The Relationship among Emotional Intelligence, Job Satisfaction, and Organizational Commitment in the Banking Sector in The Gambia

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(1)The Relationship among Emotional Intelligence, Job Satisfaction, and Organizational Commitment of Banking Industry in The Gambia. by Isatou A.F Jallow. A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate Faculty in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION Major: International Human Resource Development. Advisor: Chih-Chien Steven Lai, Ph.D. National Taiwan Normal University Taipei, Taiwan June, 2012.

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(3) ACKNOWLEDGEMENT First and foremost, I would like to thank Almighty God for giving me life, health and being there for me throughout this journey. Next, I would like to thank and dedicate this dissertation to my parents who have taught me to work hard, persevere and appreciate any country I ever live in. Thank you my dear parents so much because truly I have come to know that the support of family can get you through anything. I love you both. Hence, I want to thank my mom for everything she has done for me. You mean the world to me. To my dad, you always wanted me to shoot for the stars and believed in myself. I adore you Dad (R.I.P). To my daring husband, I truly appreciate your love and understanding. To my brother, Mohammed, you are one of the very people on this earth I am so much connected to and loved so much. You have been a constant source of inspiration, support and strength to me. Similarly, I would also like to thank my close family members and friends back home who have helped me in the data collection process in this dissertation. Moreover, this dissertation journey would not have been possible without people who have helped me and made it achievable. Fore mostly, I would like to express my special appreciation to my advisor, Dr. Steven Lai. Without his inspiration, support, patience, guidance and encouragement, this work would never have been realized. I am extremely grateful for your support and enthusiasm not only in my academic field but also my personal life in Taiwan - 謝謝你老. 師. Similarly, I would like to thank my committee members - Dr. Ted Tsai and Dr. Pai-Po Lee for their insightful suggestions and their ability to motivate is outstanding and the calmness in their voice removes any intimidation throughout this research process. I am very thankful to have had them in my committee. Furthermore, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my friends in Taiwan who have struck by my side throughout this journey namely: My baby’s Nanny, the Nigerian Representative’s family, Vanda (classmate), Lynn and Sandra (IHRD), Dr. Lin (IHRD), Elisa (ICDF) and her parents and last but not the least Mr. Lamin Bojang, the Principal Secretary at my country’s embassy. Thanks to you all my very good friends in Taiwan. Finally, to my adorable son, Zaidy: You have become the constant source of happiness and presence in my life. Mommy will always love you.. I.

(4) ABSTRACT Despite the large number of studies that examined the antecedents of organizational commitment, fairly little is known about its relationship with emotional intelligence and job satisfaction in developing countries. Hence, the aim of this study was to examine the relationship between emotional intelligence and job satisfaction on organizational commitment of employees among six banks in The Gambia. A Quantitative research design was used and thus, a convenience sampling of 200 employees were drawn from the six banks selected for this study. Three scales: Emotional Intelligence from Wong and Law (2002); Spector’s (1985) Job Satisfaction and the Organizational Commitment from Meyer, Allen and Smith (1997) were employed to collect data from the participants. The data analyses involve the use of One-Way ANOVA, Pearson Product Moment Correlation and Simple Linear Regression. The findings from the One-Way ANOVA analysis indicates that among the five demographic variables chosen for this study, only level of education had a significant difference on organizational commitment. Furthermore, the findings from the correlation and regression analysis show that emotional intelligence and job satisfaction is positive and has a significant effect on organizational commitment. Similarly, emotional intelligence was also positively and significantly related to job satisfaction. Based on the outcome of the study, it is recommended that managers and human resource practitioners to consider incorporating emotional intelligence assessment into the educator hiring process as well as determine the job satisfaction levels of employees as a basis for forming training budgets and retention strategies. It is hoped that these programmes will enhance and retain valuable employees especially in The Gambia banking industry.. Keywords: emotional intelligence, job satisfaction, organizational commitment, banking sector. I.

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(6) TABLE OF CONTENT Abstract ......................................................................................................................I Table of Contents .......................................................................................................III List of Tables ..............................................................................................................V List of Figures ............................................................................................................VI. CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION ............................................................ 1 Background of the Study ...................................................................................1 Purposes of the Study.........................................................................................5 Questions of the Study .......................................................................................5 Significance of the Study ...................................................................................5 Delimitations and Limitations............................................................................7 Definition of Terms ............................................................................................7. CHAPTER II LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................. 11 Organizational Commitment ..............................................................................11 Dimensions of Organizational Commitment .....................................................14 Previous Empirical Studies on Organizational Commitment ............................17 Emotional Intelligence .......................................................................................20 Previous Research on Emotional Intelligence ...................................................24 Job Satisfaction ..................................................................................................27 Previous Research on Job Satisfaction ..............................................................30 Banking Industry in The Gambia .......................................................................32. CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY ......................................................... 34 Research Framework .........................................................................................34 Research Procedure ............................................................................................35 Research Method ...............................................................................................37 Research Sample and Data Collection ...............................................................39 Research Instrumentation...................................................................................40 Data Analysis .....................................................................................................42. CHAPTER IV. FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS................................. 46 General Characteristics of Sample .....................................................................46 Comparison of Means of the Demographic Variables .......................................48 Relationship Analysis of Variables ....................................................................50 Cause - Effect Relationship between Variables .................................................53. III.

(7) Discussions ........................................................................................................57 Summary of Hypotheses Testing Results...........................................................61. CHAPTER V. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS .......... 63 Conclusions ........................................................................................................63 Limitations .........................................................................................................67 Recommendations ..............................................................................................68. REFERENCES........................................................................................ 75 APPENDIX THE INSTRUMENT ....................................................... 82. IV.

(8) LIST OF TABLES Table 2.1 Definitions of Organizational Commitment.................................................13 Table 2.2 Two Main Conceptualization of Organizational Commitment ....................15 Table 2.3 Evolution of Emotional Intelligence ............................................................21 Table 2.4 Brief Description of the Nine Facets of Job Satisfaction .............................28 Table 3.1 Statistical Methods Used for Each Hypothesis ............................................45 Table 4.1 Demographic Characteristics of the Sample……………………………… 47 Table 4.2 One-Way ANOVA of Demographic Variables .............................................50 Table 4.3 Correlation of Emotional Intelligence and Organizational Commitment ....51 Table 4.4 Correlation of Emotional Intelligence and Job Satisfaction ........................52 Table 4.5 Correlation of Job Satisfaction and Organizational Commitment ...............53 Table 4.6 Linear Regression between EI and OC ……………………………………54 Table 4.7 Linear Regression between EI and JS ..........................................................55 Table 4.8 Linear Regression between JS and OC ........................................................56 Table 4.9 Simultaneous Multiple Regression Analyses of EI and JS on OC…………57 Table 4.10 Summary of Hypotheses Testing Results………………………………….61. V.

(9) LIST OF FIGURES Figure 3.1 Research Framework………………………………………………………34 Figure 3.2 Research Procedure………………………………………………………. 37. VI.

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(11) CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION This chapter provides an overall understanding of this research. More specifically, the following areas will be outlined: the background of the study, the problem statement, the purposes of the study, the research questions, the research questions, the significance of the study, the delimitations and finally the definitions of the terms to be used in the study.. Background of the Study Every organization whether for profit or non-profit work towards achieving the objectives for its existence for instance, the major goals of a bank includes generating maximum funds , both effectively and efficiently, improve the level of services and enhance its financial management. The most desired goal in this regard is to improve the organizational commitment of its employee’s because it ultimately contributes to the organizational performance. Albeit, there might be other objectives, emphasis is placed on the achievement of financial targets in a financial institution for example, a bank and it has to mostly determine its financial progress on the interval basis. The extent to which this goal can be actualized depend primarily on the organizational workforce. Bankers like other employees in various organizations are crucial in the actualization of the bank goals and objectives. Thus, The Gambia as in many developing countries, banks are a major part of the financial system and they play an important role in facilitating economic growth. Hence, they serve as financial suppliers to enterprises in the entire economy. It is therefore not surprising that the impacts of global capital flows as well as the rising demand of consumers for service quality, the banking industry has transformed itself from the a “golden bowl” industry to a service industry. Hence questions are raised concerning how the banking personnel can survive such a transformation, whether they are willing to retain or leave their post and whether they are professionally competent to work against pressure to deal with increasingly diverse business operations. With these questions taken into consideration, this study intends to find out any feasible solutions for employees in the Gambian Banking Sector with regards to the relationship between emotional intelligence and job satisfaction on organizational commitment. Many organizations especially the financial industries are facing major challenges resulting in restructuring, reengineering and downsizing. Hence, recent economic changes due to the recent recession, including mergers and acquisitions, bankruptcies and changing regulations have created increase stress among the financial industry employees. The. 1.

(12) surviving financial employees have been impacted physically, with increased work overloads and emotionally, through increased anxiety and pressure from dealing with client concerns. Thus, due to the increasing concerns within the financial industry, it is important for financial employers to understand how to successfully retain their employees. The need for factors that predict organizational commitment has become more critical. One of the factors that could lead to healthy organization climate, increased morale, motivation and productivity is organizational commitment. Hence, the need for a greater understanding of this organizational phenomenon increases daily. The major driving force behind this continuous recognition of organizational commitment in the management literature for more than three decades is that it is often seen as a key to “business success”(Benkhoff, 1997a) and organizations need committed workers in order to face the world-wide economic competition. In line with this, organizational commitment has emerged as a promising area of research within the study of industrial and organizational psychology in recent time (Adebayo, 2006; Meyer and Allen, 1997; Morrow, 1993). This is in part due to the vast number of works that have found relationships between organizational commitment and attitudes and behaviors in the workplace (Porter, Steers, Mowday, & Boulian, 1974) and also with organizational efficiency and effectiveness (Beck & Wilson, 2000). Existing theoretical and field studies demonstrate that commitment has direct implications on individuals and an overall influence on organizations. In particular, the extent of employees’ commitment to the organization exerts a major effect on their performance (Allen & Meyer, 1990; Mowday, Porter, & Steers, 1982; Herscovitch & Meyer, 2002; Yousef, 2000). In the same vein, a number of studies have shown a positive correlation between organizational commitment and job performance (Hunter and Thatcher, 2007). Extensive discussions of such relationships are found in the meta-analyses (Meyer, Stanley, Herscovitch, & Topolnytsky, 2002). Employees with strong organizational commitment tend to be more productive and more willing to assume larger responsibilities (Herscovitch & Meyer, 2002). There is also evidence that points to the low productivity and poor performance in developing countries as being consequences of weak organizational commitment (Yousef, 2000). A study by Benkhoff (1997b) found that employee commitment to their organization to be significantly related to the financial success of banks. Furthermore, one topic that has received increased attention and is believed to be important to worker effectiveness is that of emotional intelligence or EI (Kelly & Caplan, 1993). The success of practical workplace applications involving emotional intelligence and the results of empirical research investigating the relationship between emotional intelligence. 2.

(13) and crucial work-related factors suggest that emotional intelligence of employees is an important aspect of organizations (Ashkanasy, Hartel & Daus, 2002; Cherniss, 2000; Weisinger, 1998). Thus far, the emphasis on organizational application of emotional intelligence has been in areas such as employees’ job satisfaction, organizational commitment (Abraham, 2000; Carmeli, 2003; Lounsbury et al., 2003), effective leadership (Bass, 2002; Higgs & Aitken, 2003), and productivity (Boyatzis, Goleman & Rhee, 2000). In addition, banking job is demanding and involves difficulties with heavy workload and it also involves satisfying different customers with different needs which may result in feelings of frustration and high levels of stress for the employees, emotional intelligence can enable employees to control this stress and prevent the negative effects of one’s attitude towards his/her work. In line with this, little empirical evidence has shown that emotional intelligence is positively related to organizational commitment and job satisfaction (Ashforth & Humphrey, 1995; Carmeli, 2003). Moreover, since the banking or service sector is concerned with the quality of service and satisfaction provided to their customers through their employees, having emotionally intelligent employees might serve as a competitive advantage in that these employees might be able to place themselves in a positive state of mind and these may help them know how to avoid dysfunctional emotions and used emotions in adaptive ways to alleviate feelings of frustration and thus enhance customer satisfaction. In this respect, Barlow and Maul (2000) found that high emotional intelligence in service providers contributes to customer satisfaction and this might lead to its profitability and success. Moreover, Job satisfaction is a key variable in organizational studies (Connolly &Viswesvaran, 2000). It has been found to be pivotal to processes as diverse as organizational commitment (Mattieu & Zajac, 1990; Petrides & Furham, 2006), job performance (Podsakoff & Williams, 1986), organizational citizenship behaviors (Fisher, 2003), employee withdrawal (Price,2001), and absenteeism ( Tharenou,1993). Given the key role job satisfaction plays with respect to pivotal organizational factors, the implications of understanding the components and sources of job satisfaction are immense. This is particularly true for service organizations such as the banking sector in The Gambia. Despite the tremendous interest that organizational commitment and job satisfaction research generates (Beck & Wilson, 2000) and the importance of these two variables for successful and competitive organization, there is still very little research done in developing countries (Meyer et al., 2002). Given the growing significance of the banking sector in The Gambia in facilitating economic growth, there is an important need to extend our understanding of the factors that predict employee’s organizational commitment. In addition,. 3.

(14) there is also relatively little known about the relationship between emotional intelligence and job satisfaction and also its relations with organizational commitment. Hence, more research is needed to further examine the relationship between emotional intelligence with variables such as job satisfaction and organizational commitment (Sy, Cote & Saavedra, 2005). As such this study will investigate whether specific demographic data would make no significant difference on organizational commitment. This research also aims to contribute to the work on job satisfaction and organizational commitment and fill the gap identified above by investigating whether there is a positive relationship between EI and organizational commitment. It will further examine whether there is a positive relationship between EI and job satisfaction. Finally, it will also look whether there is a positive and significant relationship between job satisfaction and organizational commitment.. Research Purposes There is a growing interest that the variables of gender, age, marital status, level of education and organizational tenure make no significant difference on organizational commitment. These variables have been suggested in previous research to be inconsistent predictors of organizational commitment (Bateman & Strasser, 1984; Mathieu & Hamel, 1989; Steers, 1977) and thus, these demographic variables will be tested in this study to see whether they make no significant difference on organizational commitment. As mentioned above, the relations between emotional intelligence and job satisfaction and emotional intelligence and organizational commitment are limitedly investigated in the literature (Gardner, 2003). In line with this, fairly little is known as it pertains to the relationship between emotional intelligence and job satisfaction in general (Abraham, 2000; Sy, Tram & O’Hara, 2006) and even less is known in regards to this relationship as it applies to the banking industry in The Gambia. As a result of the limited empirical studies on these variables, the aim of this study is to examine the relationship between emotional intelligence and job satisfaction on organizational commitment. The total emotional intelligence construct (EI) consist of four dimensions: self-emotion appraisal, other’s emotion appraisal, use of emotion and regulation of emotion; the total job satisfaction scale (JS) comprise of nine facets: pay, promotion, co-workers, nature of work, communication, supervision, fringe benefits, contingent rewards, operating procedures; while organizational commitment (OC) has three components: affective OC, normative OC and continuance OC. These terms will be highlighted in the literature review of this research. Specifically, the following research purposes were developed for this research: 4.

(15) 1. To examine the effects of demographic data on organizational commitment. 2. To examine the relationship between emotional intelligence and organizational commitment. 3. To examine the relationship between emotional intelligence and job satisfaction 4. To examine the relationship between job satisfaction and organizational commitment.. Research Questions Based on the purposes, five questions were generated in the present study, which are: 1. Do demographic data make no significant difference on organizational commitment? 2. Is there a positive relationship between Emotional Intelligence and Organizational Commitment? 3. Is there a positive relationship between Emotional Intelligence and Job Satisfaction? 4. Is there a positive and significant relationship between Job Satisfaction and Organizational Commitment?. Significance of the Study Organizations are increasingly becoming aware that their employees are their most valuable resource (Hafeez & Abdelmeguid, 2003). There are instances in the banking industry where an entire group of employees have left an organization to form a rival organization. These people take with them not only organization-specific knowledge and expertise but also some of the old clients, leaving the parent company impoverished (Alvesson, 2000). Thus, these are some of the reasons why organizational commitment has attracted considerable interest as attempts have been made to better understand the intensity and stability of an employee’s dedication to the organization (Lumley, 2000). Allen and Meyer (1990) identified the link between organizational commitment and employee turnover and conclude that employees who were strongly committed to the organization were less likely to leave it and hence the majority of studies suggest that organizational commitment will remain one of the most popular management in the years to come. Moreover, a recent study by the Small Business Organizations (SBO), which is a state-owned organization in the United States, argues that organizations should build and maintain organizational commitment in order to survive and succeed in the year 2000. The organization stated that:. 5.

(16) “Whether you are a one or two- man organization or larger business you need to look at the year 2000 problem as a business issue rather than a technology issue. While you will need technical help to fully understand and fix the problem- it is the business problem that you cannot ignore. Commitment from everyone in your organization insures full buy-in for the task at hand.”(www.sba.gov). Likewise, we live in an era in which organizations frequently confront the necessity of massive change; committed employees can be an extremely valuable organizational resource in facilitating rapid adaptation to changing conditions. Thus, due to the increasing concerns within the financial industry, it is important for financial employers to understand how to successfully retain their employees. An understanding of the factors that predict or relate to organizational commitment therefore becomes more significant. In line with this, scholars have viewed emotional intelligence as a factor which has a potential to contribute to more positive attitudes, behaviors and outcomes (Cameli, 2003) in the organization. In the same vein, Cherniss (2000) pointed out that it is more useful and interesting to consider how emotional intelligence contributes to effective performance at work, the unique contributions of emotional intelligence to important work-related attitudes, behavior and outcomes have not received much attention and support. Little research is done on the subject and as such Dulewicz and Higgs (2000, p.341 & p.351) suggested there is need for rigorous research to underpin the usefulness of emotional intelligence in organizational settings whether public or private on both personal and organizational levels. Similarly, given the key role that job satisfaction plays with respect to pivotal organizational factors, the implications of understanding the facets and sources of job satisfaction are immense. This is particularly true for people-oriented, service organizations such as the banking sector. Despite its growing importance, empirical studies on the relationship between job satisfaction and other individual and organizational variables within the banking sector is sparse especially in developing countries such as The Gambia. As mentioned earlier, there is limited research examining the relationship between emotional intelligence and job satisfaction on organizational commitment in a developing country and thus this it is hoped that the results of this study will provide information for employers in the banking sector of The Gambia and beyond in enhancing organizational commitment of their employees. It is also hoped that the finding of this study will provide an understanding of emotional intelligence and job satisfaction on organizational commitment which might help employers retain their employees, trigger customer satisfaction and ultimately make profit.. 6.

(17) Research Delimitations Delimitations Delimitation refers to the choices made by the researcher. The delimitation falls under the following categories. The process through which organizational commitment develops is complex and involves a number of factors. This research recognizes the existence of multiple factors that could lead to organizational commitment, however these variables were not considered, as the purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between emotional intelligence and job satisfaction on organizational commitment. In order to reduce variability that arises out of different contextual factors, this study only surveyed participants from one type of industry that is banking and from one country. Emotional intelligence, job satisfaction and organizational commitment have been measured in different ways. In this study, Meyer, Allen and Smith’s (1997) measurement of organizational commitment, Wong and Law’s (2002) emotional intelligence scale and Spector’s (1985) job satisfaction scale was be employed.. Definition of Key Terms In this section, the researchers will give both the theoretical and operational definitions of the variables to be studied. The theoretical definitions outline the idea and concept of each variable and the operational definition will outline how each variable will be measured.. Organizational Commitment Organizational commitment is viewed as a psychological connection that individuals or employees have with their organization and is characterized by strong identification with the organization and the desire to contribute to the accomplishment of organizational goals (Meyer & Allen, 1997). In addition, Meyer and Allen (1991) conceive organizational commitment as reflecting three core themes, namely affective, continuance and normative commitment. Commitment can be seen as an effective point of reference towards the organization- affective commitment, acknowledgement of the consequences of leaving the organization– continuance commitment and an ethical responsibility to stay with the organizations– normative commitment. In line with the purposes of this research, Meyer and. 7.

(18) Allen’s (1991) three component forms of organizational commitment is therefore of relevance to this research. The definition of organizational commitment by different authors is provided in Table 2.1. The three components of organizational commitment were measured using a 18-item scale adapted from Meyer, Allen and Smith (1993). Each is measured using a 6 –item scale respectively. Emotional Intelligence Emotional intelligence is defined as “the ability to perceive accurately, appraise, and express emotion; the ability to access and /or generate feelings when they facilitate thought; the ability to understand emotion and emotional knowledge; and the ability to regulate emotions to promote emotional and intellectual growth (Mayer & Salovey, 1997, p.10). This definition is perhaps the most widely accepted scientific definition of EI and perhaps the most workable contemporary definition of EI (Zeidner, Mattews, & Roberts, 2004). Emotional Intelligence is comprised of four distinct dimensions and these are: Appraisal and expression of emotion in the self- SEA, Appraisal and recognition of emotion in others - OEA, Regulation of emotion in the self- ROE and use of emotion to facilitate performance- UOE (Wong & Law, 2002). A brief explanation of these dimensions will be highlighted in the literature view of this study. In this study, the four dimensions of emotional intelligence were used to measure emotional intelligence. EI scale items were extracted from Wong and Law’s research (2002). A 16- item scale was used to measure the overall four dimensions of EI. As such each dimension was measured by a 4-item scale. A more detailed explanation of this scale will be highlighted in the instrumentation part of this study.. Job Satisfaction Job satisfaction is a widely researched and complex phenomenon, it follows that there are numerous definitions of the concept. For the purposes of this study, job satisfaction is defined as an individual’s total feeling about their job and the attitudes they have towards various aspects or facets of their job as well as an attitude and perception that could consequently influence the degree of fit between the individual and the organization (Spector, 1997).. 8.

(19) In line with the aims of this study, Spector’s (1985) nine facets which make up the total job satisfaction scale were adapted. These facets are: Pay, Promotion, Supervision, benefits, contingent rewards, operating procedures, co-workers, nature of work and communication. The short description of these facets is shown in Table 2.4. A 36– item scale was used to measure job satisfaction. Thus, each facet was be measured by a four – item scale. In summary, this chapter has provided an explicit outline of the research problem and how it will be addressed. The research scope has also been established by the stated delimitations and limitations. The chapter also provided a brief description of the significance of the study, the research questions and finally the operational definitions that would be employed throughout the research process.. 9.

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(21) CHAPTER II. LITERATURE REVIEW The objective of this chapter is to provide a research background to the proposed dissertation study that is built around organizational commitment, specific demographic variables, emotional intelligence and job satisfaction. Thus, the chapter reviews the existing literature pertaining to these concepts and it also provides a detailed review of the literature that supports the hypothesized relationship between specific demographic variables and organizational commitment; emotional intelligence and organizational commitment; emotional intelligence and job satisfaction; job satisfaction and organizational commitment. Finally, it will also provide a brief background of the research setting– the banking sector of The Gambia.. Organizational Commitment Organizational Commitment concerns the extent to which an organizational member is loyal and willing to contribute to the organization. The sense of cohesion among members in the organization is the key to organizational effectiveness. Only when organizational members have a sense of belonging with the organizational mission, goals and values will they contribute all efforts to their work and the organization (Jaskyte & Lee, 2009). Salancik (1977) considered that organizational commitment was the behavior of an individual expressed in correspondence to his/ her reliance on a specific organization. To some scholars, organizational commitment can explained individual and organizational behaviors (Becker, Billings, Eveleth, & Gilbert, 1996). It is also believed that organizational commitment can predict the resignation of employees (Porter et al., 1974). In light of its significance, organizational commitment has been explored as a hot issue in the literature of organizational management. Organizational commitment has been studied in the public, private and non-profit sector and this is because the relationships between employees and their organizations have become imperative to the effective functioning of the workplace. These relationships affect not only employees but also companies (Meyer & Herscovitch, 2001). Thus, an understanding of organizational commitment is important because it can have an influence on the conduct of public and private sector employees both in terms of performance and efficient delivery of services. This is especially so important for the banking sector which depends mostly on customers for its survival. Thus, having committed employees might help banks deliver services and exceed customer’s expectation which might in the long run bring profitability. In. 11.

(22) line with this, organizations today are striving to become world-class organizations and compete globally (Hough & Neuland, 2001) and for organizations to become world-class organization, they need committed employees (Mayfield & Mayfield, 2002). Hence, in today’s competitive world, each employee has to be committed to the organization’s objectives for the organization to perform at peak levels. In line with this, positive consequences of organizational commitment can be good attendance, participation, and low turnover and while negative consequences can be high turnover, low productivity and absenteeism. Practicing managers and behavioral scientists have been influenced by organizational commitment over the years (Mowday et al., 1982) and hence given its increased attention for the numerous positive and negative occupational impacts, these scholars have strive to understand the component of commitment forms and the antecedents of work outcomes (Allen & Meyer,1990; Meyer & Herscovitch, 2001). Multiple definitions of organizational commitment are found in the literature. Below offers some of the conceptualization and definition and dimensions of the concept. Conceptualization and Definition of Organizational Commitment Organizational commitment has been conceptualized and defined in different ways (Randall, Fedor, & Longenecker, 1990). Some researchers regard organizational commitment as a uni-dimensional construct (Blau, 1985; Kantar, 1968; Wiener, 1982). According to Kantar (1968), organizational commitment is the willingness of societal actors to give energy and loyalty to the organization. Porter et al. (1974), on the other hand view organizational commitment as involving the willingness of employees to exert higher efforts on behalf of the organization, a strong desire to stay in the organization, and the willingness to accept major goals and values of the organization. Some researchers viewed organizational commitment as a multidimensional construct (Allen & Meyer, 1997; Angle & Perry, 1981; O’Reily & Chatman, 1986; Penley & Gould, 1988). Mowday et al. (1982) classified organizational commitment as attitudinal and behavioral. Attitudinal commitment refers to an individual’s identification with the organizational goals and willingness to work toward them, and behavioral commitment employees are viewed as committed to particular organizational behaviors rather than to an entity. O’Reilly and Chatman (1986) classified organizational commitment into three forms; compliance, identification and internalization. Morrow (1993) identified more than 25 ways in which organizational commitment was conceptualized and measured. Meyer and Allen (1991) identified three forms that characterized various approaches to the conceptualizations of organizational commitment namely; affective. 12.

(23) attachment to the organization, perceived costs associated with leaving the organization and a moral obligation to remain with the organization. Employees with affective commitment undertake actions because they want to, employees with continuance commitment engage in actions because they need to in order to avoid the cost of leaving the organization and employees with normative commitment engage in actions because they should (Allen & Meyer, 1997). These three forms of commitment interact and employees can experience all the three forms in varying proportions. Based on the review of various definitions of organizational commitment, organizational commitment is seen as an individual’s psychological attachment to an organization or a psychological bond that connects an individual to his/ her organization. Table 2.1 outlines the common ways in which organizational commitment has been defined in the literature.. Table 2.1. Definitions of Organizational Commitment Author/s. Kanter (1968). Definitions of organizational Commitment. Organizational commitment may be defined as the process through which individual interests become attached to the carrying out of socially organized patterns of behavior which are seen as fulfilling those interests, as expressing the nature and needs of those persons.. Porter et al (1974). Organizational commitment is the strength of an Individual’s identification with and involvement in a particular organization, characterized by three psychological factors; desire to remain in the organization, willingness to exert considerable effort on its behalf, and belief in and acceptance of its goals and values.. ___________________________________________________________________________ (continued). 13.

(24) Table 2.1 (continued) Author/s. Meyer & Allen (1991). Definitions of organizational Commitment. Identified three distinct forms in the definition of organization commitment as an effective attachment to the organization affective commitment, commitment as a perceived cost associated with leaving the organization – continuance commitment and commitment as an obligation to remain in the organization – normative commitment.. __________________________________________________________________________. Dimensions of Organizational Commitment While there is some general consensus that commitment is a force that binds an individual to the organization, there is disagreement regarding the dimensionality of organizational commitment. The most widely researched multidimensional form of organizational commitment is the one developed by Meyer and Allen (1991). Penley and Gould (1988) have also proposed a three dimensional model of organizational commitment that includes moral, calculative and alienative forms of commitment. Moral commitment refers to the acceptance of and identification with organizational goals. Calculative commitment on the other hand is an outcome of the benefits that an employee receives, whereas alienative commitment is a product of lack of alternatives. Delobbe and Vandenberghe (2000) classified organizational commitment into four types and this include internationalization, compliance, affective and calculative. Internationalization refers to the attachment to the organization’s goals based on a perceived congruence between the individual’s values and those of the organization. Continuance commitment is a result of abiding by organizational expectations in lieu of rewards. Affective and calculative, the other two types of commitment were adopted from Meyer & Allen’s (1991) model. The tasks of identifying the major dimensions of organizational commitment is complicated on account of the use of different terminology to refer to the same concept or the use of different concepts to refer to the same terminology. For instance, Penley and Gould. 14.

(25) (1988), Angle and Perry (1981) used the terms, moral commitment and value commitment to refer to the same concept, namely a sense of identification with the organization. On the other hand, the term moral commitment has been used by Penley and Gould (1988) and Jaros, Jermier, Koehler and Sincich (1993) to refer to identification and internalization respectively. Delobbe and Vandenberghe (2000) even question whether internalization and identification are distinguishable dimensions of commitment. A closer assessment of different dimensions of organizational commitment suggests that these dimensions can be classified into two main groups. The first group refers to an affective or psychological bonding that binds an employee to his/her organization. The primary drivers of commitment are identification with the organizations goals and values, congruence between individual and organizational goals, and internationalization of organizational values and mission. The second group refers to an exchange based view of commitment, where the commitment of an employee is based on economic reasons. Organizational commitment accrues on account of extrinsic rewards, or costs associated with leaving the organization. Table 2.2 outlines how different dimensions of organizational commitment as identified in different multidimensional forms can be classified into those two groups. These two groups are affective or psychological commitment and exchange based view of commitment.. Table 2.2 Two Main Conceptualization of Organizational Commitment Author/s. Affective or Psychological Commitment. Penley & Gould (1988). Moral Commitment. Angle & Perry (1981). Value Commitment. O’Reilly & Chatman (1981). Internalization. Meyer & Allen (1991). Affective commitment. Penley & Gould (1988). Calculative Commitment. Penley & Gould (1988). Alienative Commitment. Angle & Perry (1981). Commitment to stay. Delobbe & Vandenberghe (2000). Compliance commitment. Meyer & Allen (1991). Continuance commitment. ______________________________________________________________________. 15.

(26) Thus, having discussed the various definitions and dimensions of organizational commitment and according to Scholl (1981), the way organizational commitment is defined depends on the approach to commitment that one is adhering to and hence in line with the purposes of this research, Meyer and Allen’s (1991) organizational commitment scale was chosen for this study. These three forms are stated below are: Affective Commitment- This refers to the employee’s emotional attachment to, identification with and involvement in the organization. Employees who are affectively committed to the organization will probably carry on working for it because they want to (Meyer & Allen, 1991). Individuals who are dedicated to an emotional level usually remain with the organization because they see their individual employment relationship as being in harmony with the goals and values of the organization for which they are currently working. Affective commitment development involves identification with the organization and internalization of organizational principles and standards (Beck & Wilson, 2000). Continuance Commitment - This refers to the commitment based on the cost that the employee associates with leaving the organization. It is important to note that because of the individual’s awareness of the cost and threats linked to leaving the organization, continuance commitment is considered to be calculative (Meyer & Allen, 1997). Individuals with continuance commitment remain with a specific organization because of the money they as employees earn as a result of the time spent in the organization, and not because they want to. This differs from affective commitment, where individuals remain with an organization because they want to and because they are familiar with the organization and its principles. Normative Commitment - This refers to the employee’s feelings of obligation to stay with the organization. The normative element is seen as the commitment individuals consider morally appropriate regarding their remaining with a specific organization, irrespective of how much status, improvement or fulfillment the organization provides the individual over the years (March & Mannari, 1977). In general, employee’s with affective commitment remain in the organization because they want to, those with strong continuance commitment because they need to, and those with strong normative commitment because they feel they ought to do so. With a working definition of organizational commitment, the next important step is to look at some previous empirical studies that have been done on the antecedents of organizational commitment and the variables under this study.. 16.

(27) Previous Empirical Studies on Organizational Commitment This section discusses researched antecedents of organizational commitment and it also offers some previous studies on the relationship between some demographic variables and organizational commitment. Researched Antecedents of Organizational Commitment Organizational commitment antecedents can be related to the job or personal characteristics. Thus, numerous studies have explored the relationship between organizational commitment and variables that have been hypothesized as its antecedents. Steers (1977) classified these variables into three main groups: personal characteristics; job characteristics and work experiences. Mowday et al. (1982) proposed role stressors as the fourth group of antecedents to organizational commitment. Personal characteristics comprise of “variables that define the individual” (Steers, 1977, p.47). The most researched personal characteristics include age, gender, personality and education. The job characteristics that are related with organizational commitment are job challenge, job scope and job variety. The aspects of job characteristics that have been empirically examined include: job scope, skill variety, task autonomy, task independence and job level. Mattieu & Zajac (1990) found low correlation between skill variety, task autonomy, task independence, job level and organizational commitment. Another related aspect of job that has been extensively researched include role stressors such as role ambiguity, role conflict and role overload. Mathieu & Zajac (1990) found that role related characteristics were negatively correlated with organizational commitment. Since the late 1980s, another focus on research on organizational commitment has been on determining the effect of work experiences on commitment. The aspects of work experience that have been empirically examined include leadership, communication, organizational support, organizational justice and human resource practices. Meyer et al. (2002) in their meta-analysis found significant positive correlation between transformational leadership and affective commitment. In the same vein, Mathieu and Zajac (1990) found a significant positive correlation between leadership variables such as leader consideration, leader initiated structures, participative leadership, leader communication and organizational commitment. In addition, the research that has examined the relationship between perceptions of organizational support and organizational support has found positive relationship between them. Meyer et al. (2002) in their meta-analysis found strong positive correlation between perceived organizational support and organizational commitment. Meyer et al. (2002) found significant positive correlation between interactional justice and procedural justice and. 17.

(28) organizational commitment. Moreover, in accordance with the first purpose of this study and to provide a basis for the first proposed hypotheses, previous empirical studies between specific demographic variables on organizational commitment must be considered. Hence, below provides some previous empirical research on these relationships. Demographic Variables and Organizational Commitment The demographic variables that were included in this research are gender; age; marital status; level of education and organizational tenure. There are contradictory findings in the relevant literature with regards to the significant differences demographic variables have on organizational commitment. For instance, some research on gender drew results that women are more committed to their organization than men (Angle & Perry; Mathieu & Zajac, 1990). It seems that women have to overcome more barriers to be part of the organization and therefore their membership is more important to them (Grusky, 1966). In contrast, other studies found men employees are more committed to their organization than their female counterparts (Graddick & Farr, 1983; Knoke, 1988; Lacy, Bokemeier, & Shepard, 1983). Mattieu and Hamel (1989) support this in their study on professional employees. In general, some researchers found that gender had no significant difference on organizational commitment (Blau & Boal, 1989; Cohen & Lowenberg, 1990) while others found that gender had a significant difference on organizational commitment (Mowday et al., 1982; Rowden, 2000). However, to the best of the researcher’s knowledge, few studies if any have been conducted in Africa particularly in The Gambia on whether gender would not make significance difference on organizational commitment. Hence, gender would make no significant difference was tested in this study. Moreover, some scholars in the organizational behavior field considered age to make a significant difference on organizational commitment. In line with this, most studies shows that age has a significant difference on organizational commitment (Mattieu & Zajac, 1990; Meyer, Allen, & Smith, 1993).The reason might be that older workers are contented with their job and also current job attractiveness and attachment increases as the employee ages due to fewer other employment options (Mowday et al., 1982) and older employees might realize that leaving might cost them more than staying (Parasuraman & Nachman, 1987) and hence this might justified their stay with the organization. In contrast, some studies found age make no significant difference on organizational commitment (Cohen & Lowenberg, 1990). In light of the later evidence, age would make no significance difference on organizational commitment was tested in this study.. 18.

(29) Likewise, some scholars in the organizational behavior field considered marital status to have a significant difference on organizational commitment. Hence, the findings reported by Hrebiniak and Alutto (1972), Morrow (1993), and Wiedmer (2006) shows that married people were more committed to the organization than unmarried people. The reason might be because married people have more financial and family responsibilities and need more stability and security in their jobs; and therefore they are likely to be more committed to their current organization than their unmarried counterparts. On the contrary, Cohen and Lowenberg (1990) in the findings found that marital status make no significant difference on organizational commitment. In light of the later evidence, marital status would make no significance difference on organizational commitment was tested in this study. Another demographic variable which has attracted a great deal of attention is level of education. There are conflicting findings which regards to whether level of education does make any significant difference on organizational commitment. For instance, Lacy et al. (1983) found that highly educated people were more committed to the organization.. In. contrast, educational level has also been reported to make no significant difference on organizational commitment (Mattieu and Zajac, 1990; Mowday et al., 1982). It has been argued that this inverse relationship might be that highly educated individuals have higher expectations that might not be met by the organization. Hence, in light of the later studies, marital status would make no significance difference on organizational commitment was tested in this study. Moreover, there are inconsistent findings in the literature which regards to whether organizational tenure makes any significant difference on organizational commitment. However, some researchers indicate that organizational tenure has a significant difference on organizational commitment (Mattieu & Hamel, 1989; Mattieu & Zajac, 1990, Meyer & Allen, 1997). The reason is because as Meyer & Allen (1997) states that, as an individual’s length of service with a particular organization increases, he/she may develop an emotional attachment with the organization that makes it difficult to switch jobs. They further stated that another reason might be a simple reflection of the point that uncommitted employees leave an organization and only those with a high commitment remain. Contradictory to these findings, is Cohen and Lowenberg (1990) study who found that organizational tenure does not make a significant difference on organizational commitment. Thus, in light of later view, organizational tenure would make no significant difference on organizational commitment was tested in this study. It is important to note that the above five demographic variables constituted the first. 19.

(30) hypothesis in this study.. Emotional Intelligence One area of emotion research that has involved significant and heated debate is emotional intelligence. The relevance of emotional intelligence to various aspects of human endeavor has become subject of investigation in the last two decades. It has been postulated for instance that to succeed in life will require more than innate intelligence or what is called intelligence Quotient – IQ (Goleman, 1995).Recent research on emotional intelligence has examined its relationship to team conflict (Jordan &Troth,2004) and leadership (Wolff, Pescosolido, & Druskat, 2002). Despite this empirical research, there is still considerable discussion regarding what constitutes the emotional intelligence construct. Below provides an extensive literature review of research papers to understand the theoretical and conceptual construct of emotional intelligence.. Historical Evolution of Emotional Intelligence (EI) Emotional Intelligence is the most recent reform on an ancient philosophical debate about the place of emotions. Indian wisdom, The Bhagavat Gita talked about mind control around the 5th century BC. Aristotle wrote about emotional intelligence in 350 BC long before the term became known. As early as 1920s, there were discussions about intelligence needing to go beyond academic performance, IQ, to include the ability to deal with other people and the capacity to judge the moods and feelings of others and this was called social intelligence, the precursor of emotional intelligence. This was propagated by Robert Thorndike (Wedeck, 1947). The work of these early pioneers was largely overlooked until 1983 when Howard Gardner wrote about “multiple intelligence”. He proposed that intrapersonal and interpersonal intelligence are as important as the type of intelligence typically measured by IQ and related test (Gardner, 1993; Cherniss, 2000). The evolution of emotional intelligence from “multiple intelligence” began with Bar-On’s development of emotional quotient or EQ test in 1988. Research on the concept originated from Peter Salovey and John Mayer in 1990 who coined the term emotional intelligence (Salovey & Mayer, 1990). Since the publication of the bestselling book “Emotional Intelligence” by Daniel Goleman (1995), the topic of emotional intelligence has gained a lot of great interest in the management field. The historical evolution of the concept is shown in Table 2.3.. 20.

(31) Table 2.3 Evolution of Emotional Intelligence Author / Period. EI Concept. Bhagavat Gita (5th Century BC). Mind Control. Aristotle (350 BC). Emotions expression. Robert Thorndike (1920). Social Intelligence. Howard Gardner (1983). Multiple Intelligence. Bar- On (1988). Emotional Quotient (EQ). Salovey & Mayer (1990). Emotional Intelligence. Daniel Goleman (1995). Popularized Emotional Intelligence. ________________________________________________________________________ Source: Lyusin, D.B. (2006). Emotional intelligence as a mixed construct. Journal of Russian and East European Psychology, 44, 54-68. Conceptualization and Definition of Emotional Intelligence Different authors have discussed about emotional intelligence and thus several models of emotional intelligence or EI has been suggested. Each model tries to outline the construct based on the definition and research it is derived from. Three of the major emotional intelligence models are: Bar-On’s mixed model, Salovey & Mayer’s ability model and the Goldman’s personality model. Each of these models is described below: Bar-On’s Mixed Model of Emotional Intelligence According to Bar- On’s model (1997) is defined as all non-cognitive abilities, knowledge and competencies that enable a person to deal successfully with life’s situations. This model divides emotional intelligence into five categories namely intrapersonal skills or self-knowledge, interpersonal skills, stress management, adaptability and general mood. These categories represent the five competencies of EI with each category further subdivided into several components. According to him, emotional intelligence develops over time and it. 21.

(32) can be improved thought training, programming and therapy. He hypothesize that those individuals with higher than average EQ’s are in general more successful in meeting environmental demands and pressures. He also notes that a deficiency in emotional intelligence can mean a lack of success and the existence of emotional problems. In general, Bar- On’s considers emotional intelligence and cognitive intelligence to contribute equally to a person’s general intelligence which might increase one’s chance of success in life. However, Bar-On’s model is criticized as a pure personality feature rather than intelligence because he lists skills such as problem solving and reality testing as sub component of EI and these factors are strongly related to cognitive level (Lyusin, 2006). Salovey and Mayer’s Ability Model of Emotional Intelligence The ability model proposed by Peter Salovey and John Mayer (1990) regards emotional intelligence as a pure form of mental ability and thus as a pure intelligence. According to them, individuals carry in their ability to process information of an emotional nature and in their ability to relate emotional processing to a wider cognition (Mayer, Salovey, & Caruso, 2000). Mayer and Salovey’s conception of emotional intelligence is based within a model of intelligence as it strives to define emotional intelligence within the confines of the standard criteria for a new intelligence (Mayer, Salovey, Caruso & Sitarenious, 2003). They proposed the four branch model of emotional intelligence and each of these branches represents the complex processes of integrating emotions and cognition. The first branch emotional perception is the ability to acknowledge and appraise the emotions of self and to express the emotional needs accurately to others. The second branch emotional assimilation is the ability to differentiate among the emotions and prioritize those that are influencing one’s thought. The third branch emotional understanding is the ability of reasoning the complex emotions. Finally, the fourth branch emotion management is the ability to control the emotional flux depending on its usefulness in a given situation and the ability to monitor the regularly (Mayer & Salovey, 1997). Goleman’s Personality Model of Emotional Intelligence Daniel Goleman based his model on the works of Mayer and Salovey but added several other components to the original ones. He created a middle ground between Bar-On’s model and Mayer and Salovey’s model (Lyusin, 2006). He stated that two dimensions define EI and they are ability which is awareness versus management of emotions and trait which is relating to self or others. The combination of these two dimensions gives rise to the model’s four components: Awareness of emotions in self (Self-awareness), Management of emotions in others (Self-management), Awareness of emotions in others (Social-awareness) and. 22.

(33) Management of emotions in others (Relationship management). Although the origins of the model lie in the works of Mayer and Salovey, comparison between the sub factors of this model and Bar-On’s model reveal a great deal of commonality at the component level. The above mentioned and other similar models can be grouped in different ways. Petrides and Furham (2000) grouped the models into two categories based on the methods used to measure the construct. These two categories are “ability EI” and “trait EI”. Ability EI treats EI as a traditional form of intelligence and thus most appropriately measured problem solving. Trait EI on the other hand is associated with evaluating the persistence of certain behavior in a variety of situations and is mainly measured through questionnaires (Lyusin, 2006). The most widely used classification however was proposed by Mayer, Salovey and Caruso distinguishing between “ability” models and “mixed” models. This grouping is based on the theory behind the model rather than the method of measurement. The ability model defined EI as a type of intelligence focusing on the aptitude for processing emotional informational effectively (Zeidner et al., 2004) and thus EI is thought of as constituting an additional aspect of intelligence involving emotion (Cartwright & Pappas, 2008). Mixed models on the other hand move away from the pure intelligence point of view and conceptualize EI as a diverse construct hence the label “mixed” including aspects of personality as well as the ability to perceive, assimilate, understand and manage emotions (Zeidner et al., 2004). Moreover, research by Wong and Law (2002) is one of the most contemporary empirical studies in the ability based model of emotional intelligence literature. Their approach to emotional intelligence was based on the definition of Mayer and Salovey (1997) and the four dimension definition which was summarized and popularized by Davies, Stankov and Roberts (1998). Thus, Wong and Law (2002) used four dimensions to assess emotional intelligence and these dimensions are briefly explained below: Appraisal and expression of emotion in the self (self-emotional appraisal - SEA) This refers to the individual’s ability to understand their deep emotions and be able to express these emotions naturally. People who have great ability in this area will sense and acknowledge their emotions well before most people. Appraisal and recognition of emotion in others (others’ emotional appraisal - OEA) This relates to people’s ability to perceive and understand the emotions of people around them. People who are high in this ability will be much more sensitive to the feelings and emotions of others as well as reading their minds.. 23.

(34) Regulation of emotion in the self (regulation of emotion - ROE) This relates to the ability of people to regulate their emotions which will enable a more rapid recovery from psychological distress. Use of emotion to facilitate performance (use of emotion - UOE) This relates to the ability of individuals to make use of their emotions by directing them towards constructive activities and personal performance.. Having discussed the historical and conceptual definition of emotional intelligence, the next step is to briefly discuss some previous research that has been done on the construct. The researcher will also discuss the relationship between emotional intelligence and the variables under study. This will provide a basis for the second proposed hypotheses.. Previous Research on Emotional Intelligence Emotional intelligence plays a significant role in the work environment (George, 2000; Goleman, Boyatzis, & McKee, 2002; Law, Wong, & Song, 2004; Wong & Law, 2002; Sy & Cote, 2004). This is because it includes abilities that help individuals adjust when face with problems, self-management and interpersonal effectiveness. It also helps people in discussion skills especially when faced with different opinions and disagreement (Cherniss, 2000) in the workplace. It improves the performance of the organization and it has an important role in productivity and effectiveness of the organizations; therefore, employees with high emotional intelligence are considered as invaluable assets (Carmeli, 2003) to the organization. Highly unstable and competitive environment with diverse workforce has contributed to the growing need of EI in the work atmosphere. EI is more effective for typical jobs and work situations that people encounter almost daily. Almost any factor that influences employee effectiveness in organizational setting, we can find EI playing an important role. This is evident on studies that have reported some relationships between emotional intelligence and some work attitudes and behaviors such as career commitment and work- family conflicts (Carmeli, 2003), teamwork, development of talent, innovation, quality of service and customer loyalty (Zeidner et al., 2004). It can also predict crucial work related outcomes such as job satisfaction (Abraham, 2000; Prati, Douglas, Ferris, Ammeter, & Buckley, 2003) and organizational commitment (Gardner, 2003). It has also been related to emotional labour (Prati, 2004) and individual performance (Douglas, Frink & Ferris, 2004). The relationship between emotional intelligence and occupational stress (Sy et al., 2006; Nikolaou & Tsaousis, 2002) has also been explored. These results found a significant negative relationship between. 24.

(35) these two constructs. The reason was because individuals with emotional intelligence are aware of their own feelings and understand themselves and this helps them to be more adaptable to stressful events and they may choose better coping strategies. In addition, considerable research in the emotional intelligence literature has focused on leadership. Emotional intelligence has been related to leadership effectiveness (Fleishman & Harris, 1962; Goleman et al., 2002). This result is not surprising given that many researchers have argued that effective leadership fundamentally depend upon the leader’s ability to solve the complex social problems which can arise in organizations.. Emotional Intelligence and Organizational Commitment Everybody experiences various kinds of emotions at work, at study or in interpersonal relationship. Abraham (2000) suggested that social relationships within the organization increase employee loyalty and commitment and that as emotional intelligence is related to ability to interact with others that emotionally intelligent individuals might be committed to their organization. The abilities embedded in emotional intelligence will help employees build strong interpersonal relationships which in turn will influence their commitment to the organization. In line with this, employees who cannot appraise and regulate their emotions as Abraham (1999) point out have less organizational commitment. Also individuals with high emotional intelligence are more committed to their organizations (Nikolaou & Tsaousis, 2002) and have high performance at work. In Nikolaou and Tsaousis’ (2002) study, positive correlations were found between emotional intelligence and organizational commitment. Similarly, these researchers stated that emotional intelligence is a key factor in increasing organizational commitment. In another study, Carmeli (2003) found that affective commitment has positive relationship with emotional intelligence. In fact, employees with high emotional intelligence had higher levels of affective commitment and attachment to the organization. Likewise, Abraham (2000) found that emotional intelligence has a strong relationship with organizational commitment. Carmeli (2006) studied the relationship between emotional intelligence and work attitudes and found that relationship exist between emotional intelligence and the work attitudes in which organizational commitment was one of them. In contrast, Wong and Law (2002) showed that emotional intelligence did not associate significantly with organizational commitment. An emotional intelligent worker as Abraham (1999) points out would not hold the organization responsible for his/her feeling of frustration as he /she is capable of placing himself/herself in positive affective state and be able to experience negative affective states that have insignificant destructive consequences. 25.

(36) (Salovey & Meyer, 1989). Emotions are an indispensable part of life that should not be ignored. Interestingly, very few researchers have looked at the role of emotions in the workplace and specifically emotional intelligence as antecedents of organizational commitment (Gardner, 2003) especially in the banking sector. Thus, the relevance of emotional intelligence in this wise particularly to employees in the banking sector who are faced with the responsibility of rendering services to many customers, meeting targets set by the organization and other frustrating encounters mostly as a result of working under pressure cannot be underestimated. The possession of emotional intelligence skills could help to mitigate frustrating experiences and help to enhance organizational commitment. Thus, emotional intelligence is expected to augment a higher level of commitment to the organization. Based on this literature and in accordance with the purposes of this research, a positive relationship between emotional intelligence and organizational commitment was proposed.. Emotional Intelligence and Job Satisfaction As mentioned earlier, the relationship between emotional intelligence and job satisfaction are limited investigating in the literature (Gardner, 2003). As such Sy et al. (2006) found that employees with emotional intelligence are more likely to have higher levels of job satisfaction because they are more adept at appraising and regulating their emotions and hence they require less managerial intervention to help them manage their emotions or to shield negative actions that diminish job satisfaction. Emotion awareness and regulatory processes associated with EI are expected to benefit people’s social relationships hence affecting the experience of emotion and stress at work. The use of emotions and being ware of one’s own emotions can lead to regulating stress and negative emotions so that one can perform better at work. The result of other studies (Carmeli, 2003; Sy et al., 2006; Wong & Law, 2002) indicated that emotional intelligence has a positive strong impact on job satisfaction. Employees with emotional intelligence are also more likely to experience high levels of job satisfaction since they can utilize their ability to appraise and manage emotions in others. In the same vein, emotionally intelligent individuals can experience continuous positive moods and feelings that can generate levels of satisfaction (Carmeli, 2003). This skill may become significant in occupations like the banking sector in which employees are grouped into teams and given targets to meet; thus these employees can utilize these skills to foster positive interactions that can promote their own morale as well as the morale of others and contribute positively to the experience of job satisfaction for all. In line with this, these. 26.

(37) employees can certainly have better relationships with their co-workers and supervisors as well as greater satisfaction in their jobs (Wong & Law, 2002). It has been stated that more research is needed to further examine the relationships between emotional intelligence and the work environment that affects job satisfaction (Sy et al., 2005). The researcher assumes that the perception of job satisfaction will be greatly influenced by one’s ability to perceive, understand and regulate emotional loads in one self and others. Hence, the positive relationship between emotional intelligence and job satisfaction was proposed.. Job Satisfaction Job satisfaction is a widely researched and complex phenomenon. Thus, there are numerous definitions of the concept.. For the purpose of this study, job satisfaction can be. defined as an individual’s total feeling about their job and the attitudes they have towards various aspects or facets of their jobs (Spector, 1997). A person with high job satisfaction appears to hold generally positive attitudes and one who is dissatisfied to hold negative attitudes towards their job (Robbins, 1993). Spector (1997) said for researchers to understand these attitudes, they need to understand the complex and interrelated facets of job satisfaction. A facet of job satisfaction can be described as any part of a job that produces feelings of satisfaction or dissatisfaction (Spector, 1997). This perspective can be useful to organizations that wish to identify employee retention areas in which improvement is possible (Saari & Judge, 2004). Job satisfaction is a result of an individual’s perception and evaluation of their job influenced by their own unique needs, values and expectations which they regard as being important to them ( Sempane, Rieger, & Roodt, 2002). Research has shown that job satisfaction does not come about on its own because it is dependent on organizational variables such as structure, size, pay, working conditions and leadership which represent the organizational climate (Sempane et al. 2002). Job satisfaction can be viewed as a reaction to a job, arising from what an individual seeks in a job in comparison with the actual outcomes that the job provides to the individual(Rothmannn & Coetzer, 2002). According to Rothmannn and Coetzer (2002), job satisfaction among employees is an indicator of organizational effectiveness, and it is influenced by organizational and personal factors. Most employers realize that the optimal functioning of their employees depends in part on the level of job satisfaction of employees, hence the emergence of the statement, “happy employees are productive employees” (Saari & Judge, 2004). For performance to be optimal an employee’s full potential is needed at all levels in the organization and this. 27.