Abstract
Occupational (professional) boredom results in low performance at work. It has been positively associated with high levels of anxiety and depression as well as premature death. However, occupational boredom has not been extensively studied among working nurses. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between emotional intelligence and occupational boredom in nurses working in both public (52.9%) and private (47.1%) health units in Greece. A cross-sectional study was conducted among a convenience sample of 189 nurses (84.7% females) with an average age of 40 years. Emotional intelligence was evaluated with the use of The Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire-Short Form and Professional boredom was assessed with the use of the Boredom Proneness Scale. The majority of Nurses showed relatively high values of total Emotional Intelligence (EI), and marginally low values of overall Professional Boredom. A statistically significant negative correlation was found between the overall Professional Boredom of Nurses and the Well-being, Self-control, Emotionality and Sociability subscales of EI, as well as total EI (p < 0.001). Multiple linear regression analyses showed that the three dimensions of EI (Well-being, Self-Control and Emotionality) explained 39.0% of the variability of the total Professional Boredom of the working Nurses.
Highlights
Boredom in the workplace is a problem that has existed for centuries, with many detrimental consequences [1,2]
This research investigated the relationship between Emotional Intelligence and Professional Boredom among Nurses working in health units either in public or private sector
Our findings are in accordance with previous work which showed that marital status and parental status affect the subjective well-being of nursing staff, with married people having higher levels of positive emotions and life satisfaction when compared to those who are alone who have higher levels of negative emotions [58]
Summary
Boredom in the workplace is a problem that has existed for centuries, with many detrimental consequences [1,2]. Professional boredom is directly related to dissatisfaction with work [5] and low performance [6,7]. Boredom is regarded as a very broad and important problem. Boredom has been positively associated with overconsumption of food and energy intake and eating disorders [13,14]. Occupational boredom in particular, is associated with health problems and can lead to the premature death of the workers, mainly due to cardiovascular disease [15]. High levels of occupational boredom are strongly associated with anxiety and depression [16], compulsive behavior, physical manifestation of stress, difficulty in interpersonal relationships and intense sensitivity.
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