CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
Emotional
intelligence (EI) is a new concept, which has been used and defined in the
management literature since 1990. Different studies have demonstrated that
emotional intelligence is one of the virtues associated with success in life
(Ranjbar et al, 2012). Developing emotional intelligence among the staff can
solve many problems in education, health and management (Miri et al, 2013).
There is a growing body of evidence regarding the emotional aspects of work in
an organization. Although, few management researchers have accepted this
concept, the concept of emotional intelligence has been used by the
administrative authorities in many workplaces to explain issues related to the
job satisfaction, performance, absenteeism, organizational commitment and leadership
(carmeli, 2003).
In
the context of the emerging ‘affective revolution’ in social and organizational
psychology, emotional intelligence is proposed as an important predictor of key
organizational outcomes including job satisfaction and employee commitment
(Carmeli, 2003). Emotional intelligence is considered to play a significant
role in the work environment. It is a basic requirement in any profession that
is based on human relations especially in the teaching. Emotions play an
important role in the teaching profession which requires both technical
expertise and psychologically oriented teaching, so an emotionally intelligent
teacher is a person who can work in harmony with his/her thoughts and feelings
(landa & Lopez-Zafra, 2010). Emotional intelligence is the ability to
perceive, evaluate and express emotions rapidly and to understand and manage
them using emotional information and to direct thoughts, actions and affects to
have a successful work experience. There are two types of Emotional Intelligence
measure: ability and trait. The trait Emotional Intelligence theory
distinguishes between the intrapersonal and interpersonal domains.
Intrapersonally, use of emotions can lead to regulating stress and negative
emotions so that one can perform better at work. Interpersonally, the ability
to understand and respond appropriately to the motivations and feelings of
other people can lead to the appraisal and regulation of emotions in others and
achieving maximum performance (Nozaki & Koyasu, 2013). Researchers
specifically propose that such an ability can predict work outcomes, such as
organizational commitment, intention to quit, the staff turnover, job
satisfaction and job performance. Studies have shown that the selection of
personnel based on the emotional intelligence had better results compared to
the traditional methods which may have a greater reliance on cognitive
abilities and technical knowledge, while this issue has been rarely studied in
the teaching profession (Miri et al, 2013).
On
the other hand, one of the important issues in the field of organizational
success is job satisfaction. Job satisfaction can be defined as the extent to
which employees like their jobs. It is an emotional state of individuals that
is enhanced by achieving favorable results at work and the feelings of
belonging to a functioning work place. Traditional job satisfaction pointed to
the feelings of an individual towards his/her job. Two sets of factors are
considered to influence job satisfaction: intrinsic (recognition, tasks and
responsibility) and extrinsic factors (working conditions, company policies and
salary). Internal job satisfaction is an internal desire to perform a task
which deals with pleasure and is related to internal motivation. External
factors are defined as those external benefits provided to the professional
staff by the organization. These factors are unrelated to the task and include
money, good scores and other rewards (Golman, 2000). Schools that have higher
job satisfaction scores among the employees, have a better students performance
and more favorable outcomes. Studies have shown that high degree of emotional
exhaustion can predict lower self-rated performance and higher intention to
quit work which is a consequence of low job satisfaction
1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
Emotionally
healthy behaviour is mirrored in individuals’ ways of thinking; recognizing,
managing and expressing feelings; and choosing effective behaviours. Emotions
are of high significance in educational settings. Emotional health is important
for teachers; it influences what they do, who they meet, how they look and feel
and it makes decision about their life. Job satisfaction is one of the ways to
look at an individual in the workplace. Scherler (2001) simply defined job
satisfaction as ‘the degree to which people like their jobs’. Teacher job
satisfaction is ‘a predictor of teacher retention, a determinant of teacher
commitment, and a contributor to teacher effectiveness’. Teacher job
satisfaction decreases exhaustion, improves job performance, and has a positive
impact on student outcomes. It depends on teachers’ attitude, and helps to
express emotions appropriately instead ignore them. The researcher is examining
emotional intelligence and job satisfaction as predictors of organizational
commitment.
1.3 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The
following are the objectives of this study:
1. To
examine the influence of emotional intelligence on organizational commitment
among secondary school teachers.
2. To
examine the impact of job satisfaction on organizational commitment among
secondary school teachers.
3. To
identify the factors that influences organizational commitment among secondary
school teachers
1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS
1. What
is the influence of emotional intelligence on organizational commitment among
secondary school teachers?
2. What
is the impact of job satisfaction on organizational commitment among secondary
school teachers?
3. What
are the factors that influence organizational commitment among secondary school
teachers?
1.6 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
The
following are the significance of this study:
1. The
result of this study will educate stakeholders in the education sector on the
importance of emotional intelligence and job satisfaction and how they can be
used as a tool to promote organizational commitment among secondary school
teachers.
2. This research will also serve as a
resource base to other scholars and researchers interested in carrying out
further research in this field subsequently, if applied will go to an extent to
provide new explanation to the topic
1.7 SCOPE/LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY
This
study will cover some selected secondary school in Egor Local Government area
of Edo State. It will also cover the level of staff commitment in the selected
secondary schools.
LIMITATION OF STUDY
Financial constraint- Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the
researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information
and in the process of data collection (internet, questionnaire and interview).
Time constraint- The researcher will
simultaneously engage in this study with other academic work. This consequently
will cut down on the time devoted for the research work.