Emotional Intelligence and Job Insecurity: Gender Differences Between Employees

Sammanfattning: Emotional intelligence and job insecurity are important to study because they can have an impact both on an individual’s professional and personal life; however, research on emotional intelligence and job insecurity is contradictory. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether there were gender differences in emotional intelligence and job insecurity in employees in a Swedish sample. The aim was also to investigate if emotional intelligence moderated gender differences in job insecurity. The sample consisted of 109 employees, with 33 males (30.30%) and 76 females (69.70%), from four different organizations both from public and private sector. The research question was: “Are there differences in emotional intelligence and job insecurity between female and male employees?” Two questionnaires were used: The Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire-Short Form (TEIQue-SF) and The Job Insecurity Measure. Correlation analysis was performed between emotional intelligence and job insecurity and a medium, negative relationship was found. Gender differences in emotional intelligence and job insecurity were tested with independent samples t-tests. The results indicated no gender differences. Hierarchical regression analysis was performed to investigate if emotional intelligence moderated gender differences in job insecurity; however, the results were non-significant. The present study shows that emotional intelligence and job insecurity are negatively correlated, and since job insecurity is regarded as an environmental stressor and part of job stress, the relationship between emotional intelligence and job stress is also confirmed by this negative correlation.