Emotional structure and commitment: implications for health care management.

PURPOSE This paper aims to determine if the emotional structure of direct healthcare workers was related to their commitment to the organization. DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH A total of 105 direct healthcare workers completed self-report surveys to determine their emotional intelligence, emotional coping ability, and affective organizational commitment. Pearson Product Moment Correlation and independent sample t tests were used to analyze the data. FINDINGS A significant correlation was found between emotional intelligence, emotional coping ability, and organizational commitment. In addition, emotional intellect served as a moderating variable between coping ability and commitment such that those direct care workers who exhibited higher emotional coping abilities were more committed when emotional intelligence was high rather than low. RESEARCH LIMITATIONS/IMPLICATIONS This was an exploratory study. Larger sample sizes across multiple healthcare settings should be examined before definitive inferences should be drawn. Future studies should likely introduce other variables such as satisfaction, effort, and even performance appraisals to delineate causal relationships. PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS It appears that personality constructs such as emotional intelligence and coping ability could possibly be used as predictive instruments to determine who might be most successful in operating in the highly emotionally charged environment of healthcare. ORIGINALITY/VALUE This is the first study that examined the constructs of emotional intellect and coping ability and organizational commitment using a direct healthcare worker sample. It provides support for the conjecture that interpersonal emotional dynamics are critical in emotionally charged environments. This knowledge could assist healthcare managers in addressing the shortage and attrition rates associated with many direct healthcare fields.

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