Investigating the relationship between employees' Emotional Intelligence and their Job Stress in one of oil industries in Tehran using structural equation model analysis

Abstract

Introduction: Emotional intelligence, as the ability to recognize and control one's emotions and feelings, is considered a new psychological approach to evaluating behavior in workplaces. Job stress, as an imbalance between job needs and individual abilities, has always been one of the main challenges of workplaces. Therefore, this research was conducted in one of the oil industries in Tehran to investigate the effect of employees' emotional intelligence on their job stress. 
 Materials and Methods: This research is a practical and analytical cross-sectional study. The population of this research, consisting of 300 employees, was selected by random stratified sampling. In this research, two questionnaires, Bar-On emotional intelligence, and HSE job stress were completed. Also, for data analysis, LISREL 8.72 and SPSS 18 software were used to estimate the causal effect between research variables and calculate descriptive indices as well as compare average variables.
 Results: The employees' emotional intelligence and job stress had a significant inverse relationship; In other words, a higher level of emotional intelligence was associated with lower job stress. The subscales of flexibility and self-expression in the emotional intelligence test, and the subscales of communication and role in the job stress test, had the highest and lowest numerical values in each test, respectively. Also, based on the results, employees' emotional intelligence levels and job stress were independent of their age and education level.
 Conclusion: Employees' emotional intelligence level affects their amount of job stress. Therefore, applying emotional intelligence skills in workplaces can significantly reduce the level of employees' job stress.