Women’s experience of perceived uncertainty: insights from emotional intelligence

Abstract

PurposeFew organizational change studies identified the aspects of change that are salient to individuals and gender in specific and that influence their work outcomes. This paper aims to assess the potential mediating effect of emotional intelligence and the moderating effect of gender in the relationship of perceived change-related uncertainty and work outcomes.Design/methodology/approachThe study analyzes the measurement model and the structural model using SmartPLS (v 3.2.7) on a sample of 413 employees working in the telecom sector collected through a non-experimental face-to-face method.FindingsThe findings support that emotional intelligence mediates the negative relationship between perceived change-related uncertainty and work outcomes. Moreover, emotional intelligence and gender have a significant interaction effect on work outcomes.Research limitations/implicationsThe study uses the ability-based model of emotional intelligence to assess its impact on the proposed theoretical framework.Practical implicationsThe findings suggest that organizations should hire more females at the workplace as they are less in number although they are more emotionally intelligent. As well as, females should be given equal opportunities to reach the top managerial positions by breaking the glass ceiling.Originality/valueThe study adds insights into existing knowledge; for instance, the study reveals that emotional intelligence competency is a sine qua non to personal control that delivers exceptional results in the context of perceived change-related uncertainty. The study also investigates the interaction effect of gender with emotional intelligence to scaffold the emotional intelligence competency over gender differences.