Emotional intelligence in the workplace: exploring its effects on occupational stress and health outcomes in human service workers.

OBJECTIVES Emotional intelligence, an essential factor responsible for determining success in life and psychological well-being, seems to play an important role in shaping the interaction between individuals and their work environment. The purpose of the study was to explore the relationship between emotional intelligence and perceived stress in the workplace and health-related consequences in human service workers. MATERIALS AND METHODS A sample of 330 participants (42.4% of men and 57.6% of women), representing various human service professions (physicians, nurses, teachers, probation officers and managers) was eligible for the study. The mean age of the participants was 38.4 years (SD = 8.45), and the employment period was 8.3 years (SD = 6.13). Three methods were used in the study: The Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire--INTE with Polish modification, the Subjective Work Evaluation Questionnaire developed in Poland, and the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28) with Polish modification. RESULTS The results confirmed an essential, but not very strong, role of emotional intelligence in perceiving occupational stress and preventing employees of human services from negative health outcomes. CONCLUSIONS The ability to effectively deal with emotions and emotional information in the workplace assists employees in coping with occupational stress therefore, it should be developed in stress managing trainings.

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