The Predicting Role of Emotional Intelligence in Job Satisfaction of Healthcare Practitioners in Pakistan

Abstract

Healthcare had been dominated by stress-related literature for a long time. However, the contemporary approach focuses on doctors’ wellbeing. Since healthcare professionals’ wellbeing depends on their satisfaction with work, it is important to understand the factors that influence job satisfaction. Therefore, this study aimed to identify the predicting role of factors of Emotional Intelligence (EI), such as, perception of emotion, managing own emotions, managing others’ emotions, and usage of emotion in job satisfaction of healthcare practitioners in Pakistan while comparing managing own emotions in male and female healthcare practitioners and in surgeons and trainees. The study was quantitative, and 100 healthcare practitioners from public and private hospitals in Pakistan were sampled via convenient sampling. Descriptive statistics and multiple regression were used to interpret the raw survey data using SPSS. It was found that managing own emotions and usage of emotions positively predicted job satisfaction, with managing own emotions being the greater predictor. The perception of emotions and managing others’ emotions did not significantly predict job satisfaction. Moreover, it was found that managing own emotions was not a significant predictor for neither males nor females. It was also found that managing own emotions was not a significant predictor of job satisfaction for neither surgeons nor trainees. This is the first study in Pakistan exploring EI as a multidimensional construct, with each factor studied in relation to job satisfaction. The findings will play a pivotal role in designing training initiatives and outreach programs to enhance the job satisfaction of Pakistani healthcare practitioners for both government and private hospitals. Keywords : emotional intelligence, job satisfaction, healthcare practitioners. DOI: https://doi.org/10.55463/hkjss.issn.1021-3619.60.86