The association of emotional intelligence and positivepsychological capital

With the emergence of the importance of emotions in business and social life, interest in concepts such as emotional intelligence, psychological resilience, psychological capital and psychological well-being increased in parallel with the development of positive organizational behavior trend especially after 2000s. In literature, it is suggested that individuals who can manage their emotions, are psychologically good and resilient, have a positive viewpoint for the future and have a positive affectivity tendency perform at a higher level. Another issue highlighted in the literature is the need to examine all factors that affect these variables and which have the potential to affect them. With this rationale in this study, it is aimed to question the potential association between emotional intelligence and positive psychological capital, which are two products of positive organizational behavior. On the other hand, the other purpose of the study is to examine whether the two variables differ according to the demographic characteristics of the participants. A quantitative research was designed based on the purpose of the study. The data required for the research were obtained by means of the survey technique. The sample of the study consisted of 231 participants working in different sectors and business fields. Independent Samples T-Test, One-Way Anova, correlation and regression analysis were used to answer the research questions and test hypotheses. When the findings of the study are examined, a quite strong positive association was found between employees' emotional intelligence and psychological capital levels. According to single regression analysis, it was seen that all dimensions of emotional intelligence predicted psychological capital positively. According to the findings of multiple regression analysis, while the evaluating one's own emotions and others' emotions had low positive impacts on psychological capital, managing emotions dimension had a moderate positive impact on psychological capital. On the other hand, it was observed that using emotions dimension had no effect on psychological capital. Emotional intelligence and psychological capital did not differ according to the demographic characteristics of the participants. It was seen that the dimension explaining the psychological capital at the strongest level was managing emotions. The findings obtained in the context of this study are expected to contribute to the related literature in a limited way.