Emotional intelligence components as predictors of engagement in nursing professionals by sex

Abstract

Engagement of nursing professionals is related to their psychological wellbeing, and therefore, emotional intelligence acts as a predictor. The purpose of this study was to analyze the explanatory value of the dimensions of emotional intelligence in engagement in both sexes, as well as the conditional effect of interaction of sex as a moderating variable. The sample was comprised of 2126 nurses with a mean age of 31.66 years. The Utrecht Work Engagement Scale and the Brief Inventory of Emotional Intelligence for Senior Citizens (EQ-i-20M) were used for their evaluation. The results revealed the existence of significant differences in engagement depending on the sex of the nursing professionals. Furthermore, this study showed that the interpersonal component of emotional intelligence is the predictor of engagement of female professionals, while mood and the interpersonal dimensions have a higher predictive value of engagement in males. Finally, this study was able to emphasize the sex differences found along with the importance of the role emotional intelligence dimensions have in engagement levels, which must be taken into account when designing intervention programs to improve engagement and promote participation of nursing professionals in their workplace.