V.J. Delima
Assistant Lecturer in
Management, Department of Management, Eastern University, Sri Lanka
P. Luckmizankari
Assistant Lecturer in
Management, Department of Management, Eastern University, Sri Lanka
ABSTRACT
Emotional
intelligence has been a popular topic in the field of management. This study
aimed to examine the impact of emotional intelligence on occupational stress among
executive employees in Bank of Ceylon. Emotional intelligence is as independent
variable and occupational stress is as dependent variable in this study. 150
executive employees were conveniently selected from Bank of Ceylon. 104
questionnaires were retrieved from executive employees of Bank of Ceylon at the
response rate of 69%. This study found that emotional intelligence has an
impact on occupational stress in Bank of Ceylon. The Bank needs to maintain higher
level of emotional intelligence that will reduce the occupational stress of
executive employees.
Key words: Occupational stress, emotional intelligence
1.
INTRODUCTION
Working
environment has been changing due to revolutionary interventions in last two
decades. Massive technological changes, computer literacy, and changes in working
hours are being impacted to working environment of organizations to survive and
compete in market. As a result of impacts, employees have to bear occupational
stress and emotions in the working place. Occupational stress is kind of risk
to physiological and psychological factors of employees. Emotions are intense
feelings that are related to the capability of employees and it also significant
factor that affects the success of organization. Stress and emotions have
become serious difficulties affecting to every employees of banking industry
without any exception. Emotional intelligence became as an emerging concept to
overcome difficulties of employees. Salovey and Mayer (1990) defined emotional
intelligence as “the ability to monitor one’s own and others’ feelings and
emotions, to discriminate among them and to use this information to guide one’s
thinking and actions”. The aim of the study is to investigate the levels of
occupational stress and emotional intelligence among Bank of Ceylon executive employees
and how much it is affected by the employees’ demographic features. In
addition, the relationship between occupational stress and emotional
intelligence is being studied and to find out the impact of emotional
intelligence on occupational stress among Bank of Ceylon executive employees.
2. LITERATURE REVIEW
Occupational
stress is undesirable emotional and physical reaction resulting from employees when
exceeding workload in working place. A
specific level of stress is required to live life. On other hand, if stress level
is exceeding specified level then it can create physical and mental damages. Beehr
and Newman (1978) defined “a situation wherein job-related factors interact
with a worker to change his or her psychological or physiological condition
such that the person is forced to deviate from normal functioning”. Emotional
intelligence concept was introduced in the organizations to overcome the
problem of occupational stress. Martinez (1997) defined emotional intelligence
as "an array of non-cognitive skills, capabilities and competencies that influence
a person's ability to cope with environmental demands and pressures". Previous
studies show that if employees those who have highest level emotional
intelligence, they will have highest level of self-confidence and it leads to achieve
success in their work (Khosravi et al., 2011).
3.
METHODOLOGY
3.1
SAMPLE DESIGN
The
population of the study was the employees of the Bank of Ceylon. The data were
collected through structured questionnaires which were administered to 150
employees of Bank of Ceylon. Convenience sampling technique was used to select
the employees for the study. In the collection of data, respondents completed
the questionnaires and returned them to Branch Manager and sent to the researchers.
Out of 150 respondents, 104 were retrieved at the response rate of 69% which
were used as the basis of the study.
3.2 MEASUREMENT OF VARIABLES
To
measure the occupational stress and emotional intelligence, the 55 statements
were rated on a 5 point Likert scale to measure occupational stress and 66 statements
were rated on a 5 point Likert scale to measure emotional intelligence.
3.4 RELIABILITY TEST OF DATA
Reliability
test has been carried out to confirm the trustworthiness of data in the context
of study problem. Cronbach’s alpha reliability method was employed. The value
of Cronbach’s alpha reliability is 0.854 for occupational stress variable and
the value of Cronbach’s alpha reliability is 0.790 for emotional intelligence
variable. These results are more than 0.6 therefore it reveals that variables
used in this study were highly reliable.
3.5 STATISTICAL TOOLS
To
identify the level of occupational stress and emotional intelligence in the
Bank of Ceylon, mean and standard deviations were used. To identify the
relationship between occupational stress and emotional intelligence and to
determine the impact of emotional intelligence on occupational stress, independent
t-test, ANOVA, correlations analysis and regression analysis were employed.
4. ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION
4.1 RESPONDENT PROFILE
A
total of 150 questionnaires were distributed among the branches of Bank of
Ceylon. Out of 104 respondents, 49% were Senior Executives and 51% were Junior
Executives. With respect to the gender, 61.5% were Male and 38.5% were Female.
With respect to experience, 27.9% were in the group of 3-5 years, 18.3% were in
the group of 5-7 years, 11.5% were in the group of 7-10 year, and 42.3% were in
the group of above 10 years. With respect to weekly working hours, 1.9% were
belonged to below 35 hours, 4.8% were belonged to 35-40 hours, 20.2% were
belonged to 40-45 hours, 52.9% were belonged to 45-50 hours, and 20.2% were
belonged to above 50 hours.
4.2 RESEARCH INFORMATION
4.2.1 DESCRIPTIVE ANALYSIS
The
study was to identify the occupational stress and emotional intelligence of BOC
employees. Statistical tools such mean and standard deviations were carried out
to occupational stress and emotional intelligence.
Table
1: Occupational stress and emotional intelligence between the designation groups
of executive employees
Designation
|
Occupational Stress
|
Emotional Intelligence
|
||
Mean
|
Standard deviation
|
Mean
|
Standard deviation
|
|
Junior Executive
|
3.18
|
0.45
|
3.18
|
0.19
|
Senior Executive
|
3.01
|
0.43
|
3.38
|
0.36
|
The
study found that the mean value of stress reveals that junior executives have
higher level of stress than senior executives (3.18 > 3.01). The mean value
of emotional intelligence reveals that senior executives have higher level of
emotional intelligence than junior executives (3.38 > 3.18).
Table
2: Occupational stress and emotional intelligence between the gender groups of executive
employees
Gender
|
Occupational Stress
|
Emotional Intelligence
|
||
Mean
|
Standard deviation
|
Mean
|
Standard deviation
|
|
Male
|
3.03
|
0.38
|
3.31
|
0.33
|
Female
|
3.19
|
0.35
|
3.23
|
0.25
|
The
mean value of stress reveals that female have higher level of stress than male employees
(3.19 > 3.03). The mean value of emotional intelligence reveals that male
has higher level of emotional intelligence than female employees (3.31 >
3.23).
Table
3: Occupational stress and emotional intelligence among the different
experience group of executive employees
Experience
|
Occupational Stress
|
Emotional Intelligence
|
||
Mean
|
Standard deviation
|
Mean
|
Standard deviation
|
|
3-5 years
|
3.26
|
0.34
|
3.18
|
0.13
|
5-7 years
|
3.13
|
0.28
|
3.15
|
0.12
|
7-10 years
|
3.04
|
0.23
|
3.29
|
0.31
|
Above 10 years
|
2.98
|
0.42
|
3.40
|
0.39
|
The
mean value of occupational stress is at highest level in 3-5 years of
experience group of employees. The mean value of occupational stress is at
lowest level in above 10 years of experience group of employees. The mean value
of emotional intelligence is at highest level in above 10 years of experience
group of employees. The mean value of emotional intelligence is at lowest level
in 5-7 years of experience group of employees.
Table
4: Occupational Stress and Emotional Intelligence among the different weekly
working hours group of executive employees
Weekly working hours
|
Occupational Stress
|
Emotional Intelligence
|
||
Mean
|
Standard deviation
|
Mean
|
Standard deviation
|
|
Below 35 hours
|
2.39
|
0.19
|
3.66
|
0.72
|
35-40 hours
|
2.92
|
0.61
|
3.36
|
0.48
|
40-45 hours
|
3.08
|
0.29
|
3.27
|
0.32
|
45-50 hours
|
3.09
|
0.36
|
3.36
|
0.25
|
Above 50 hours
|
3.36
|
0.37
|
3.28
|
0.33
|
The
mean value of occupational stress is at highest level in the above 50 working hours.
The mean value of occupational stress is at lowest level in the below 35
working hours. The mean value of emotional intelligence is at highest level in the
below 35 working hours. The mean value of emotional intelligence is at lowest
level in the 40-45 working hours.
4.2.2 HYPOTHESIS
H1.
|
H0 -
|
There is no significant difference
between junior executives and senior executives employees in respect of
occupational stress.
|
H1 -
|
There is significant difference between
junior executives and senior executives employees in respect of occupational
stress.
|
Table
5: Independent sample t-test for Occupational stress in respect of designation
of employees
Variance
Assumption
|
Levene’s
test for equality of variance
|
t-test
for equality of means
|
|||
F
|
Sig.
|
T
|
df
|
Sig.
(2-tailed)
|
|
Equal variance
assumed
|
0.004
|
0.948
|
2.044
|
102
|
0.044
|
Equal variance
not assumed
|
2.040
|
100.037
|
0.044
|
Levene’s
test for equality of variances indicates that variances for respondents do not
differ significantly (Sig. 0.948 > 0.05) from each other. Then “Equal
variance assumed” assumption was taken and t-test reveals that p-value is less
than significance level 0.05 (0.044 < 0.05), null hypothesis (H0)
was rejected and it could be concluded that there is sufficient evidence to
say, at the 5% level of significance, that “there is significant difference
between junior executives and senior employees in respect of occupational
stress.
H2.
|
H0 -
|
There is no significant difference
between male and female employees in respect of occupational stress.
|
H1 -
|
There is significant difference between
male and female employees in respect of occupational stress.
|
Table
6: Independent sample t-test for Occupational stress in respect of gender group
of employees
Variance
Assumption
|
Levene’s
test for equality of variance
|
t-test
for equality of means
|
|||
F
|
Sig.
|
T
|
df
|
Sig.
(2-tailed)
|
|
Equal variance
assumed
|
0.030
|
0.864
|
-1.923
|
102
|
0.057
|
Equal variance
not assumed
|
-1.825
|
69.301
|
0.072
|
Levene’s
test for equality of variances indicates that variances for respondents do not
differ significantly (Sig. 0.864 > 0.05) from each other. Then “Equal
variance assumed” assumption was taken and t-test reveals that p-value is greater
than significance level 0.05 (0.057 < 0.05), null hypothesis (H0)
was accepted and it could be concluded that there is sufficient evidence to
say, at the 5% level of significance, that “there is no significant difference
between male and female employees in respect of occupational stress.
H3.
|
H0 -
|
There is no significant difference among
different experience group of employees in respect of occupational stress.
|
H1 -
|
There is significant difference among
different experience group in respect of occupational stress.
|
Table
7: One way ANOVA for Occupational stress in respect of different experience
groups of employees
Test
of homogeneity of variance
|
ANOVA
|
||
Levene
statistic
|
Sig.
|
F
|
Sig.
|
1.357
|
0.260
|
2.654
|
0.053
|
Levene’s
test for homogeneity of variance with a significance value of 0.260 indicates
that variance for occupational stress for each of experience groups of
employees do not significantly differ. Then variance of all the groups are
equal assumption was taken and the p-value is greater than significance level
0.05 (0.053 < 0.05), null hypothesis (H0) was accepted and it
could be concluded that there is sufficient evidence to say, at the 5% level of
significance, that “there is no significant difference among different
experience group of employees in respect of occupational stress.
H4.
|
H0 -
|
There is no significant difference among
different weekly working hours group of employees in respect of occupational
stress.
|
H1 -
|
There is significant difference among
different weekly working hours group in respect of occupational stress.
|
Table
8: One way ANOVA for Occupational stress in respect of different weekly working
hours group of employees
Test
of homogeneity of variance
|
ANOVA
|
||
Levene
statistic
|
Sig.
|
F
|
Sig.
|
1.562
|
0.190
|
4.206
|
0.003
|
Levene’s
test for homogeneity of variance with a significance value of 0.190 indicates
that variance for occupational stress for each of experience groups of
employees do not significantly differ. Then variance of all the groups are not
equal assumption was taken and the p-value is less than significance level 0.05
(0.003 < 0.05), null hypothesis (H0) was rejected and it could be
concluded that there is sufficient evidence to say, at the 5% level of
significance, that “there is significant difference among different weekly
working hours of employees in respect of occupational stress.
4.3 CORRELATION ANALYSIS
Pearson’s
coefficient of correlation is carried out to identify the relationship between
occupational stress and emotional intelligence. The result reveals that there
is significant moderate negative relationship between occupational stress and
emotional intelligence in Bank of Ceylon (r = -0.306; P-value 0.002 < 0.01).
The results of the correlation analysis also reveal that relationship between occupational
stresses to emotional intelligence is also highly significant. The result
proves that higher occupational stress, lower emotional intelligence of Bank of
Ceylon employees and lower occupational stress, higher emotional intelligence
of Bank of Ceylon employees.
4.4 REGRESSION ANALYSIS
Regression
analysis was performed to determine the extent and significance to which the
emotional intelligence impacts on occupational stress.
Table
9: Summary of regression analysis
Independent variable
|
R
|
R2
|
Adjusted R2
|
F
|
Sig.
|
Emotional Intelligence
|
0.306
|
0.094
|
0.085
|
10.523
|
0.002
|
The
model reveals that adjusted R2 value is 0.085 which is in the model
denotes that 8.5% of variation in occupational stress is explained by the
emotional intelligence. The test of significance for the F-statistics is 10.523.
Significance on table (p-value = 0.002) which is less than 0.005 and it
indicates that the regression model statistically significant. It shows data is
perfectly fit the model.
5. CONCLUSION
This
study inspected whether the emotional intelligence has an impact on
occupational stress in Bank of Ceylon. It is stated that emotional intelligence
has a significant impact on occupational stress and emotional intelligence has
moderate negative relationship with occupational stress in Bank of Ceylon. It
can be concluded that emotional intelligence needs to be kept in higher level
to lower occupational stress in Bank of Ceylon.
6. REFERENCES
Beehr,
T. A., and Newman, J. E. (1978). Job stress, employee health, and
organizational effectiveness: A facet analysis, model, and literature review.
Personnel Psychology, 31(4), 665-699.
Salovey,
P., & Mayer, J. D. (1990). Emotional intelligence. Imagination, Cognition
and Personality, 9, 185–211.
Mrtinez,
M.N. (1997), The Smarts that count, Human Resource Magazine, avaol.42, pp.72-78.
Khosravi,
B. G., Manafi, M., Hojabri, R., Aghapour, A. H., Gheshmi, R. (2011). The
Relationship between Emotional Intelligence and Effective Delegation, International
Journal of Business and Social Science, Vol. 2.