EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE AND EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE: THE MODERATING ROLE OF WORK STRESS
Keywords:
Emotional Intelligence, Work Stress, Employee Performance, Organisational Behaviour, Occupational StressAbstract
Employee performance is a critical determinant oforganisationaleffectiveness. Psychological factors such as work stressand emotional intelligence (EI)have gained increasing attention in understanding variations in workplace performance.This study aimed to examine the relationship betweenEIand employee performance and to assess the role of work stressin influencing performance outcomes. A quantitative cross-sectional design was adopted. Data were collected from 80full-time employees using a structured questionnaire consisting of 20 Likert-scale items measuring emotional intelligence,work stress, and employee performance.Reliability analysis,Descriptive statistics,multiple regression analysisandPearson correlationwere conducted using Microsoft Excel. Theresultsrevealed thatEIwas positively associated withemployee performance, whereas work stress was negatively associated with performance. Regression analysis indicatedthat bothEIand work stress significantly predicted employee performance, explaining a meaningful proportionofvariance. The results suggest that employees with stronger emotional competencies tend to perform better, while higherlevels of work stress reduce performance effectiveness.EIplays a vital role in enhancing employee performance, whilework stress undermines it.Organisationsshould invest inEIdevelopment and stress management initiatives to promote sustainable workplace productivity and employee well-being.
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