Impact of Workplace Bullying on Work Stress with the Moderating Effect of Emotional Intelligence in Private Sector Healthcare Industry

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to identify the impact of workplace bullying on work stress with the moderating effect of emotional intelligence in the private sector healthcare industry. Job Stress is described as increased tension that arises when a worker is unable to balance the demands of their job and workplace bullying is now recognized by society as a very serious issue that has an impact on individuals, organizations, and society as a whole. The study was conducted as a quantitative and cross-sectional research study. The data were collected through a standard questionnaire distributed via Google Forms. The population of the current study comprises all the nursing staff working in private hospitals in Sri Lanka. Primary data was collected from two private hospitals in the healthcare industry in the western province of Sri Lanka. According to that 157 nursing staff were selected as the sample size and used a standard questionnaire as a Google form to collect primary data from them. The collected data were analyzed with the support of the SPSS employing correlation analysis, regression, and descriptive statistics. Simple regression analysis and correlation were used to test the study hypotheses. The independent variable is workplace bullying, while the dependent variable is job stress and the moderator is emotional intelligence. Analyzed results showed a positive impact on workplace bullying and job stress. Moreover, the researcher was able to find emotional intelligence moderates the relationship between workplace Bullying and work stress of employees, such that the relationship is weaker when emotional intelligence is higher than low.