The impacts of leaders' emotional intelligence on organizational commitment among academicans in University Technology Malaysia

Abstract

More recently, many researchers revealed that emotional intelligence (EI) is a very important skill that required for success in nowadays organizations. It has been linked to improve workplace behaviour, such as, organizational commitment (OC). The main purpose of this study is to investigate the impacts of the EI of leaders on the OC of their subordinates. The study was conducted at University Technology Malaysia, and used stratified sampling consisting of 191 academicians from 14 faculties as the research respondents. The leaders' EI was evaluated with the Bar-On Emotional Quotient-360 (EQ-360) which is multi-rater instrument. On the other hand, the organizational commitment survey (OCS) which is developed by Meyer and Allen, was used to evaluate the OC of the academicians. Survey data were analyzed using descriptive statistic, Pearson correlation, and regression analyses. UTM academicians' leaders were found as high emotionally intelligent leaders. Besides, academicians' OC was at a moderate level. This study also found that there are significant relationships between leaders’ EI that operationalized by intrapersonal, interpersonal, stress management, adaptability, and general mood, and subordinate (academicians) organizational commitment. Furthermore, the impact of leaders' EI on academicians OC was significant. Recommendations for futrure research and organization were presented.