the literature by indicating thatemotionally intelligent employees may better handle this conmacrict Anintegration of work-family programs and an emotionally intelligentworkforce can better attain the desired balance This study indicates thatcompared to emotionally intelligent senior managers low-emotionallyintelligent senior managers are not less able to be sensitive enough toacknowledge how work is affected by family matters and thus feel no need toreduce their career commitment Senior managers who are high on emotionalintelligence recognize having important responsibilities at work and at thesame time realize that they may neglect their family and their needs In otherwords they are equally sensitive to what they feel when they are consumedwith my work all the time This recognition help them balance their careercommitment to a healthy mid point (not very high but not very low either)Further examination of the interactive effect of work-family conmacrict andemotional intelligence on career commitment and job satisfaction revealed thatemotional intelligence moderated only the negative inmacruence of work-family oncareer commitment Clearly this regnding should receive further investigation

Emotionalintelligence

807

but it illuminate the kind of role emotional intelligence may play in therelationship of ordfwork stressordm and work attitudes

We found a direct and signiregcant relationship between emotionalintelligence and withdrawal intentions from the organization This intensiregesthe important role that emotional intelligence may have in retaining valuableorganization members The results of this study also indicate that emotionalintelligence augments both contextual (altruistic citizenship behavior) and taskperformance Contextual performance of senior managers is valued becausethe latter oftentimes serves as a ordfrole modelordm and ordfcharacterordm for theorganizationrsquos members to follow This process may have a positive effect onthe organization since organizational citizenship behavior has the potential forexample to enhance co-worker and managerial productivity freeing themanagement from work-related problems so that it can deal with moreproductive tasks and enhancing the sustainability of the organizationrsquosperformance In addition the regnding that emotionally intelligent seniormanagers perform better on the job provides clear evidence to the questionasked by Cherniss (2000) regarding ordfhow important it (emotional intelligence)is for effective performance at workordm and is consistent with Cavallo andBrienzarsquos regndings of a ordfstrong relationship between superior performingleaders and emotional competenceordm

Limitation and directions for future researchSeveral limitations constrain the interpretation and application of the studyrsquosregndings The aim of this study to explore the role of emotional intelligenceamong senior managers is also a weakness because it has not includednon-managerial employees Future studies may be beneregted from anexploration of a wider range of employees at different organizational levelsOne should also be cautious while generalizing the results of this study to othercultures or sectors Prospective research should be directed to exploredifferences among for-proregt governmental and not-for-proregt organizations

Validated and usable measures were employed to reduce the possibility ofbias in general method variance and data was collected from a large number oforganizational units to allow for better external validity and increasedgenerality of the results (Cook and Campbell 1979) Still the reader is cautionedto recognize the limitations of relying on self-reported data This may carry abias of general method variance As can be seen results of hierarchicalregressions provided a relatively small proportion of the explained variance ofthe dependent variables We also compared subjective-reported data toobjective data on organizational size and the comparison yielded no differenceAnd as Xie (1996) indicated there is no theoretical foundation to expect thatinteractions are associated with common method variance Future studies maybeneregt from a longitudinal research design One however must recognize thatcollecting data from a large number of organizations is problematic Finally

JMP188

808

this study used a relatively new measure of emotional intelligence and thoughstudies reported good reliability and evidence of validity it would be useful toconduct a study which compare results of this study with those used otheracceptable measures of emotional intelligence

Note

1 When this study was conducted the MSCEIT instrument was not available to the author

References

Abraham R (1999) ordfEmotional intelligence in organizations a conceptualizationordm GeneticSocial and General Psychology Monographs Vol 125 No 2 pp 209-24

Aiken LS and West SG (1991) Multiple Regression Testing and Interpreting InteractionsSage Newbury Park CA

Allen NJ and Meyer JP (1990) ordfThe measurement and antecedents of affective continuanceand normative commitment to the organizationordm Journal of Occupational PsychologyVol 63 pp 1-18

Allen NJ and Meyer JP (1996) ordfAffective continuance and normative commitment to theorganization an examination of construct validityordm Journal of Vocational Behavior Vol 49No 3 pp 252-76

Ashforth BE and Humphrey RH (1995) ordfEmotion in the workplace a reappraisalordm HumanRelations Vol 48 No 2 pp 97-125

Bar-On R (1996) The Emotional Quotient Inventory (EQ-i) A Test of Emotional IntelligenceMulti-Health Systems Toronto

Bar-On R and Parker JDA (2000) The Handbook of Emotional Intelligence TheoryDevelopment Assessment and Application at Home School and in the WorkplaceJossey-Bass San Francisco CA

Bar-On R Brown JM Kirkcaldy BD and Thome EP (2000) ordfEmotional expression andimplications for occupational stress an applicationordm Personality and IndividualDifferences Vol 28 pp 1107-18

Becker HS (1960) ordfNotes on the concept of commitmentordm American Journal of Sociology Vol 66No 1 pp 33-42

Black J and Porter L (1991) ordfManagerial behavior and job performance a successful managerin Los Angeles may not succeed in Hong Kongordm Journal of International Business StudiesVol 22 pp 99-114

Blau GJ (1985) ordfThe measurement and prediction of career commitmentordm Journal ofOccupational Psychology Vol 58 pp 277-88

Blood MR (1969) ordfWork values and job satisfactionordm Journal of Applied Psychology Vol 53pp 456-9

Boyatzis R Goleman D and Rhee K (2000) ordfClustering competence in emotional intelligenceinsights from the emotional competence inventory (ECI)ordm in Bar-On R and Parker JDA(Eds) Handbook of Emotional Intelligence Jossey-Bass San Francisco CA

Brown SP (1996) ordfA meta-analysis and review of organizational research on job involvementordmPsychological Bulletin Vol 120 No 2 pp 235-55

Carlson DS Kacmar MK and Williams LJ (2000) ordfConstruction and initial validations of amultidimensional measure of work-family conmacrictordm Journal of Vocational BehaviorVol 56 pp 249-76

Emotionalintelligence

809

Carmeli A (2002) ordfA conceptual and practical framework of measuring performance of localauthorities in regnancial terms analysing the case of Israelordm Local Government StudiesVol 28 No 1 pp 21-36

Cherniss C (2000) ordfordfEmotional intelligence what it is and why it mattersordm paper presented atthe Annual Meeting of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology NewOrleans LA April p 15

Ciarrochi J Chan AYC and Bajgar J (2001) ordfMeasuring emotional intelligence inadolescentsordm Personality and Individual Differences Vol 31 pp 1105-19

Ciarrochi J Chan AYC and Caputi P (2000) ordfA critical evaluation of the emotionalintelligence constructordm Personality and Individual Differences Vol 28 pp 539-61

Cohen J and Cohen P (1983) Applied Multiple RegressionCorrelation Analysis for theBehavioral Sciences Lawrence Erlbaum Hillsdale NJ

Cook TD and Campbell TD (1979) Quasi-Experimentation Design and Analytical Issues forField Settings Rand-McNally Chicago IL

Cooper RK and Sawaf A (1997) Executive EQ Emotional Intelligence in Leadership andOrganizations GrossetPutnam New York NY

Davies M Stankov L and Roberts R (1998) ordfEmotional intelligence in search of an elusiveconstructordm Journal of Personality and Social Psychology Vol 75 pp 989-1015

Dulewicz V and Higgs MJ (1999) Usersrsquo Guide for the Emotional Intelligence QuestionnaireNFER-Nelson Windsor

Dulewicz V and Higgs MJ (2000) ordfEmotional intelligence a review and evaluation studyordmJournal of Managerial Psychology Vol 15 No 4 pp 341-72

Finkelstein S and Hambrick D (1996) Strategic Leadership Top Executives and Their Effectson Organizations West Publishing Company St Paul MN

Furnham A (1990) The Protestant Work Ethic The Psychology of Work-Related Beliefs andBehaviors Routledge New York NY

GardnerH (1983) Frames of Mind The Theory of Multiple Intelligences Basic Books New YorkNY

George JM (2000) ordfEmotions and leadership the role of emotional intelligenceordm HumanRelations Vol 53 No 8 pp 1027-55

Goleman D (1995) Emotional Intelligence Why It Can Matter More than IQ Bantam BooksNew York NY

Goleman D (1998) Working with Emotional Intelligence Bantam Books New York NY

Goleman D (2001) ordfAn EI-based theory of performanceordm in Cherniss C and Goleman D (Eds)The Emotionally Intelligent Workplace How to Select for Measure and Improve EmotionalIntelligence in Individuals Groups and Organizations Jossey-Bass San Francisco CApp 27-44

Grandey AA (2000) ordfEmotion regulation in the workplace a new way to conceptualizeemotional laborordm Journal of Occupational Health Psychology Vol 5 No 1 pp 95-110

Greenhaus JH and Beutell NJ (1985) ordfSources of conmacrict between work and family rolesordmAcademy of Management Review Vol 10 No 1 pp 76-88

Griffeth RW Hom PW and Gaertner S (2000) ordfA meta-analysis of antecedents and correlatesof employee turnover update moderator test and research implications for the nextmillenniumordm Journal of Management Vol 26 No 3 pp 463-88

Hambrick DC and Mason PA (1984) ordfUpper echelons the organization as a remacrection of itstop managementordm Academy of Management Review Vol 9 pp 193-206

JMP188

810

senior managers may encounter a higher level of job demands that result inwork-family conmacrict The results indicate that senior managers who have highemotional intelligence may better and more carefully handle the inherentwork-family conmacrict than those who have low emotional intelligence

H6 which states that emotionally intelligent senior managers will displayhigher levels of altruistic behavior was strongly supported (b = 054p 0001) In addition H7 which states that emotional intelligence will benegatively related to withdrawal intentions from the organization and H8which states that emotionally intelligent senior managers will perform the jobbetter than senior managers with low emotional intelligence were supported(b = 2 020 p 010 b = 032 p 001 respectively) These results indicatethat emotional intelligence is an important predictor of both contextualperformance and task performance Note however that H9 which states thatthe higher a senior manager is on emotional intelligence the weaker will be thenegative effect of work-family conmacrict on job satisfaction was not supported(see Table III) The interactive effect of work-family conmacrict and emotionalintelligence on job satisfaction was not signiregcant (b = 003 p = ns)

H10 postulated that the higher a senior manager is on emotionalintelligence the weaker will be the negative effect of work-family conmacrict oncareer commitment The interactive effect of work-family conmacrict andemotional intelligence on career commitment was signiregcant at the 005 level(see Table III) and explained an additional 34 percent of explained variance inthe career commitment

In accordance with convention for plotting interactions (Aiken and West1991 Cohen and Cohen 1983) the cut values for the high and low states on themoderator variable (emotional intelligence) were plus and minus one standarddeviation from the mean Figure 1 presents the interaction of work-familyconmacrict and emotional intelligence in predicting career commitment As shown

Job satisfaction Career commitmentb R 2 DR 2 b R 2 DR 2

Step 1Organizational size 003 004Tenure in organization 014 002Income 016 002

Age 2 005 0058 0058 020 0048 0048Step 2Work-family conmacrict (WF) 2 005 2 009Emotional intelligence (EI) 030 0157 0097 037 0205 0156

Step 3EI pound WF 003 0158 0001 021 0239 0034

Notes p 010 p 005 p 001 p 0001

Table IIIResults of the

moderating role ofemotional intelligence

(EI)

Emotionalintelligence

805

in Figure 1 the interaction of emotional intelligence with work-family conmacrictaffects both the strength and direction of this relationship For senior managerswho are low on emotional intelligence there is a strong positive relationshipand for those who are high on emotional intelligence there is a moderatenegative relationship That is when senior managers with low emotionalintelligence experience high work-family conmacrict they manage to maintainhigh career commitment When highly emotionally intelligent senior managersexperience high work-conmacrict they reduce their career commitment to a morereasonable level to deal with work-family conmacrict

DiscussionThe major goal of this study was to examine the extent to which a criticalcomponent of managerial skills - emotional intelligence - augments positivework attitudes and the contextual and task performance of senior managersemployed in a public sector setting This study advances the literaturepertaining to emotional intelligence by empirically demonstrating theimportance of emotional intelligence for developing positive work-relatedattitudes and contextual and task performance

These regndings are especially of importance for organizations whichrecognize the critical role the top management team plays in their success (seeFinkelstein and Hambrick 1996 Hambrick and Mason 1984) Theeffectiveness of the top management team is a function inter alia of themanagement skills (Whetten and Cameron 2001) possessed by the seniormanagers from which it is comprised Skills of managing people are of uniqueimportance for the creation of effective management and leadership andemotional intelligence as ordfthe subset of social intelligenceordm (Salovey and Mayer1989-1990) may be the most critical component of this class of skills Hencehaving senior executives with high emotional intelligence is a necessity forattaining sustainable results

This study went beyond the simple premise of the importance of emotionalintelligence to demonstrate the extent to which the latter augments favorableattitudes and outcomes The results indicate for example that emotionallyintelligent senior managers develop emotional attachment to their

Figure 1Interaction betweenemotional intelligence(EI) and work-familyconmacrict (WF) predictingcareer commitment (CC)

JMP188

806

organizations and are also more committed to their career In addition regndingsalso indicate that emotionally intelligent senior managers tend to be moresatisreged with their work Retaining talented and knowledgeable seniormanagers becomes a major concern for many organizations Selecting seniormanagers who have high emotional intelligence may have a positive impact onthe extent to which an organization succeeds in retaining its most criticalworkforce Research regndings revealed that occupational commitment (Lee et al2000) and organizational commitment (Mathieu and Zajac 1990) aresigniregcantly related to withdrawal intentions and that job satisfaction andorganizational commitment are by far the main predictors of turnover (Griffethet al 2000) Interestingly however emotional intelligence was not signiregcantlyassociated with job involvement It may be that senior managers exhibit highinvolvement in their jobs because of the role itself which demands much timeand effort Another possible explanation is manifested by the relationshipbetween income and job involvement (b = 025 p 005) suggesting thateconomic factors inmacruence the subjective felt of job involvement Emotionalintelligence may help an individual to better handle demanding managerialwork Nevertheless we are still in need of further investigation regarding thefactors that foster an individualrsquos high level of involvement in her job (Brown1996)

Another important relationship examined in this study is the relationshipbetween emotional intelligence and work-family conmacrict Work-family policiesadopted and implemented by an organization may not provide the wholesolution especially with respect to family interference with work simplybecause employees have some responsibility in determining their own familybalance The results of this study advance the literature by indicating thatemotionally intelligent employees may better handle this conmacrict Anintegration of work-family programs and an emotionally intelligentworkforce can better attain the desired balance This study indicates thatcompared to emotionally intelligent senior managers low-emotionallyintelligent senior managers are not less able to be sensitive enough toacknowledge how work is affected by family matters and thus feel no need toreduce their career commitment Senior managers who are high on emotionalintelligence recognize having important responsibilities at work and at thesame time realize that they may neglect their family and their needs In otherwords they are equally sensitive to what they feel when they are consumedwith my work all the time This recognition help them balance their careercommitment to a healthy mid point (not very high but not very low either)Further examination of the interactive effect of work-family conmacrict andemotional intelligence on career commitment and job satisfaction revealed thatemotional intelligence moderated only the negative inmacruence of work-family oncareer commitment Clearly this regnding should receive further investigation

Emotionalintelligence

807

but it illuminate the kind of role emotional intelligence may play in therelationship of ordfwork stressordm and work attitudes

We found a direct and signiregcant relationship between emotionalintelligence and withdrawal intentions from the organization This intensiregesthe important role that emotional intelligence may have in retaining valuableorganization members The results of this study also indicate that emotionalintelligence augments both contextual (altruistic citizenship behavior) and taskperformance Contextual performance of senior managers is valued becausethe latter oftentimes serves as a ordfrole modelordm and ordfcharacterordm for theorganizationrsquos members to follow This process may have a positive effect onthe organization since organizational citizenship behavior has the potential forexample to enhance co-worker and managerial productivity freeing themanagement from work-related problems so that it can deal with moreproductive tasks and enhancing the sustainability of the organizationrsquosperformance In addition the regnding that emotionally intelligent seniormanagers perform better on the job provides clear evidence to the questionasked by Cherniss (2000) regarding ordfhow important it (emotional intelligence)is for effective performance at workordm and is consistent with Cavallo andBrienzarsquos regndings of a ordfstrong relationship between superior performingleaders and emotional competenceordm

Limitation and directions for future researchSeveral limitations constrain the interpretation and application of the studyrsquosregndings The aim of this study to explore the role of emotional intelligenceamong senior managers is also a weakness because it has not includednon-managerial employees Future studies may be beneregted from anexploration of a wider range of employees at different organizational levelsOne should also be cautious while generalizing the results of this study to othercultures or sectors Prospective research should be directed to exploredifferences among for-proregt governmental and not-for-proregt organizations

Validated and usable measures were employed to reduce the possibility ofbias in general method variance and data was collected from a large number oforganizational units to allow for better external validity and increasedgenerality of the results (Cook and Campbell 1979) Still the reader is cautionedto recognize the limitations of relying on self-reported data This may carry abias of general method variance As can be seen results of hierarchicalregressions provided a relatively small proportion of the explained variance ofthe dependent variables We also compared subjective-reported data toobjective data on organizational size and the comparison yielded no differenceAnd as Xie (1996) indicated there is no theoretical foundation to expect thatinteractions are associated with common method variance Future studies maybeneregt from a longitudinal research design One however must recognize thatcollecting data from a large number of organizations is problematic Finally

JMP188

808

this study used a relatively new measure of emotional intelligence and thoughstudies reported good reliability and evidence of validity it would be useful toconduct a study which compare results of this study with those used otheracceptable measures of emotional intelligence

Note

1 When this study was conducted the MSCEIT instrument was not available to the author

References

Abraham R (1999) ordfEmotional intelligence in organizations a conceptualizationordm GeneticSocial and General Psychology Monographs Vol 125 No 2 pp 209-24

Aiken LS and West SG (1991) Multiple Regression Testing and Interpreting InteractionsSage Newbury Park CA

Allen NJ and Meyer JP (1990) ordfThe measurement and antecedents of affective continuanceand normative commitment to the organizationordm Journal of Occupational PsychologyVol 63 pp 1-18

Allen NJ and Meyer JP (1996) ordfAffective continuance and normative commitment to theorganization an examination of construct validityordm Journal of Vocational Behavior Vol 49No 3 pp 252-76

Ashforth BE and Humphrey RH (1995) ordfEmotion in the workplace a reappraisalordm HumanRelations Vol 48 No 2 pp 97-125

Bar-On R (1996) The Emotional Quotient Inventory (EQ-i) A Test of Emotional IntelligenceMulti-Health Systems Toronto

Bar-On R and Parker JDA (2000) The Handbook of Emotional Intelligence TheoryDevelopment Assessment and Application at Home School and in the WorkplaceJossey-Bass San Francisco CA

Bar-On R Brown JM Kirkcaldy BD and Thome EP (2000) ordfEmotional expression andimplications for occupational stress an applicationordm Personality and IndividualDifferences Vol 28 pp 1107-18

Becker HS (1960) ordfNotes on the concept of commitmentordm American Journal of Sociology Vol 66No 1 pp 33-42

Black J and Porter L (1991) ordfManagerial behavior and job performance a successful managerin Los Angeles may not succeed in Hong Kongordm Journal of International Business StudiesVol 22 pp 99-114

Blau GJ (1985) ordfThe measurement and prediction of career commitmentordm Journal ofOccupational Psychology Vol 58 pp 277-88

Blood MR (1969) ordfWork values and job satisfactionordm Journal of Applied Psychology Vol 53pp 456-9

Boyatzis R Goleman D and Rhee K (2000) ordfClustering competence in emotional intelligenceinsights from the emotional competence inventory (ECI)ordm in Bar-On R and Parker JDA(Eds) Handbook of Emotional Intelligence Jossey-Bass San Francisco CA

Brown SP (1996) ordfA meta-analysis and review of organizational research on job involvementordmPsychological Bulletin Vol 120 No 2 pp 235-55

Carlson DS Kacmar MK and Williams LJ (2000) ordfConstruction and initial validations of amultidimensional measure of work-family conmacrictordm Journal of Vocational BehaviorVol 56 pp 249-76

Emotionalintelligence

809

Carmeli A (2002) ordfA conceptual and practical framework of measuring performance of localauthorities in regnancial terms analysing the case of Israelordm Local Government StudiesVol 28 No 1 pp 21-36

Cherniss C (2000) ordfordfEmotional intelligence what it is and why it mattersordm paper presented atthe Annual Meeting of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology NewOrleans LA April p 15

Ciarrochi J Chan AYC and Bajgar J (2001) ordfMeasuring emotional intelligence inadolescentsordm Personality and Individual Differences Vol 31 pp 1105-19

Ciarrochi J Chan AYC and Caputi P (2000) ordfA critical evaluation of the emotionalintelligence constructordm Personality and Individual Differences Vol 28 pp 539-61

Cohen J and Cohen P (1983) Applied Multiple RegressionCorrelation Analysis for theBehavioral Sciences Lawrence Erlbaum Hillsdale NJ

Cook TD and Campbell TD (1979) Quasi-Experimentation Design and Analytical Issues forField Settings Rand-McNally Chicago IL

Cooper RK and Sawaf A (1997) Executive EQ Emotional Intelligence in Leadership andOrganizations GrossetPutnam New York NY

Davies M Stankov L and Roberts R (1998) ordfEmotional intelligence in search of an elusiveconstructordm Journal of Personality and Social Psychology Vol 75 pp 989-1015

Dulewicz V and Higgs MJ (1999) Usersrsquo Guide for the Emotional Intelligence QuestionnaireNFER-Nelson Windsor

Dulewicz V and Higgs MJ (2000) ordfEmotional intelligence a review and evaluation studyordmJournal of Managerial Psychology Vol 15 No 4 pp 341-72

Finkelstein S and Hambrick D (1996) Strategic Leadership Top Executives and Their Effectson Organizations West Publishing Company St Paul MN

Furnham A (1990) The Protestant Work Ethic The Psychology of Work-Related Beliefs andBehaviors Routledge New York NY

GardnerH (1983) Frames of Mind The Theory of Multiple Intelligences Basic Books New YorkNY

George JM (2000) ordfEmotions and leadership the role of emotional intelligenceordm HumanRelations Vol 53 No 8 pp 1027-55

Goleman D (1995) Emotional Intelligence Why It Can Matter More than IQ Bantam BooksNew York NY

Goleman D (1998) Working with Emotional Intelligence Bantam Books New York NY

Goleman D (2001) ordfAn EI-based theory of performanceordm in Cherniss C and Goleman D (Eds)The Emotionally Intelligent Workplace How to Select for Measure and Improve EmotionalIntelligence in Individuals Groups and Organizations Jossey-Bass San Francisco CApp 27-44

Grandey AA (2000) ordfEmotion regulation in the workplace a new way to conceptualizeemotional laborordm Journal of Occupational Health Psychology Vol 5 No 1 pp 95-110

Greenhaus JH and Beutell NJ (1985) ordfSources of conmacrict between work and family rolesordmAcademy of Management Review Vol 10 No 1 pp 76-88

Griffeth RW Hom PW and Gaertner S (2000) ordfA meta-analysis of antecedents and correlatesof employee turnover update moderator test and research implications for the nextmillenniumordm Journal of Management Vol 26 No 3 pp 463-88

Hambrick DC and Mason PA (1984) ordfUpper echelons the organization as a remacrection of itstop managementordm Academy of Management Review Vol 9 pp 193-206

JMP188

810

in Figure 1 the interaction of emotional intelligence with work-family conmacrictaffects both the strength and direction of this relationship For senior managerswho are low on emotional intelligence there is a strong positive relationshipand for those who are high on emotional intelligence there is a moderatenegative relationship That is when senior managers with low emotionalintelligence experience high work-family conmacrict they manage to maintainhigh career commitment When highly emotionally intelligent senior managersexperience high work-conmacrict they reduce their career commitment to a morereasonable level to deal with work-family conmacrict

DiscussionThe major goal of this study was to examine the extent to which a criticalcomponent of managerial skills - emotional intelligence - augments positivework attitudes and the contextual and task performance of senior managersemployed in a public sector setting This study advances the literaturepertaining to emotional intelligence by empirically demonstrating theimportance of emotional intelligence for developing positive work-relatedattitudes and contextual and task performance

These regndings are especially of importance for organizations whichrecognize the critical role the top management team plays in their success (seeFinkelstein and Hambrick 1996 Hambrick and Mason 1984) Theeffectiveness of the top management team is a function inter alia of themanagement skills (Whetten and Cameron 2001) possessed by the seniormanagers from which it is comprised Skills of managing people are of uniqueimportance for the creation of effective management and leadership andemotional intelligence as ordfthe subset of social intelligenceordm (Salovey and Mayer1989-1990) may be the most critical component of this class of skills Hencehaving senior executives with high emotional intelligence is a necessity forattaining sustainable results

This study went beyond the simple premise of the importance of emotionalintelligence to demonstrate the extent to which the latter augments favorableattitudes and outcomes The results indicate for example that emotionallyintelligent senior managers develop emotional attachment to their

Figure 1Interaction betweenemotional intelligence(EI) and work-familyconmacrict (WF) predictingcareer commitment (CC)

JMP188

806

organizations and are also more committed to their career In addition regndingsalso indicate that emotionally intelligent senior managers tend to be moresatisreged with their work Retaining talented and knowledgeable seniormanagers becomes a major concern for many organizations Selecting seniormanagers who have high emotional intelligence may have a positive impact onthe extent to which an organization succeeds in retaining its most criticalworkforce Research regndings revealed that occupational commitment (Lee et al2000) and organizational commitment (Mathieu and Zajac 1990) aresigniregcantly related to withdrawal intentions and that job satisfaction andorganizational commitment are by far the main predictors of turnover (Griffethet al 2000) Interestingly however emotional intelligence was not signiregcantlyassociated with job involvement It may be that senior managers exhibit highinvolvement in their jobs because of the role itself which demands much timeand effort Another possible explanation is manifested by the relationshipbetween income and job involvement (b = 025 p 005) suggesting thateconomic factors inmacruence the subjective felt of job involvement Emotionalintelligence may help an individual to better handle demanding managerialwork Nevertheless we are still in need of further investigation regarding thefactors that foster an individualrsquos high level of involvement in her job (Brown1996)

Another important relationship examined in this study is the relationshipbetween emotional intelligence and work-family conmacrict Work-family policiesadopted and implemented by an organization may not provide the wholesolution especially with respect to family interference with work simplybecause employees have some responsibility in determining their own familybalance The results of this study advance the literature by indicating thatemotionally intelligent employees may better handle this conmacrict Anintegration of work-family programs and an emotionally intelligentworkforce can better attain the desired balance This study indicates thatcompared to emotionally intelligent senior managers low-emotionallyintelligent senior managers are not less able to be sensitive enough toacknowledge how work is affected by family matters and thus feel no need toreduce their career commitment Senior managers who are high on emotionalintelligence recognize having important responsibilities at work and at thesame time realize that they may neglect their family and their needs In otherwords they are equally sensitive to what they feel when they are consumedwith my work all the time This recognition help them balance their careercommitment to a healthy mid point (not very high but not very low either)Further examination of the interactive effect of work-family conmacrict andemotional intelligence on career commitment and job satisfaction revealed thatemotional intelligence moderated only the negative inmacruence of work-family oncareer commitment Clearly this regnding should receive further investigation

Emotionalintelligence

807

but it illuminate the kind of role emotional intelligence may play in therelationship of ordfwork stressordm and work attitudes

We found a direct and signiregcant relationship between emotionalintelligence and withdrawal intentions from the organization This intensiregesthe important role that emotional intelligence may have in retaining valuableorganization members The results of this study also indicate that emotionalintelligence augments both contextual (altruistic citizenship behavior) and taskperformance Contextual performance of senior managers is valued becausethe latter oftentimes serves as a ordfrole modelordm and ordfcharacterordm for theorganizationrsquos members to follow This process may have a positive effect onthe organization since organizational citizenship behavior has the potential forexample to enhance co-worker and managerial productivity freeing themanagement from work-related problems so that it can deal with moreproductive tasks and enhancing the sustainability of the organizationrsquosperformance In addition the regnding that emotionally intelligent seniormanagers perform better on the job provides clear evidence to the questionasked by Cherniss (2000) regarding ordfhow important it (emotional intelligence)is for effective performance at workordm and is consistent with Cavallo andBrienzarsquos regndings of a ordfstrong relationship between superior performingleaders and emotional competenceordm

Limitation and directions for future researchSeveral limitations constrain the interpretation and application of the studyrsquosregndings The aim of this study to explore the role of emotional intelligenceamong senior managers is also a weakness because it has not includednon-managerial employees Future studies may be beneregted from anexploration of a wider range of employees at different organizational levelsOne should also be cautious while generalizing the results of this study to othercultures or sectors Prospective research should be directed to exploredifferences among for-proregt governmental and not-for-proregt organizations

Validated and usable measures were employed to reduce the possibility ofbias in general method variance and data was collected from a large number oforganizational units to allow for better external validity and increasedgenerality of the results (Cook and Campbell 1979) Still the reader is cautionedto recognize the limitations of relying on self-reported data This may carry abias of general method variance As can be seen results of hierarchicalregressions provided a relatively small proportion of the explained variance ofthe dependent variables We also compared subjective-reported data toobjective data on organizational size and the comparison yielded no differenceAnd as Xie (1996) indicated there is no theoretical foundation to expect thatinteractions are associated with common method variance Future studies maybeneregt from a longitudinal research design One however must recognize thatcollecting data from a large number of organizations is problematic Finally

JMP188

808

this study used a relatively new measure of emotional intelligence and thoughstudies reported good reliability and evidence of validity it would be useful toconduct a study which compare results of this study with those used otheracceptable measures of emotional intelligence

Note

1 When this study was conducted the MSCEIT instrument was not available to the author

References

Abraham R (1999) ordfEmotional intelligence in organizations a conceptualizationordm GeneticSocial and General Psychology Monographs Vol 125 No 2 pp 209-24

Aiken LS and West SG (1991) Multiple Regression Testing and Interpreting InteractionsSage Newbury Park CA

Allen NJ and Meyer JP (1990) ordfThe measurement and antecedents of affective continuanceand normative commitment to the organizationordm Journal of Occupational PsychologyVol 63 pp 1-18

Allen NJ and Meyer JP (1996) ordfAffective continuance and normative commitment to theorganization an examination of construct validityordm Journal of Vocational Behavior Vol 49No 3 pp 252-76

Ashforth BE and Humphrey RH (1995) ordfEmotion in the workplace a reappraisalordm HumanRelations Vol 48 No 2 pp 97-125

Bar-On R (1996) The Emotional Quotient Inventory (EQ-i) A Test of Emotional IntelligenceMulti-Health Systems Toronto

Bar-On R and Parker JDA (2000) The Handbook of Emotional Intelligence TheoryDevelopment Assessment and Application at Home School and in the WorkplaceJossey-Bass San Francisco CA

Bar-On R Brown JM Kirkcaldy BD and Thome EP (2000) ordfEmotional expression andimplications for occupational stress an applicationordm Personality and IndividualDifferences Vol 28 pp 1107-18

Becker HS (1960) ordfNotes on the concept of commitmentordm American Journal of Sociology Vol 66No 1 pp 33-42

Black J and Porter L (1991) ordfManagerial behavior and job performance a successful managerin Los Angeles may not succeed in Hong Kongordm Journal of International Business StudiesVol 22 pp 99-114

Blau GJ (1985) ordfThe measurement and prediction of career commitmentordm Journal ofOccupational Psychology Vol 58 pp 277-88

Blood MR (1969) ordfWork values and job satisfactionordm Journal of Applied Psychology Vol 53pp 456-9

Boyatzis R Goleman D and Rhee K (2000) ordfClustering competence in emotional intelligenceinsights from the emotional competence inventory (ECI)ordm in Bar-On R and Parker JDA(Eds) Handbook of Emotional Intelligence Jossey-Bass San Francisco CA

Brown SP (1996) ordfA meta-analysis and review of organizational research on job involvementordmPsychological Bulletin Vol 120 No 2 pp 235-55

Carlson DS Kacmar MK and Williams LJ (2000) ordfConstruction and initial validations of amultidimensional measure of work-family conmacrictordm Journal of Vocational BehaviorVol 56 pp 249-76

Emotionalintelligence

809

Carmeli A (2002) ordfA conceptual and practical framework of measuring performance of localauthorities in regnancial terms analysing the case of Israelordm Local Government StudiesVol 28 No 1 pp 21-36

Cherniss C (2000) ordfordfEmotional intelligence what it is and why it mattersordm paper presented atthe Annual Meeting of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology NewOrleans LA April p 15

Ciarrochi J Chan AYC and Bajgar J (2001) ordfMeasuring emotional intelligence inadolescentsordm Personality and Individual Differences Vol 31 pp 1105-19

Ciarrochi J Chan AYC and Caputi P (2000) ordfA critical evaluation of the emotionalintelligence constructordm Personality and Individual Differences Vol 28 pp 539-61

Cohen J and Cohen P (1983) Applied Multiple RegressionCorrelation Analysis for theBehavioral Sciences Lawrence Erlbaum Hillsdale NJ

Cook TD and Campbell TD (1979) Quasi-Experimentation Design and Analytical Issues forField Settings Rand-McNally Chicago IL

Cooper RK and Sawaf A (1997) Executive EQ Emotional Intelligence in Leadership andOrganizations GrossetPutnam New York NY

Davies M Stankov L and Roberts R (1998) ordfEmotional intelligence in search of an elusiveconstructordm Journal of Personality and Social Psychology Vol 75 pp 989-1015

Dulewicz V and Higgs MJ (1999) Usersrsquo Guide for the Emotional Intelligence QuestionnaireNFER-Nelson Windsor

Dulewicz V and Higgs MJ (2000) ordfEmotional intelligence a review and evaluation studyordmJournal of Managerial Psychology Vol 15 No 4 pp 341-72

Finkelstein S and Hambrick D (1996) Strategic Leadership Top Executives and Their Effectson Organizations West Publishing Company St Paul MN

Furnham A (1990) The Protestant Work Ethic The Psychology of Work-Related Beliefs andBehaviors Routledge New York NY

GardnerH (1983) Frames of Mind The Theory of Multiple Intelligences Basic Books New YorkNY

George JM (2000) ordfEmotions and leadership the role of emotional intelligenceordm HumanRelations Vol 53 No 8 pp 1027-55

Goleman D (1995) Emotional Intelligence Why It Can Matter More than IQ Bantam BooksNew York NY

Goleman D (1998) Working with Emotional Intelligence Bantam Books New York NY

Goleman D (2001) ordfAn EI-based theory of performanceordm in Cherniss C and Goleman D (Eds)The Emotionally Intelligent Workplace How to Select for Measure and Improve EmotionalIntelligence in Individuals Groups and Organizations Jossey-Bass San Francisco CApp 27-44

Grandey AA (2000) ordfEmotion regulation in the workplace a new way to conceptualizeemotional laborordm Journal of Occupational Health Psychology Vol 5 No 1 pp 95-110

Greenhaus JH and Beutell NJ (1985) ordfSources of conmacrict between work and family rolesordmAcademy of Management Review Vol 10 No 1 pp 76-88

Griffeth RW Hom PW and Gaertner S (2000) ordfA meta-analysis of antecedents and correlatesof employee turnover update moderator test and research implications for the nextmillenniumordm Journal of Management Vol 26 No 3 pp 463-88

Hambrick DC and Mason PA (1984) ordfUpper echelons the organization as a remacrection of itstop managementordm Academy of Management Review Vol 9 pp 193-206

JMP188

810

organizations and are also more committed to their career In addition regndingsalso indicate that emotionally intelligent senior managers tend to be moresatisreged with their work Retaining talented and knowledgeable seniormanagers becomes a major concern for many organizations Selecting seniormanagers who have high emotional intelligence may have a positive impact onthe extent to which an organization succeeds in retaining its most criticalworkforce Research regndings revealed that occupational commitment (Lee et al2000) and organizational commitment (Mathieu and Zajac 1990) aresigniregcantly related to withdrawal intentions and that job satisfaction andorganizational commitment are by far the main predictors of turnover (Griffethet al 2000) Interestingly however emotional intelligence was not signiregcantlyassociated with job involvement It may be that senior managers exhibit highinvolvement in their jobs because of the role itself which demands much timeand effort Another possible explanation is manifested by the relationshipbetween income and job involvement (b = 025 p 005) suggesting thateconomic factors inmacruence the subjective felt of job involvement Emotionalintelligence may help an individual to better handle demanding managerialwork Nevertheless we are still in need of further investigation regarding thefactors that foster an individualrsquos high level of involvement in her job (Brown1996)

Another important relationship examined in this study is the relationshipbetween emotional intelligence and work-family conmacrict Work-family policiesadopted and implemented by an organization may not provide the wholesolution especially with respect to family interference with work simplybecause employees have some responsibility in determining their own familybalance The results of this study advance the literature by indicating thatemotionally intelligent employees may better handle this conmacrict Anintegration of work-family programs and an emotionally intelligentworkforce can better attain the desired balance This study indicates thatcompared to emotionally intelligent senior managers low-emotionallyintelligent senior managers are not less able to be sensitive enough toacknowledge how work is affected by family matters and thus feel no need toreduce their career commitment Senior managers who are high on emotionalintelligence recognize having important responsibilities at work and at thesame time realize that they may neglect their family and their needs In otherwords they are equally sensitive to what they feel when they are consumedwith my work all the time This recognition help them balance their careercommitment to a healthy mid point (not very high but not very low either)Further examination of the interactive effect of work-family conmacrict andemotional intelligence on career commitment and job satisfaction revealed thatemotional intelligence moderated only the negative inmacruence of work-family oncareer commitment Clearly this regnding should receive further investigation

Emotionalintelligence

807

but it illuminate the kind of role emotional intelligence may play in therelationship of ordfwork stressordm and work attitudes

We found a direct and signiregcant relationship between emotionalintelligence and withdrawal intentions from the organization This intensiregesthe important role that emotional intelligence may have in retaining valuableorganization members The results of this study also indicate that emotionalintelligence augments both contextual (altruistic citizenship behavior) and taskperformance Contextual performance of senior managers is valued becausethe latter oftentimes serves as a ordfrole modelordm and ordfcharacterordm for theorganizationrsquos members to follow This process may have a positive effect onthe organization since organizational citizenship behavior has the potential forexample to enhance co-worker and managerial productivity freeing themanagement from work-related problems so that it can deal with moreproductive tasks and enhancing the sustainability of the organizationrsquosperformance In addition the regnding that emotionally intelligent seniormanagers perform better on the job provides clear evidence to the questionasked by Cherniss (2000) regarding ordfhow important it (emotional intelligence)is for effective performance at workordm and is consistent with Cavallo andBrienzarsquos regndings of a ordfstrong relationship between superior performingleaders and emotional competenceordm

Limitation and directions for future researchSeveral limitations constrain the interpretation and application of the studyrsquosregndings The aim of this study to explore the role of emotional intelligenceamong senior managers is also a weakness because it has not includednon-managerial employees Future studies may be beneregted from anexploration of a wider range of employees at different organizational levelsOne should also be cautious while generalizing the results of this study to othercultures or sectors Prospective research should be directed to exploredifferences among for-proregt governmental and not-for-proregt organizations

Validated and usable measures were employed to reduce the possibility ofbias in general method variance and data was collected from a large number oforganizational units to allow for better external validity and increasedgenerality of the results (Cook and Campbell 1979) Still the reader is cautionedto recognize the limitations of relying on self-reported data This may carry abias of general method variance As can be seen results of hierarchicalregressions provided a relatively small proportion of the explained variance ofthe dependent variables We also compared subjective-reported data toobjective data on organizational size and the comparison yielded no differenceAnd as Xie (1996) indicated there is no theoretical foundation to expect thatinteractions are associated with common method variance Future studies maybeneregt from a longitudinal research design One however must recognize thatcollecting data from a large number of organizations is problematic Finally

JMP188

808

this study used a relatively new measure of emotional intelligence and thoughstudies reported good reliability and evidence of validity it would be useful toconduct a study which compare results of this study with those used otheracceptable measures of emotional intelligence

Note

1 When this study was conducted the MSCEIT instrument was not available to the author

References

Abraham R (1999) ordfEmotional intelligence in organizations a conceptualizationordm GeneticSocial and General Psychology Monographs Vol 125 No 2 pp 209-24

Aiken LS and West SG (1991) Multiple Regression Testing and Interpreting InteractionsSage Newbury Park CA

Allen NJ and Meyer JP (1990) ordfThe measurement and antecedents of affective continuanceand normative commitment to the organizationordm Journal of Occupational PsychologyVol 63 pp 1-18

Allen NJ and Meyer JP (1996) ordfAffective continuance and normative commitment to theorganization an examination of construct validityordm Journal of Vocational Behavior Vol 49No 3 pp 252-76

Ashforth BE and Humphrey RH (1995) ordfEmotion in the workplace a reappraisalordm HumanRelations Vol 48 No 2 pp 97-125

Bar-On R (1996) The Emotional Quotient Inventory (EQ-i) A Test of Emotional IntelligenceMulti-Health Systems Toronto

Bar-On R and Parker JDA (2000) The Handbook of Emotional Intelligence TheoryDevelopment Assessment and Application at Home School and in the WorkplaceJossey-Bass San Francisco CA

Bar-On R Brown JM Kirkcaldy BD and Thome EP (2000) ordfEmotional expression andimplications for occupational stress an applicationordm Personality and IndividualDifferences Vol 28 pp 1107-18

Becker HS (1960) ordfNotes on the concept of commitmentordm American Journal of Sociology Vol 66No 1 pp 33-42

Black J and Porter L (1991) ordfManagerial behavior and job performance a successful managerin Los Angeles may not succeed in Hong Kongordm Journal of International Business StudiesVol 22 pp 99-114

Blau GJ (1985) ordfThe measurement and prediction of career commitmentordm Journal ofOccupational Psychology Vol 58 pp 277-88

Blood MR (1969) ordfWork values and job satisfactionordm Journal of Applied Psychology Vol 53pp 456-9

Boyatzis R Goleman D and Rhee K (2000) ordfClustering competence in emotional intelligenceinsights from the emotional competence inventory (ECI)ordm in Bar-On R and Parker JDA(Eds) Handbook of Emotional Intelligence Jossey-Bass San Francisco CA

Brown SP (1996) ordfA meta-analysis and review of organizational research on job involvementordmPsychological Bulletin Vol 120 No 2 pp 235-55

Carlson DS Kacmar MK and Williams LJ (2000) ordfConstruction and initial validations of amultidimensional measure of work-family conmacrictordm Journal of Vocational BehaviorVol 56 pp 249-76

Emotionalintelligence

809

Carmeli A (2002) ordfA conceptual and practical framework of measuring performance of localauthorities in regnancial terms analysing the case of Israelordm Local Government StudiesVol 28 No 1 pp 21-36

Cherniss C (2000) ordfordfEmotional intelligence what it is and why it mattersordm paper presented atthe Annual Meeting of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology NewOrleans LA April p 15

Ciarrochi J Chan AYC and Bajgar J (2001) ordfMeasuring emotional intelligence inadolescentsordm Personality and Individual Differences Vol 31 pp 1105-19

Ciarrochi J Chan AYC and Caputi P (2000) ordfA critical evaluation of the emotionalintelligence constructordm Personality and Individual Differences Vol 28 pp 539-61

Cohen J and Cohen P (1983) Applied Multiple RegressionCorrelation Analysis for theBehavioral Sciences Lawrence Erlbaum Hillsdale NJ

Cook TD and Campbell TD (1979) Quasi-Experimentation Design and Analytical Issues forField Settings Rand-McNally Chicago IL

Cooper RK and Sawaf A (1997) Executive EQ Emotional Intelligence in Leadership andOrganizations GrossetPutnam New York NY

Davies M Stankov L and Roberts R (1998) ordfEmotional intelligence in search of an elusiveconstructordm Journal of Personality and Social Psychology Vol 75 pp 989-1015

Dulewicz V and Higgs MJ (1999) Usersrsquo Guide for the Emotional Intelligence QuestionnaireNFER-Nelson Windsor

Dulewicz V and Higgs MJ (2000) ordfEmotional intelligence a review and evaluation studyordmJournal of Managerial Psychology Vol 15 No 4 pp 341-72

Finkelstein S and Hambrick D (1996) Strategic Leadership Top Executives and Their Effectson Organizations West Publishing Company St Paul MN

Furnham A (1990) The Protestant Work Ethic The Psychology of Work-Related Beliefs andBehaviors Routledge New York NY

GardnerH (1983) Frames of Mind The Theory of Multiple Intelligences Basic Books New YorkNY

George JM (2000) ordfEmotions and leadership the role of emotional intelligenceordm HumanRelations Vol 53 No 8 pp 1027-55

Goleman D (1995) Emotional Intelligence Why It Can Matter More than IQ Bantam BooksNew York NY

Goleman D (1998) Working with Emotional Intelligence Bantam Books New York NY

Goleman D (2001) ordfAn EI-based theory of performanceordm in Cherniss C and Goleman D (Eds)The Emotionally Intelligent Workplace How to Select for Measure and Improve EmotionalIntelligence in Individuals Groups and Organizations Jossey-Bass San Francisco CApp 27-44

Grandey AA (2000) ordfEmotion regulation in the workplace a new way to conceptualizeemotional laborordm Journal of Occupational Health Psychology Vol 5 No 1 pp 95-110

Greenhaus JH and Beutell NJ (1985) ordfSources of conmacrict between work and family rolesordmAcademy of Management Review Vol 10 No 1 pp 76-88

Griffeth RW Hom PW and Gaertner S (2000) ordfA meta-analysis of antecedents and correlatesof employee turnover update moderator test and research implications for the nextmillenniumordm Journal of Management Vol 26 No 3 pp 463-88

Hambrick DC and Mason PA (1984) ordfUpper echelons the organization as a remacrection of itstop managementordm Academy of Management Review Vol 9 pp 193-206

JMP188

810

but it illuminate the kind of role emotional intelligence may play in therelationship of ordfwork stressordm and work attitudes

We found a direct and signiregcant relationship between emotionalintelligence and withdrawal intentions from the organization This intensiregesthe important role that emotional intelligence may have in retaining valuableorganization members The results of this study also indicate that emotionalintelligence augments both contextual (altruistic citizenship behavior) and taskperformance Contextual performance of senior managers is valued becausethe latter oftentimes serves as a ordfrole modelordm and ordfcharacterordm for theorganizationrsquos members to follow This process may have a positive effect onthe organization since organizational citizenship behavior has the potential forexample to enhance co-worker and managerial productivity freeing themanagement from work-related problems so that it can deal with moreproductive tasks and enhancing the sustainability of the organizationrsquosperformance In addition the regnding that emotionally intelligent seniormanagers perform better on the job provides clear evidence to the questionasked by Cherniss (2000) regarding ordfhow important it (emotional intelligence)is for effective performance at workordm and is consistent with Cavallo andBrienzarsquos regndings of a ordfstrong relationship between superior performingleaders and emotional competenceordm

Limitation and directions for future researchSeveral limitations constrain the interpretation and application of the studyrsquosregndings The aim of this study to explore the role of emotional intelligenceamong senior managers is also a weakness because it has not includednon-managerial employees Future studies may be beneregted from anexploration of a wider range of employees at different organizational levelsOne should also be cautious while generalizing the results of this study to othercultures or sectors Prospective research should be directed to exploredifferences among for-proregt governmental and not-for-proregt organizations

Validated and usable measures were employed to reduce the possibility ofbias in general method variance and data was collected from a large number oforganizational units to allow for better external validity and increasedgenerality of the results (Cook and Campbell 1979) Still the reader is cautionedto recognize the limitations of relying on self-reported data This may carry abias of general method variance As can be seen results of hierarchicalregressions provided a relatively small proportion of the explained variance ofthe dependent variables We also compared subjective-reported data toobjective data on organizational size and the comparison yielded no differenceAnd as Xie (1996) indicated there is no theoretical foundation to expect thatinteractions are associated with common method variance Future studies maybeneregt from a longitudinal research design One however must recognize thatcollecting data from a large number of organizations is problematic Finally

JMP188

808

this study used a relatively new measure of emotional intelligence and thoughstudies reported good reliability and evidence of validity it would be useful toconduct a study which compare results of this study with those used otheracceptable measures of emotional intelligence

Note

1 When this study was conducted the MSCEIT instrument was not available to the author

References

Abraham R (1999) ordfEmotional intelligence in organizations a conceptualizationordm GeneticSocial and General Psychology Monographs Vol 125 No 2 pp 209-24

Aiken LS and West SG (1991) Multiple Regression Testing and Interpreting InteractionsSage Newbury Park CA

Allen NJ and Meyer JP (1990) ordfThe measurement and antecedents of affective continuanceand normative commitment to the organizationordm Journal of Occupational PsychologyVol 63 pp 1-18

Allen NJ and Meyer JP (1996) ordfAffective continuance and normative commitment to theorganization an examination of construct validityordm Journal of Vocational Behavior Vol 49No 3 pp 252-76

Ashforth BE and Humphrey RH (1995) ordfEmotion in the workplace a reappraisalordm HumanRelations Vol 48 No 2 pp 97-125

Bar-On R (1996) The Emotional Quotient Inventory (EQ-i) A Test of Emotional IntelligenceMulti-Health Systems Toronto

Bar-On R and Parker JDA (2000) The Handbook of Emotional Intelligence TheoryDevelopment Assessment and Application at Home School and in the WorkplaceJossey-Bass San Francisco CA

Bar-On R Brown JM Kirkcaldy BD and Thome EP (2000) ordfEmotional expression andimplications for occupational stress an applicationordm Personality and IndividualDifferences Vol 28 pp 1107-18

Becker HS (1960) ordfNotes on the concept of commitmentordm American Journal of Sociology Vol 66No 1 pp 33-42

Black J and Porter L (1991) ordfManagerial behavior and job performance a successful managerin Los Angeles may not succeed in Hong Kongordm Journal of International Business StudiesVol 22 pp 99-114

Blau GJ (1985) ordfThe measurement and prediction of career commitmentordm Journal ofOccupational Psychology Vol 58 pp 277-88

Blood MR (1969) ordfWork values and job satisfactionordm Journal of Applied Psychology Vol 53pp 456-9

Boyatzis R Goleman D and Rhee K (2000) ordfClustering competence in emotional intelligenceinsights from the emotional competence inventory (ECI)ordm in Bar-On R and Parker JDA(Eds) Handbook of Emotional Intelligence Jossey-Bass San Francisco CA

Brown SP (1996) ordfA meta-analysis and review of organizational research on job involvementordmPsychological Bulletin Vol 120 No 2 pp 235-55

Carlson DS Kacmar MK and Williams LJ (2000) ordfConstruction and initial validations of amultidimensional measure of work-family conmacrictordm Journal of Vocational BehaviorVol 56 pp 249-76

Emotionalintelligence

809

Carmeli A (2002) ordfA conceptual and practical framework of measuring performance of localauthorities in regnancial terms analysing the case of Israelordm Local Government StudiesVol 28 No 1 pp 21-36

Cherniss C (2000) ordfordfEmotional intelligence what it is and why it mattersordm paper presented atthe Annual Meeting of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology NewOrleans LA April p 15

Ciarrochi J Chan AYC and Bajgar J (2001) ordfMeasuring emotional intelligence inadolescentsordm Personality and Individual Differences Vol 31 pp 1105-19

Ciarrochi J Chan AYC and Caputi P (2000) ordfA critical evaluation of the emotionalintelligence constructordm Personality and Individual Differences Vol 28 pp 539-61

Cohen J and Cohen P (1983) Applied Multiple RegressionCorrelation Analysis for theBehavioral Sciences Lawrence Erlbaum Hillsdale NJ

Cook TD and Campbell TD (1979) Quasi-Experimentation Design and Analytical Issues forField Settings Rand-McNally Chicago IL

Cooper RK and Sawaf A (1997) Executive EQ Emotional Intelligence in Leadership andOrganizations GrossetPutnam New York NY

Davies M Stankov L and Roberts R (1998) ordfEmotional intelligence in search of an elusiveconstructordm Journal of Personality and Social Psychology Vol 75 pp 989-1015

Dulewicz V and Higgs MJ (1999) Usersrsquo Guide for the Emotional Intelligence QuestionnaireNFER-Nelson Windsor

Dulewicz V and Higgs MJ (2000) ordfEmotional intelligence a review and evaluation studyordmJournal of Managerial Psychology Vol 15 No 4 pp 341-72

Finkelstein S and Hambrick D (1996) Strategic Leadership Top Executives and Their Effectson Organizations West Publishing Company St Paul MN

Furnham A (1990) The Protestant Work Ethic The Psychology of Work-Related Beliefs andBehaviors Routledge New York NY

GardnerH (1983) Frames of Mind The Theory of Multiple Intelligences Basic Books New YorkNY

George JM (2000) ordfEmotions and leadership the role of emotional intelligenceordm HumanRelations Vol 53 No 8 pp 1027-55

Goleman D (1995) Emotional Intelligence Why It Can Matter More than IQ Bantam BooksNew York NY

Goleman D (1998) Working with Emotional Intelligence Bantam Books New York NY

Goleman D (2001) ordfAn EI-based theory of performanceordm in Cherniss C and Goleman D (Eds)The Emotionally Intelligent Workplace How to Select for Measure and Improve EmotionalIntelligence in Individuals Groups and Organizations Jossey-Bass San Francisco CApp 27-44

Grandey AA (2000) ordfEmotion regulation in the workplace a new way to conceptualizeemotional laborordm Journal of Occupational Health Psychology Vol 5 No 1 pp 95-110

Greenhaus JH and Beutell NJ (1985) ordfSources of conmacrict between work and family rolesordmAcademy of Management Review Vol 10 No 1 pp 76-88

Griffeth RW Hom PW and Gaertner S (2000) ordfA meta-analysis of antecedents and correlatesof employee turnover update moderator test and research implications for the nextmillenniumordm Journal of Management Vol 26 No 3 pp 463-88

Hambrick DC and Mason PA (1984) ordfUpper echelons the organization as a remacrection of itstop managementordm Academy of Management Review Vol 9 pp 193-206

JMP188

810

this study used a relatively new measure of emotional intelligence and thoughstudies reported good reliability and evidence of validity it would be useful toconduct a study which compare results of this study with those used otheracceptable measures of emotional intelligence

Note

1 When this study was conducted the MSCEIT instrument was not available to the author

References

Abraham R (1999) ordfEmotional intelligence in organizations a conceptualizationordm GeneticSocial and General Psychology Monographs Vol 125 No 2 pp 209-24

Aiken LS and West SG (1991) Multiple Regression Testing and Interpreting InteractionsSage Newbury Park CA

Allen NJ and Meyer JP (1990) ordfThe measurement and antecedents of affective continuanceand normative commitment to the organizationordm Journal of Occupational PsychologyVol 63 pp 1-18

Allen NJ and Meyer JP (1996) ordfAffective continuance and normative commitment to theorganization an examination of construct validityordm Journal of Vocational Behavior Vol 49No 3 pp 252-76

Ashforth BE and Humphrey RH (1995) ordfEmotion in the workplace a reappraisalordm HumanRelations Vol 48 No 2 pp 97-125

Bar-On R (1996) The Emotional Quotient Inventory (EQ-i) A Test of Emotional IntelligenceMulti-Health Systems Toronto

Bar-On R and Parker JDA (2000) The Handbook of Emotional Intelligence TheoryDevelopment Assessment and Application at Home School and in the WorkplaceJossey-Bass San Francisco CA

Bar-On R Brown JM Kirkcaldy BD and Thome EP (2000) ordfEmotional expression andimplications for occupational stress an applicationordm Personality and IndividualDifferences Vol 28 pp 1107-18

Becker HS (1960) ordfNotes on the concept of commitmentordm American Journal of Sociology Vol 66No 1 pp 33-42

Black J and Porter L (1991) ordfManagerial behavior and job performance a successful managerin Los Angeles may not succeed in Hong Kongordm Journal of International Business StudiesVol 22 pp 99-114

Blau GJ (1985) ordfThe measurement and prediction of career commitmentordm Journal ofOccupational Psychology Vol 58 pp 277-88

Blood MR (1969) ordfWork values and job satisfactionordm Journal of Applied Psychology Vol 53pp 456-9

Boyatzis R Goleman D and Rhee K (2000) ordfClustering competence in emotional intelligenceinsights from the emotional competence inventory (ECI)ordm in Bar-On R and Parker JDA(Eds) Handbook of Emotional Intelligence Jossey-Bass San Francisco CA

Brown SP (1996) ordfA meta-analysis and review of organizational research on job involvementordmPsychological Bulletin Vol 120 No 2 pp 235-55

Carlson DS Kacmar MK and Williams LJ (2000) ordfConstruction and initial validations of amultidimensional measure of work-family conmacrictordm Journal of Vocational BehaviorVol 56 pp 249-76

Emotionalintelligence

809

Carmeli A (2002) ordfA conceptual and practical framework of measuring performance of localauthorities in regnancial terms analysing the case of Israelordm Local Government StudiesVol 28 No 1 pp 21-36

Cherniss C (2000) ordfordfEmotional intelligence what it is and why it mattersordm paper presented atthe Annual Meeting of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology NewOrleans LA April p 15

Ciarrochi J Chan AYC and Bajgar J (2001) ordfMeasuring emotional intelligence inadolescentsordm Personality and Individual Differences Vol 31 pp 1105-19

Ciarrochi J Chan AYC and Caputi P (2000) ordfA critical evaluation of the emotionalintelligence constructordm Personality and Individual Differences Vol 28 pp 539-61

Cohen J and Cohen P (1983) Applied Multiple RegressionCorrelation Analysis for theBehavioral Sciences Lawrence Erlbaum Hillsdale NJ

Cook TD and Campbell TD (1979) Quasi-Experimentation Design and Analytical Issues forField Settings Rand-McNally Chicago IL

Cooper RK and Sawaf A (1997) Executive EQ Emotional Intelligence in Leadership andOrganizations GrossetPutnam New York NY

Davies M Stankov L and Roberts R (1998) ordfEmotional intelligence in search of an elusiveconstructordm Journal of Personality and Social Psychology Vol 75 pp 989-1015

Dulewicz V and Higgs MJ (1999) Usersrsquo Guide for the Emotional Intelligence QuestionnaireNFER-Nelson Windsor

Dulewicz V and Higgs MJ (2000) ordfEmotional intelligence a review and evaluation studyordmJournal of Managerial Psychology Vol 15 No 4 pp 341-72

Finkelstein S and Hambrick D (1996) Strategic Leadership Top Executives and Their Effectson Organizations West Publishing Company St Paul MN

Furnham A (1990) The Protestant Work Ethic The Psychology of Work-Related Beliefs andBehaviors Routledge New York NY

GardnerH (1983) Frames of Mind The Theory of Multiple Intelligences Basic Books New YorkNY

George JM (2000) ordfEmotions and leadership the role of emotional intelligenceordm HumanRelations Vol 53 No 8 pp 1027-55

Goleman D (1995) Emotional Intelligence Why It Can Matter More than IQ Bantam BooksNew York NY

Goleman D (1998) Working with Emotional Intelligence Bantam Books New York NY

Goleman D (2001) ordfAn EI-based theory of performanceordm in Cherniss C and Goleman D (Eds)The Emotionally Intelligent Workplace How to Select for Measure and Improve EmotionalIntelligence in Individuals Groups and Organizations Jossey-Bass San Francisco CApp 27-44

Grandey AA (2000) ordfEmotion regulation in the workplace a new way to conceptualizeemotional laborordm Journal of Occupational Health Psychology Vol 5 No 1 pp 95-110

Greenhaus JH and Beutell NJ (1985) ordfSources of conmacrict between work and family rolesordmAcademy of Management Review Vol 10 No 1 pp 76-88

Griffeth RW Hom PW and Gaertner S (2000) ordfA meta-analysis of antecedents and correlatesof employee turnover update moderator test and research implications for the nextmillenniumordm Journal of Management Vol 26 No 3 pp 463-88

Hambrick DC and Mason PA (1984) ordfUpper echelons the organization as a remacrection of itstop managementordm Academy of Management Review Vol 9 pp 193-206

JMP188

810

Carmeli A (2002) ordfA conceptual and practical framework of measuring performance of localauthorities in regnancial terms analysing the case of Israelordm Local Government StudiesVol 28 No 1 pp 21-36

Cherniss C (2000) ordfordfEmotional intelligence what it is and why it mattersordm paper presented atthe Annual Meeting of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology NewOrleans LA April p 15

Ciarrochi J Chan AYC and Bajgar J (2001) ordfMeasuring emotional intelligence inadolescentsordm Personality and Individual Differences Vol 31 pp 1105-19

Ciarrochi J Chan AYC and Caputi P (2000) ordfA critical evaluation of the emotionalintelligence constructordm Personality and Individual Differences Vol 28 pp 539-61

Cohen J and Cohen P (1983) Applied Multiple RegressionCorrelation Analysis for theBehavioral Sciences Lawrence Erlbaum Hillsdale NJ

Cook TD and Campbell TD (1979) Quasi-Experimentation Design and Analytical Issues forField Settings Rand-McNally Chicago IL

Cooper RK and Sawaf A (1997) Executive EQ Emotional Intelligence in Leadership andOrganizations GrossetPutnam New York NY

Davies M Stankov L and Roberts R (1998) ordfEmotional intelligence in search of an elusiveconstructordm Journal of Personality and Social Psychology Vol 75 pp 989-1015

Dulewicz V and Higgs MJ (1999) Usersrsquo Guide for the Emotional Intelligence QuestionnaireNFER-Nelson Windsor

Dulewicz V and Higgs MJ (2000) ordfEmotional intelligence a review and evaluation studyordmJournal of Managerial Psychology Vol 15 No 4 pp 341-72

Finkelstein S and Hambrick D (1996) Strategic Leadership Top Executives and Their Effectson Organizations West Publishing Company St Paul MN

Furnham A (1990) The Protestant Work Ethic The Psychology of Work-Related Beliefs andBehaviors Routledge New York NY

GardnerH (1983) Frames of Mind The Theory of Multiple Intelligences Basic Books New YorkNY

George JM (2000) ordfEmotions and leadership the role of emotional intelligenceordm HumanRelations Vol 53 No 8 pp 1027-55

Goleman D (1995) Emotional Intelligence Why It Can Matter More than IQ Bantam BooksNew York NY

Goleman D (1998) Working with Emotional Intelligence Bantam Books New York NY

Goleman D (2001) ordfAn EI-based theory of performanceordm in Cherniss C and Goleman D (Eds)The Emotionally Intelligent Workplace How to Select for Measure and Improve EmotionalIntelligence in Individuals Groups and Organizations Jossey-Bass San Francisco CApp 27-44

Grandey AA (2000) ordfEmotion regulation in the workplace a new way to conceptualizeemotional laborordm Journal of Occupational Health Psychology Vol 5 No 1 pp 95-110

Greenhaus JH and Beutell NJ (1985) ordfSources of conmacrict between work and family rolesordmAcademy of Management Review Vol 10 No 1 pp 76-88

Griffeth RW Hom PW and Gaertner S (2000) ordfA meta-analysis of antecedents and correlatesof employee turnover update moderator test and research implications for the nextmillenniumordm Journal of Management Vol 26 No 3 pp 463-88

Hambrick DC and Mason PA (1984) ordfUpper echelons the organization as a remacrection of itstop managementordm Academy of Management Review Vol 9 pp 193-206

JMP188

810

Hammonds KH (1996) ordfBalancing work and family big returns for companies willing to givefamily strategies a chanceordm Business Week September p 16

Hochwarter WA Perrewe PL Ferris GR and Brymer RA (1999) ordfJob satisfaction andperformance the moderating effects of value attainment and affective dispositionordm Journalof Vocational Behavior Vol 54 pp 296-313

Hooijberg R Hunt JG and Dodge GE (1997) ordfLeadership complexity and development of theLeaderplex modelordm Journal of Management Vol 23 pp 375-408

Kanungo RN (1982) ordfMeasurement of job and work involvementordm Journal of AppliedPsychology Vol 67 No 3 pp 341-9

Kellett JB Humphrey RH and Sleeth RG (2002) ordfEmpathy and complex task performancetwo routes to leadershipordm The Leadership Quarterly Vol 13 pp 523-44

Lee K Carswell JJ and Allen N (2000) ordfA meta-analytic review of occupational commitmentrelations with person- and work-related variablesordm Journal of Applied Psychology Vol 85No 5 pp 799-811

Locke EA (1969) ordfWhat is job satisfactionordm Organizational Behavior and HumanPerformance Vol 4 pp 309-36

Mabe P and West S (1982) ordfValidity of self-evaluation of ability a review and meta-analysisordmJournal of Applied Psychology Vol 67 pp 280-96

Martins LL Eddleston KA and Veiga JE (2002) ordfModerators of the relationship betweenwork-family conmacrict and career satisfactionordm Academy of Management Journal Vol 45No 2 pp 399-409

Mathieu JE and Zajac DM (1990) ordfA review and meta-analysis of the antecedents correlatesand consequences of organizational commitmentordm Psychological Bulletin Vol 108pp 171-94

Mayer JD and Salovey P (1997) ordfWhat is emotional intelligence Implications for educatorsordmin Salovey P and Sluyter D (Eds) Emotional Development Emotional Literacy andEmotional Intelligence Basic Books New York NY pp 3-31

Mayer J Caruso D and Salovey P (1999) ordfEmotional intelligence meets traditional standardsfor an intelligenceordm Intelligence Vol 27 pp 267-98

Mayer J Salovey P and Caruso D (2000) ordfEmotional intelligence as zeitgeist as personalityand as a mental abilityordm in Bar-On R and Parker JDA (Eds) The Handbook ofEmotional Intelligence Jossey-Bass New York NY

Meyer JP and Allen NJ (1984) ordfTesting the `side-bet theoryrsquo of organizational commitmentsome methodological considerationsordm Organizational Behavior and Human PerformanceVol 17 pp 289-98

Meyer JP and Allen NJ (1997) Commitment in the Workplace Theory Research andApplication Sage PublicationsATOB Thousand Oaks CA

Michaels CE and Spector PE (1982) ordfCauses of employee turnover a test of the MobleyGriffeth Hand and Meglino modelordm Journal of Applied Psychology Vol 67 No 1 pp 53-9

Miller HE Katerberg R and Hulin CL (1979) ordfEvaluation of the Mobley Horner andHollingsworth model of employee turnoverordm Journal of Applied Psychology Vol 64 No 5pp 509-17

Mirels HL and Garrett JB (1971) ordfThe protestant ethic as a personality variableordm Journal ofConsulting and Clinical Psychology Vol 36 No 1 pp 40-4

Mobley WH (1977) ordfIntermediate linkages in the relationship between job satisfaction andemployee turnoverordm Journal of Applied Psychology Vol 62 No 2 pp 237-40

Emotionalintelligence

811

Mobley WH (1982a) ordfSome unanswered questions in turnover and withdrawal researchordmAcademy of Management Review Vol 7 No 1 pp 111-16

Mobley WH (1982b) Employee Turnover Causes Consequences and Control Addison-WesleyPublishing Company Reading MA

Mobley WH Horner SO and Hollingsworth AT (1978) ordfAn evaluation of precursors ofhospital employee turnoverordm Journal of Applied Psychology Vol 63 No 4 pp 408-14

Morrow PC (1983) ordfConcept redundancy in organizational research the case of workcommitmentordm Academy of Management Review Vol 8 pp 486-500

Morrow PC (1993) The Theory and Measurement of Work Commitment JAI Press IncGreenwich CT

Mowday R Porter L and Steers R (1982) Organizational Linkages The Psychology ofCommitment Absenteeism and Turnover Academic Press New York NY

Pearce J and Porter L (1986) ordfEmployee responses to formal performance appraisal feedbackordmJournal of Applied Psychology Vol 71 No 2 pp 211-18

Podsakoff PM and MacKenzie S (1989) ordfA second generation measure of organizationalcitizenship behaviorordm working paper Indiana University Bloomington IN

Podsakoff PM MacKenzie S Moorman RH and Fetter R (1990) ordfThe inmacruence oftransformational leader behaviors on organizational citizenship behaviorsordm TheLeadership Quarterly Vol 1 pp 107-42

Ritzer G and Trice HM (1969) ordfAn empirical study of Howard Beckerrsquos side-bet theoryordm SocialForces Vol 47 No 4 pp 475-8

Salovey P and Mayer JD (1989) ordfEmotional intelligenceordm Imagination Cognition andPersonality Vol 9 No 3 pp 185-211

Schutte NS and Malouff JM (1999) Measuring Emotional Intelligence and Related ConstructsEdwin Mellen Press Lewiston New York NY

Schutte NS Malouff JM Simunek M McKenley J and Hollander S (2002) ordfCharacteristicemotional intelligence and emotional wellbeingordm Cognition and Emotion Vol 16 No 6pp 769-85

Schutte NS Malouff JM Hall LE Haggerty DJ Cooper JT Golden CJ and Dornheim L(1998) ordfDevelopment and validation of a measure of emotional intelligenceordm Personalityand Individual Differences Vol 25 pp 167-77

Smith CA Organ DW and Near JP (1983) ordfOrganizational citizenship behavior its natureand antecedentsordm Journal of Applied Psychology Vol 68 pp 653-63

Smith PC Kendall LH and Hulin CL (1969) The Measurement of Satisfaction in Work andRetirement Strategy for the Study of Attitudes Rand-McNally Company Chicago IL

Staw BM Sutton RI and Pelled LH (1994) ordfEmployee positive emotion and favorableoutcomes at the workplaceordm Organization Science Vol 5 No 1 February pp 51-71

Steiner C (1984) ordfEmotional literacyordm Transactional Analysis Journal Vol 14 pp 162-73

Tsui AS Egan TD and OrsquoReilly CA (1992) ordfBeing different relational demography andorganizational attachmentordm Administrative Science Quarterly Vol 37 pp 549-79

Van Maanen J and Kunda G (1989) ordfReal feelings emotional expression and organizationalcultureordm Research in Organizational Behavior Vol 11 pp 43-103

Vroom V (1964) Work and Motivation Wiley New York NY

Wasielewski PL (1985) ordfThe emotional basis of charismaordm Symbolic Interaction Vol 8pp 207-22

JMP188

812

Whetton DA (2001) Developing Management Skills 5th ed Prentice-Hall Upper Saddle RiverNJ

Wolff SB Pescosolido AT and Druskat VU (2002) ordfEmotional intelligence as the basis ofleadership emergence in self-managing teamsordm The Leadership Quarterly Vol 13pp 505-22

Xie JL (1996) ordfKarasekrsquos model in the Peoplersquos Republic of China effects of job demandscontrol and individual differencesordm Academy of Management Journal Vol 39pp 1594-618

Zaccaro SJ (2001) The Nature of Executive Leadership A Conceptual and Empirical Analysis ofSuccess American Psychological Association Washington DC

Further reading

Cavallo K and Brienza D (nd) ordfEmotional competence and leadership excellence at Johnsonand Johnson the emotional intelligence and leadership studyordm unpublished manuscriptMichigan State University East Lansing MI

Fine GA (1988) ordfLetting off steam Rederegning a restaurantrsquos work environmentordm in MooreMD and Snyder RC (Eds) Inside Organizations Understanding the Human DimensionSage Newbury Park CA pp 119-28

Fisher CD and Ashkanasy NM (2000) ordfThe emerging role of emotions in work life anintroductionordm Journal of Organizational Behavior Vol 21 pp 123-9

Hochschild AR (1983) The Managed Heart Commercialization of Human Feelings Universityof California Press Berkeley CA

Mobley WH Griffeth RH Hand HH and Meglino BM (1979) ordfReview and conceptualanalysis of the employee turnover processordm Psychological Bulletin Vol 86 pp 493-522

OrsquoReilly CA and Chatman J (1986) ordfOrganizational commitment and psychologicalattachment the effects of compliance identiregcation and internalization on prosocialbehaviorordm Journal of Applied Psychology Vol 71 pp 492-9

Organ DW (1988) Organizational Citizenship Behavior The Good Soldier Syndrome LexingtonBooks Lexington MA

Schappe SP (1998) ordfThe inmacruence of job satisfaction organizational commitment and fairnessperceptions on organizational citizenship behaviorordm The Journal of Psychology Vol 132No 3 pp 277-90

Scholl RW (1981) ordfDifferentiating organizational commitment from expectancy as amotivating forceordm Academy of Management Review Vol 6 pp 589-99

Emotionalintelligence

813

Whetton DA (2001) Developing Management Skills 5th ed Prentice-Hall Upper Saddle RiverNJ

Wolff SB Pescosolido AT and Druskat VU (2002) ordfEmotional intelligence as the basis ofleadership emergence in self-managing teamsordm The Leadership Quarterly Vol 13pp 505-22

Xie JL (1996) ordfKarasekrsquos model in the Peoplersquos Republic of China effects of job demandscontrol and individual differencesordm Academy of Management Journal Vol 39pp 1594-618

Zaccaro SJ (2001) The Nature of Executive Leadership A Conceptual and Empirical Analysis ofSuccess American Psychological Association Washington DC

Further reading

Cavallo K and Brienza D (nd) ordfEmotional competence and leadership excellence at Johnsonand Johnson the emotional intelligence and leadership studyordm unpublished manuscriptMichigan State University East Lansing MI

Fine GA (1988) ordfLetting off steam Rederegning a restaurantrsquos work environmentordm in MooreMD and Snyder RC (Eds) Inside Organizations Understanding the Human DimensionSage Newbury Park CA pp 119-28

Fisher CD and Ashkanasy NM (2000) ordfThe emerging role of emotions in work life anintroductionordm Journal of Organizational Behavior Vol 21 pp 123-9

Hochschild AR (1983) The Managed Heart Commercialization of Human Feelings Universityof California Press Berkeley CA

Mobley WH Griffeth RH Hand HH and Meglino BM (1979) ordfReview and conceptualanalysis of the employee turnover processordm Psychological Bulletin Vol 86 pp 493-522

OrsquoReilly CA and Chatman J (1986) ordfOrganizational commitment and psychologicalattachment the effects of compliance identiregcation and internalization on prosocialbehaviorordm Journal of Applied Psychology Vol 71 pp 492-9

Organ DW (1988) Organizational Citizenship Behavior The Good Soldier Syndrome LexingtonBooks Lexington MA

Schappe SP (1998) ordfThe inmacruence of job satisfaction organizational commitment and fairnessperceptions on organizational citizenship behaviorordm The Journal of Psychology Vol 132No 3 pp 277-90

Scholl RW (1981) ordfDifferentiating organizational commitment from expectancy as amotivating forceordm Academy of Management Review Vol 6 pp 589-99

Emotionalintelligence

813