Identifying Bidirectional Factors of Emotional Intelligence in Public Organizations: A Systematic Meta-Synthesis
Keywords:
Emotional intelligence, Public organizations, Meta -synthesis, Facilitating factors, Inhibiting factorsAbstract
This study aimed to identify and explain the influencing and influenced factors of emotional intelligence in public organizations using a meta-synthesis approach. This qualitative study employed a meta-synthesis approach based on the seven-step method by Sandelowski and Barroso. These steps included formulating research questions, conducting a systematic literature review, selecting relevant studies, extracting data, synthesizing and analyzing findings, performing quality control, and presenting results. The study population comprised reputable Persian and English scholarly articles published between 2014 and 2024, of which 31 studies were selected after rigorous screening. Data were analyzed through open coding, and inter-rater reliability was assessed using the Kappa coefficient. The findings revealed that factors related to emotional intelligence could be categorized into two main groups: facilitating and inhibiting factors. Among influencing factors, nine facilitators (such as social personality, strategic thinking, organizational commitment, mindfulness, and work experience) and three inhibitors (including perceived stress, organizational trauma, and dark personality traits) were identified. Among influenced factors, fourteen facilitators (such as job performance, job adaptability, quality of work life, innovative behavior, employee well-being, and knowledge sharing) and three inhibitors (including organizational silence, job burnout, and counterproductive work behaviors) were identified. The results highlight that emotional intelligence plays a critical role in improving job performance and adaptability in public sector employees, and its enhancement depends on strengthening facilitating factors and mitigating organizational barriers. The conceptual model developed can serve as a practical framework for public sector managers to enhance employees’ emotional intelligence and organizational effectiveness.
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Copyright (c) 2025 محسن قمی اویلی, داود کیاکجوری, رضا وریج کاظمی , مهران مختاری بایع کلایی (نویسنده)
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