ARTICLE INFO

Article Type

Original Research

Authors

Foruhar   A. (*)
Eslami   M. (1)
Sadeghi   M. (2)






(*) Counseling Department, Psychology Faculty, Allameh Tabatabaei University, Tehran, Iran
(1) Psychology Department, Psychology & Educational Sciences Faculty, AlZahra University, Tehran, Iran
(2) Psychology Department, Psychology Faculty, Sciences & Researches Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran

Correspondence

Address: 4th Floor, No. 2, Sane’ei Dead End, 5th Street, Dr. Fatemi Street, Tehran, Iran
Phone: +982632305530
Fax: +982188957948
aforohar1390@gmail.com

Article History

Received:  October  15, 2014
Accepted:  December 31, 2014
ePublished:  February 19, 2015

BRIEF TEXT


… [1-13] Job stress is a serious threat to the organizations and the employees’ health [14]. … [15] Lack of any coordination between job requirements and a person’s abilities, capabilities, and wishes leads to job stress [16]. … [17] Emotional intelligence leads to a better decision-making and job interest [18].

Training the components of emotional intelligence leads to lower job stress [19, 20]. There is a reverse correlation between self-efficacy and job-stress [17, 21, 22].

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of training the components of emotional intelligence on self-efficacy increase and job stress reduction.

This is a semi-experimental study with pretest-posttest plan and control group.

The employees of Tehran Municipal (Iran) were studied in 2010.

Estimating 12-person groups based on the similar studies, sampling was done by Purposive Cluster Method. 30 persons with high job stress and low self-efficacy were selected and divided into experimental and control groups.

17-item Sherer Self-efficacy Believes Questionnaire was used. The questionnaire scoring is by 5-point Likert scale from “fully agree” (5 points) to “fully disagree” (1 point). Its validity is confirmed by experts. Its reliability is computed 0.76 through Cronbach’s Alpha. Risse Job Stress Scale scoring is by 5-point Likert scale from “never” (1 point), and through “seldom” (2 points), “sometimes” (3 points), and “often” (4 points), to “most of the time” (5 points). Its validity was confirmed by experts. Its reliability was computed 0.89 using Cronbach’s Alpha. Training plan of the emotional intelligence components was 8-session 2-hour workshop (one session a week). Control group received no training. At the end of the course, the questionnaires were completed again by control and experiment groups to investigate self-efficacy level and job-stress. Data were analyzed, using SPSS 16 software. Descriptive Statistics (standard deviation and mean), Independent T test (to investigate the effect of training on the changes of the scores of intra-personal relationships, job interest, physical complaints of stress, self-efficacy, and reduction in the general symptom of stress), and Pearson Correlation Coefficient (to investigate the correlation between self-efficacy and general symptom of stress) were used in data analysis.

There was no significant difference between mean self-efficacy score of posttest (52.6±8.1) and the pretest score (52.3±7.8) in control group. Nevertheless, there was a significant difference between mean self-efficacy score of posttest (64.9±6.2) and pretest score (51.9±8.5) in experiment group. There was no significant difference between posttest mean score (32.3±6.1) and pretest mean score (31.4±5.8) of general symptom of stress in control group. Nevertheless, there was a significant difference between posttest mean score (25.7±6.8) and pretest mean score (32.1±5.6) of general symptom of stress in experiment group (Table 1). There was a significant correlation between self-efficacy increase and reduction in the general symptom of stress.

Training emotional intelligence resulted in general self-efficacy. Persons with higher emotional intelligence are with more self-efficacy and show better performance [23], which, as well as the results of another study [7], confirms the results of the present study. There was a lower stress level in employees trained by emotional intelligence components, than control group. Therefore, the emotional intelligence training results in the reduction of the general symptom of job stress. Training the components of emotional intelligence positively effects the stress symptoms reduction [19]. The result of another study [20] confirms the result. There was a negative correlation between self-efficacy and job stress. Therefore, self-efficacy increase reduces job stress. The result is consistent with other studies. There is a correlation between tension and low level of self-efficacy and a high level of job stress; and there is a significant and reverse correlation between self-efficacy and job stress [17, 21, 22].

Workshops about emotional intelligence enhancement should be conducted for workers of high-stress jobs.

Any generalization of the results should be done with care.

Training the emotional intelligence might result in higher self-efficacy belief and lower job stress symptoms.

The employees of Tehran Municipal (region 5, district 7) are appreciated.

There was no conflict of interests.

The required permissions were issued by the authorities.

As an MS thesis, the study was funded by Allameh Tabataba’i University.

TABLES and CHARTS

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