Emotional Intelligence as a Moderator in the relationship between Negative. Emotions and Counterproductive Work Behaviours LAU CHO YIN

Transcription

1 Emotional Intelligence as a Moderator in the relationship between Negative Emotions and by LAU CHO YIN Human Resources Management Option An Honors Degree Project submitted to the School of Business in Partial Fulfillment of the Graduation Requirement for the Degree of Bachelor of Business Administration (Honors) Hong Kong Baptist University Hong Kong May

2 TABLE OF CONTENT CONTENT PAGE ACKNOWLEDGEMENT 1 ABSTRACT 2 I. INTRODUCTION STATEMENT OF PROBLEM OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY 4 II. LITERATURE REVIEW AND HYPOTHESES DEVELOPMENT NEGATIVE EMOTIONS COUNTERPRODUCTIVE WORK BEHAVIOURS EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE AS A MODERATOR CONCEPTUAL MODEL AND SUMMARY OF THE HYPOTHESES 9 III. METHODOLOGY SAMPLE MEASUREMENT DATA ANALYSIS 13 IV. RESULTS FACTOR ANALYSIS CRONBACH ALPHA RELIABILITY TEST ZERO-ORDER CORRELATION HIERARCHICAL REGRESSION ANALYSIS 15 V. DISCUSSIONS THEORETICAL IMPLICATIONS PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS 5.3. LIMITATIONS AND FUTURE RESEARCH VI. CONCLUSION 23 VII. REFERENCES TABLES APPENDIX

3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT First of all, I would like to express my sincere thankfulness to Dr. Wei Li-Qun, the supervisor of my Honor Project. Dr. Wei has been very helpful indeed and she always offers professional advices and generous guidance for my project. When I encounter difficulties and problems, she is always there to help me and give me encouragement. Though I always trouble her and seek her advice, she never shows impatience and is willing to answer all my questions. Also, I would like to give thanks to my friends who had helped me to distribute and collect the questionnaires. Without their helps, the project could not be done in such a smooth way. Last but never the least, I would like to express my gratitude to all of the respondents in this study, thanking them very much for their sharing and information on the issues being studied which are the core of this project. 1

4 ABSTRACT Many researches before have confirmed that the level of (CWB) is determined by negative emotions posed by employees. Based on this foundation, the predictive relationship between negative emotions and CWB and the moderating effect of Emotional Intelligence (EI) are analyzed in the report. This is a cross-sectional survey study and the quantitative data were collected in three months, from January 2010 to March The sample size of the study is 170, coming from employees working in a wide range of industries in Hong Kong. The respondents scores on EI, negative emotions in experience with their jobs and CWB engaged were collected and analyzed. From the results obtained, it is shown that there is a positive relationship between negative emotions and CWB, confirming the emotion-centred model of CWB, that CWB is erected by the negative emotions generated by employees. Moreover, it is indicated that EI is moderating the relationship between negative emotions and CWB. Given the same situation and same level of negative emotions experienced, the people with high EI engage less CWB compared to those with low EI, confirming the influences of EI on the predictive relationship. Based on the results and findings, actions can be taken by organizations to reduce CWB in the organizations, minimizing the losses caused by CWB. Last but not the least, practical implications with suggestions are discussed as well. 2

5 I. INTRODUCTION Being the extra-role behaviour in the workplace, (CWB) is one of the key factors determining the performance of the organizations (Fox, Spector, & Miles, 2001). CWB is not only non productive, but also counter-productive, severely reversing the organizations operations and harming the profits. Being identified as the serious problem in the organizations and creating huge losses every year, CWB has become the hot topic and many researchers have interest in exploring. More investigations and studies are needed in order to better understand it and further suggest some ways to minimize its harm. To combat CWB, many researchers looked into the causes and the generating process of it. From the previous researches, it is clear that the process of generating CWB is the emotion-centred model. First, the external stressors generate employees negative emotions. When employees feel they are treated unfairly, they are likely to revenge by engaging in CWB, because engaging in CWB can reduce the dissatisfaction experienced (Fox, Spector, & Miles, 2001; Haaland, 2002). CWB can help them to balance the inequity felt and decrease the negative feelings experienced (Fox, Spector, & Miles, 2001; Spector & Fox, 2002, 2005). It is widely known that the external factors which are regarded as the stressors generate negative emotions, but not many researchers look into the internal factors of individuals. A recent research suggests that Emotional Intelligence (EI) is positively related to Organizational Citizenship Behaviours (OCB) (Carmeli and Josman, 2006). Because both OCB and CWB are voluntary activities in the organizations done by individuals (Baker, 2005), it is likely that EI may also affect the process of generating CWB, which is the relationship between negative emotions and CWB. 3

6 1.1 STATEMENT OF PROBLEM Given the negative impacts of CWB in organizations, there is a need to further investigate the internal factors which affect the engagement of CWB in the individual level. From the literature, it is shown that negative emotions lead to the engagement of CWB. So, in the study, we will first study the predictive relationship between negative emotions and CWB. Moreover, the pervious researches also indicated the possibility of EI serving as a moderator in the relationship between negative emotions and CWB. So, an interest is raised in the following question: Does EI of individual affect the relationship between negative emotions and CWB in organizations? Therefore, the study will also look at the moderating effect of the EI in the relationship. This project is built on the efforts of previous studies which proved that negative emotions are the causes of CWB in organizations. In this report, we will study how EI affects the relationship between negative emotions and CWB engaged. 1.2 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY This project will focus on how EI influences the relationship of negative emotions and CWB. The objectives of the research are: To explore the relationship of negative emotions and CWB To investigate how EI will moderate the relationship of negative emotions and CWB To suggest some ways of alleviating CWB in the workplace 4

7 II. LITERATURE REVIEW AND HYPOTHESES DEVELOPMENT 2.1 NEGATIVE EMOTIONS By definition, negative emotions are the bad feelings triggered by the situation (Herzberg, Mausner, and Snyderman, 1959). Although there have been great controversial arguments over the nature and definitions of emotions, the most popular definitions for emotions are illustrating emotions as the systems that have many components, including cognitive, behavioural, expressive, and physiological changes, which all of the elements affect the others (Schulze, Roberts, 2005; Van Katwyk, Fox, Spector, & Kelloway, 2000). Because negative emotions make people feel uneasy and not comfortable, people will behave in certain ways to decrease the negative emotions experienced (Patton, 1997). According to the studies, bad feelings in the workplace can be caused by work overload, lack of rewards, and social relations (Oginska-Bulik, 2005). From the theory of the social exchange and the norm of reciprocity, people behave based on the contexts (Haaland, 2002). When experiencing negative emotions in the workplace, employees will engage in (CWB), certain behaviours which are harmful to the organizations or the people in the organizations to rebalance their feelings (Fox, Spector, & Miles, 2001; Spector & Fox, 2002, 2005). 2.2 COUNTERPRODUCTIVE WORK BEHAVIOURS (CWB) (CWB) is also named as Workplace Deviance Behaviour. are the behaviours that are intended to have a detrimental effect on organizations and their members (Fox, Spector, and Miles, 2001). Being recognized as the behavioural reactions to working experiences (Bennett & Robinson, 2003), CWB are the volitional 5

8 acts that harm or are intended to harm organizations or people in the organizations (Spector & Fox, 2005). According to Spector & Fox (2002), engaging in CWB can be described as an emotion-centred model: the external factors elicit negative emotions in individuals, who then engage in CWB to re-balance their negative feelings (Fox, Spector, & Miles, 2001; Spector & Fox, 2002, 2005). Many previous studies clearly supported the emotion-centred model of CWB: the situational stressors first erect the negative emotions of employees, who then engage in CWB to reduce the dissatisfaction (Fox, Spector, & Miles, 2001; Haaland, 2002; Spector & Fox, 2002, 2005; Yang & Diefendorff, 2009). If employees perceive that they are being treated unfairly, they are likely to engage in CWB in order to balance the inequity perceived and reduce the negative feelings (Fox, Spector, & Miles, 2001; Spector & Fox, 2002, 2005). Given the researches, it is suggested that negative emotions lead to the engagement of CWB. H1: Negative emotions significantly influence the (CWB) 2.3 EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE (EI) AS A MODERATOR Emotional Intelligence (EI) or Emotional Maturity comprises the capabilities and skills that individuals possess and that influence their abilities to cope with environmental demands (Ashkanasy, Hartel and Zerbe, 2000). EI is defined as the ability to perceive emotions, to access and generate emotions so as to assist thought, to understand emotions and emotional knowledge, and to reflectively regulate emotions so as to promote emotional and intellectual growth (Mayer and Salovey, 1997:5). The concept of EI was popularized by Daniel Goleman, who published a book in 1995 titled Emotional Intelligence. Goleman s theory of EI is a mixed model, which has five dimensions: self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy and social skills. Though his book Emotional Intelligence became one of the best-selling books, some disagreed with his definition of EI, saying that the social skills should not be included. 6

9 Different from Goleman s model, the other leading professionals in EI, Mayer and Salovey proposed their definitions of Emotional Intelligence in There are four dimensions in their concepts, namely, emotional awareness of oneself, emotional awareness of others, emotional management and emotional facilitation. The details of four dimensions are presented in the following: Dimensions of Emotional Intelligence Explanation i. Emotional awareness of oneself The appraisal and expression of self-emotions The awareness of own emotions is about understanding our moment-to-moment feelings and the ways that emotions are expressed verbally and nonverbally. ii. Emotional awareness of others The appraisal and expression of emotions in the others iii. Emotional management iv. Emotional facilitation It is the capability to perceive the emotions of others and the ability for empathy, which is to comprehend another s feelings and to re-experience them oneself (Salovey & Mayer, 1990). The appraisal of feelings is very vital in making the appropriate and substantial response. The regulation of self-emotions Regulation of our own emotions is the attempts or acts to manage emotions by expressing our feelings and ideas appropriately during the communication process. The use of emotions to facilitate performance Aiming at improving the outcomes and the performance, the talents in emotional facilitation are good at encouraging positive emotions, motivation, enthusiasm and other things which could help in building a good relationship and creating satisfaction. Table 1: A Summary of the Emotional Intelligence model proposed by Mayer and Salovey (1997) Previous studies in EI clearly show that an emotion or a feeling would influence thinking, feeling and acting; on the other hand, an action would influence thinking, feeling and acting (Ashkanasy, 7

10 Hartel and Zerbe, 2000). Over the years, many researchers have clearly indicated that EI affects their feelings as well as behaviours (Patton, 1997). If people have high EI, they will find it easier to overcome the obstacles and feel happier than those with low EI. It is likely that EI also contributes to the engagement of CWB by moderating the relationship between negative emotions and CWB. The possible relationships between the four dimensions of EI and the relationship between negative emotions and the engagement of CWB: are i. Emotional awareness of oneself ii. People who are aware of their own feelings can identify their emotions easily (Goleman, 1995). This ability can let them be able to cope with negative emotions quickly (Tjiong, 2006). Given the same level of negative emotions, people with high EI can handle their moodiness and decrease the possibility of engaging in CWB while people with low EI get trapped by negative emotions and increase the likelihood of engaging in CWB. Emotional awareness of others Employees who can understand others better will have more empathy for people around. Therefore, they can understand the limitations and weaknesses of the others and definitely find it easily to forgive the wrong doings of people and be more tolerant to the flaws. Even though people with high and low EI face the same level of negative emotions, employees with high EI are less likely to revenge the organizations and the colleagues by engaging in CWB, but the opposite for people with low EI. iii. Emotional management For those who are good at self-management, they are able to control their feelings as well as emotions. As a result, they can control themselves for not doing misbehaviors which will harm the organizations and their colleagues (Khalid et al, 2009). So, in the same level of negative emotions, high EI can stop employees from engaging in CWB but low EI will even increase the likelihood of having CWB because people cannot control themselves well. iv. Emotional facilitation People who can use the emotions to facilitate the performance and outcome usually have good and high quality interpersonal relationships with others (Tjiong, 2006). High EI will stop them from just focusing on own negative emotions while low EI will be another way round. Because 8

11 they understand that negative emotions will harm the productivity of organizations and have better relationships with others (Goleman, 1995), they have less CWB compared to the people with low EI in the same level of negative emotions. To sum up, it is possible that employees with high EI will engage less CWB than those with low EI in the same level of negative emotions because of the moderating effect of EI in the relationship between negative emotions and CWB. Thus, it is likely EI serves as a moderator in this relationship. H2: Given the same level of negative emotions, the relationship between negative emotions and Counterproductive Work Behaviors (CWB) is stronger for people with low Emotional Intelligence (EI) than high Emotional Intelligence (EI) 2.4 CONCEPTUAL MODEL AND SUMMARY OF THE HYPOTHESES Given the above literature review, the conceptual model of the hypotheses and the summary of them are suggested as the following: IV Negative Emotions + DV Counterproductive Work Behaviours (CWB) Emotional Intelligence (EI) MV Figure 1: A Conceptual framework of the hypotheses Independent variable (IV): Negative Emotions Dependent variable (DV): (CWB) Moderator (MV): Emotional Intelligence (EI) Hypothesis H1: Negative emotions significantly influence the (CWB) H2: Given the same level of negative emotions, the relationship between negative emotions and Counterproductive Work Behaviors (CWB) is stronger for people with low Emotional Intelligence (EI) than high Emotional Intelligence (EI) Table 2: A Summary of hypotheses 9

12 III. METHODOLOGY 3.1 SAMPLE This is a cross-sectional survey design, and a pool of participants was chosen on a voluntary basis. A quantitative survey was used and questionnaires were structured and disturbed to people who are working in organizations. The cover letter was attached with the questionnaires as well, in order to clearly show the objectives of the project and to protect the privacy of the information returned, increasing the confidentiality. 200 questionnaires were sent and 170 questionnaires were collected, the response rate is about 85%. 44.1% of the participants are female and the rest are male. Half of the people are aged from 26 to 35 years and the second large group is the young people from 16 to 25 years old. About 44.1% are secondary school graduates and 38.8% are university graduates. 68.8% and 78.8% of the respondents have worked in their organizations from 1 to 5 years. For the job level, 17.6% of the people are supervisors and the rest, about 82.4%, are subordinates. The study has covered a wide range of people with different backgrounds Insert Table 3 here MEASUREMENT To increase the reliability and validity of the study, the set-up of the survey is based on the past studies and researches. The major variables of the study were measured by the following measurement: 10

13 3.2.1 Emotional Intelligence (EI) The self-rated Emotional Intelligence (EI) test used was developed by Schutte et al (1998), built on the theoretical model of EI proposed by Salovey and Mayer in Based on the availability of the EI tests, it is chosen because of the easy administration, the adequate reliability (Cronbach s alpha 0.9 and 0.87) and the validity (0.78). Originally, this measurement contains 62 items. In this study, the participants were asked to answer all 33 questions on five-point scales, from 1 (Strongly disagree) to 5 (Strongly agree). The interviewees should, based on their past experience and feelings, answer all questions honestly. Moreover, the EI score would be obtained by taking the average score of the answers Negative Emotions The job-related affective well-being scale (JAWS) short version (Van Katwyk, Fox, Spector, & Kelloway, 2000) was used as the measurement of negative emotions. There are totally 11 negative emotions, namely: anger, annoyance, anxious, bored, depressed, discouraged, disgusted, fatigued, frightened, frustrated and miserable. For the categories of Job Events for negative emotions experienced, they were adopted from negative event emotion matrix from the book: Emotions in the Workplace: Research, Theory, and Practice. In chapter 3 of the book, the researchers conducted a survey about the negative emotions experienced by hotel employees. There are totally 13 events in job causing negative emotions, namely: acts of colleagues, acts of management, lack of goal achievement, lack of receiving recognition, acts of customers, task problems, making mistakes, lack of influence or control, company policies, external environment, physical situations, workload and personal problems. All participants were asked to indicate how often they felt in those 13 job events and rated on a five-point scale, from 1 (Not at all) to 5 (Always). The average internal consistency reliability was.93 for this measure. 11

14 3.2.3 (CWB) The items of CWB were adopted from the research conducted by Yang and Diefendorff (Yang & Diefendorff, 2009), which is a study conducted in Hong Kong last year. The researchers conducted a few interviews and researches before the experiment in order to have the most accurate CWB items which suited Hong Kong people most. The reasons for choosing this study are the same experiment location and the updated CWB items. The average internal consistency reliabilities for was.92. Overall, there were 24 items selected from the list and were rated on five-point scales. The items of CWB were listed in the questionnaire, and participants were asked to identify what level they were engaged in such activities before in the scale from 1 (Not at all) to 5 (Always). The score of CWB was processed by obtaining the average marks of those items Control Variables In the study, 10 different control variables were also included in the questionnaire. These variables are gender, age, marital status, number of children, educational level, tenure in the organization, tenure in the position, monthly salary, job level and working class. They were controlled to test the impact of the hypotheses. From the previous studies, many suggested that CWB engaged is affected by different factors. Some suggested that gender difference may exist because women tend to conform more to norm compared to men (Eagly, 1987; Eagly & Chrvala, 1986). Also, older people might have less CWB because of the organizational commitment (Burke, 2006). Regarding to the marital status, married people might be engaged in less CWB since they are afraid of being fired. The number of children may also decrease the tendency of engaging in CWB because of the increasing family burden. (Yang & Diefendorff, 2009). People have higher education may think CWB is unethical. Tenure in the organization, tenure in the position and monthly salary may affect employees organizational 12

15 commitment (Burke, 2006), which then influences the tendency of engaging CWB. For the job level and working class, they may influence the CWB engaged as the difference of job nature and norm (Fox, Spector, & Miles, 2001; Spector & Fox, 2002, 2005). 3.3 DATA ANALYSIS To test the correlation between variables, the zero correlation was conducted in the study. A hierarchical regression was also used to process the data collected, aiming to test the relationship between the negative emotions and CWB, as well as the moderating effect of the EI in the relationship. 13

16 IV. RESULTS 4.1 FACTOR ANALYSIS The principle component factor analysis with varimax was deployed in the study. The results for all three dimensions were satisfactory and there is no cross loading. For the negative emotions, 11 out of 13 questions in the negative emotions were retained and the result of Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) Measure of Sampling Adequacy is.86. For the CWB, 21 out of 24 questions were retained and the result of KMO is.90. For the EI, 13 out of 14 questions in the EI were retained and the result of KMO is Insert Table 4 here CRONBACH ALPHA RELIABLITY TEST Cronbach alpha coefficient was examined to test the reliability of the three sections. All of the scales adopted are above 0.80 and passed the reliability test Insert Table 5 here ZERO-ORDER CORRELATION First, as predicted before, there is a significant positive correlation between negative emotions and CWB (r =.38, p<.01). Moreover, there is a significant negative relationship between EI and CWB (r = -.32, p<.01). The results shown give a solid foundation for further studies. 14

17 For control variables, only one control variable, working class, is negatively related to CWB (r = -.29, p<.01) Insert Table 6 here HIERARCHICAL REGRESSION ANALYSIS The hierarchical regression analysis was deployed in the study to test the relationships between the independent variable negative emotions and the dependent variables CWB. Step 1: Controlled variables Step 2: Negative emotions (Independent Variable) Step 3: Emotional Intelligence (Moderator) Step 4: Interaction of Negative Emotions and Emotional Intelligence In step 1, when only control variables were put, the significant positive relationship was found in working class (β =.39, p<.01, R 2 =.06). In step 2, when negative emotions were put, the results were consistent with H1. A significant positive relationship was found (β =.27, p<.01, R 2 =.12). So, H1 is supported. When the moderator, EI, was added in step 3, the results were significant as well. There is a significant negative relationship found (β = -.27, p<.01, R 2 =.09). In step 4, when the z score of the interaction was added into the regression, the results were significant as well. The interaction has a negative moderating effect on CWB (β = -.13, p<.01, R 2 =.10). So, H2 is supported as well Insert Table 7 here

18 V. DISCUSSIONS 5.1 THEORETICAL IMPLICATIONS From the correlation table, working class (1 = Blue collar; 2 = White collar) is negatively correlated with CWB (r = -.29, p<.01). It is clear that employees who come from blue collar may engage more in CWB compared to white-collar. From the regression table, working class is also negatively correlated to CWB, where a significant positive relationship is found (β =.39, p<.01, R 2 =.06). The reason might be the differences in job natures. The job content of blue collar may create the availability and easiness for CWB. Because the situation and the norm also affect the likelihood of CWB engaged (Spector & Fox, 2002, 2005), CWB may be engaged easily by blue collar workers who can move around and perform a wide range of tasks. For example, the workers who are responsible for cleaning streets usually work without the supervisor around and move around in a district assigned. Thus, they might have more opportunities to take a longer break or skip the tasks because no one monitors and evaluates their behaviours. As the monitor of the supervisor is closer for white collar, where the supervisor is right around them, they will have less chance to engage CWB Positive relationship between negative emotions and (CWB) Although CWB has been a hot topic, many researchers just focused on the external causes. From the literature, most of the researchers examined the effects of causes, job insecurity, organizational justice and other outside stressors. In frequently testing the relationships between causes, most of them ignored the important mediator in the middle of the emotion-centred model of CWB: negative emotions. Negative emotions are the vital parts of erecting the CWB, without them, stressors can do nothing in creating the CWB (Martinko, Douglas, and Harvey, 2002). Based on the 16

19 proposed emotion-centred model, the external causes generate negative emotions and then employees will engage in CWB to rebalance their negative feelings (Fox, Spector, & Miles, 2001; Spector & Fox, 2002, 2005). To fill in the gap of the studies of CWB, this project focused on the linkage between negative emotions and CWB, testing the relationship between the two variables. This study examined the importance of the negative emotions in the engagement of CWB. From the study, it is suggested that CWB has positive relationships with the negative emotions, confirming the emotion-centred model of the CWB proposed by the academics. The emotion-centred theory is supported by the affective events theory (AET, Weiss & Cropanzano, 1996), which said people tend to react emotionally to work events and these affective experiences directly influence individual behaviours and attitudes (Tjiong, 2000). When employees feel they are treated unfairly, no matter from the organizations or the colleagues, they will engage in CWB, doing something harmful to the organizations or the colleagues to re-balance their negative feelings. And, the relationship is positive, suggesting that more negative emotions people have, the more possibility of them engage in CWB EI is the moderator between negative emotions and CWB From the previous studies, most of the professionals put too much emphasis on the external factors of causing CWB but neglected another important source of the CWB, which is the person. Given the same level of external stressors, like the similar working environment and compensation package, some may engage in CWB, some may not. The reasons behind may not be the external factors, the cues might be the mind of people. A study (Yang & Diefendorff, 2009) conducted before also agreed this idea, agreeing internal factors might also affect the tendency of engaging in CWB. EI, which is about the capability of monitoring and managing emotions of your own and the others, might be the next factor. From the result of the study, the assumption was supported. EI was proven to be a moderator in 17

20 the relationship of negative emotions and CWB, having significant effects in the emotion-centred model of CWB. The negative relationship found suggested that people with high EI tend to have less CWB compared to people with low EI in the same level of negative emotions. Because EI can let people be able to understand and control their feelings as well as behaviours, given the same level of negative emotions, it can strengthen or weaken the linkage between negative emotions and CWB. Therefore, people with high EI engage less CWB but people with low EI engage more CWB. The results obtained in the research, which EI was proved to serve as a moderator in the relationship between negative emotions and CWB, echo the research conducted by Deshpande et al. in 2005, which also concluded that people with high EI believe that CWB are more unethical than those with low EI (Deshpande et al, 2005). Furthermore, the result is also consistent with the research in 2009 which suggested that employees with high level of EI are able to control and avoid themselves from doing such misbehaviors that will harm the organizations they work with (Khalid et al, 2009). EI of individuals contributes to the engagement of CWB and, most importantly, people who are high in EI are less likely to engage in CWB and people with low EI are more likely to have CWB. For those with high EI, they can identify their own and people s immediate feelings, and be able to manage their moods and deploy the emotions to facilitate daily life. This gifted ability will let them handle their negative emotions better than the people with low EI, decreasing their tendency of engaging in CWB to balance their negative emotions. 5.2 PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS Undoubtedly, CWB is a nightmare for all managers of the organizations because these behaviors are not only non productive, but also counter-productive, severely reversing the organizations operation and harming the profit. Because CWB results in huge organizational losses, 18

21 management must think of some ways to minimize the negative emotions in order to alleviate the CWB engaged. Although some companies might choose to set up strict policies and monitoring systems to prevent the engagement of CWB, these ways will not have a significant effect. In most circumstances, CWB is the small acts, like petty theft, but not stealing a huge amount of money. Having rules and monitoring systems cannot tackle the problems, because CWB is comparatively invisible and hard to observe. Previous researches have clearly pointed out the emotion-centred model of CWB. From the result of the study, it is confirmed that negative emotions are the causes of CWB in the organizations. Therefore, there are ways to reduce CWB, by weakening the link between external stressors and negative emotions or between negative emotions and CWB. For the former one, the relationship between the external stressors and negative emotions, two-way communication is the key decreasing the accumulation of negative feelings among workers. The management should explain clearly to employees about the organization structure, job nature, job evaluation, etc, especially the common external stressors that can easily erect negative emotions of employees (Yang & Diefendorff, 2009). Moreover, they should also pay more attention to the organization settings, creating a better working environment for employees and seek advice and feedback from employees regularly (Spector & Fox, 2002, 2005), especially those who are blue-collar workers, because they tend to have high possibility of engaging in CWB from this study. Managers should also sincerely build the friendship with staff and use more informal channels to communicate, because these will ease the tension and doubt from employees and let them feel the sincerity of the management. Furthermore, management should create a harmonious atmosphere in the organization, encouraging mutual understanding, positive communications and helping behaviours among workers. 19

22 By creating a friendly culture and the norm of cooperation, employees can be inoculated from having too much negative feelings (Yang & Diefendorff, 2009). For the latter one, the relationship between negative emotions and CWB, negative emotions is the crux of the problem. Some suggested that despite the presence of external stressors, unless employees feel negatively, CWB may not be engaged (Martinko, Douglas, and Harvey, 2002). To alleviate negative emotions, staff can undergo some workshops to better manage their negative feelings and dissatisfaction. Also, the culture of the organization is very vital in influencing the mood of employees (Spector & Fox, 2002, 2005). The management should encourage the positive affectivity and even put it in the Vision, Missions and Values of the organization to educate the employees and decrease the CWB. Because EI also plays a moderating role in the relationship between negative emotions and CWB, and high EI is well known to be the key of career success. Organizations may take it into account for the selection criteria or training objectives. To select new bloods for the organization, EI Test can be deployed in the selection process (Yang & Diefendorff, 2009). For the current employees, training and workshop can be organized for them (Patton, 1997). According to Goleman, EI can be learnt regardless of age and increase as one matures (Goleman, 1995). To increase the productivity of the employees, it is worthwhile to invest in increasing the EI of employees, like training employees competence in expressing their feelings and managing their emotions (Khalid et al, 2009). The improvement of EI does not only create a harmonious working environment, it also helps employees to have a better life and most importantly, the organization to achieve its business objectives. 20

23 5.3 LIMITATIONS AND FUTURE RESEARCH Limitations The scale of the report is rather small. For only about 170 participants included in the research, the statistic might not be able to generalize the common phenomenon in the society. For the accuracy of the further research, it is better to extend the sample pool. Moreover, the result obtained from the self-evaluation might not be accurate because of the self-bias (Glenn, 2004). Individuals tend to rate themselves much higher than do the others unconsciously. This is because participants tend to have higher opinion of themselves than others; thus, they may not give accurate answers in the questionnaire. To increase the accuracy of the future research, it is suggested to invite respondents, their immediate superiors as well as their colleagues to fill in the questionnaire. By analysing the information from multiple sources, the results obtained will be more objective compared to the participants subjective evaluation. To eliminate the embarrassment and the confidential information, it is also recommended that they should return the questionnaires by confidential mail. The inaccurate result might also be the outcome of the social desire behaviours. It is especially true in this research because the CWB is regarded as unethical and improper, people rarely mention about these acts publicly. In order to look smart and loyal to the organizations, participants may inflate the actual rating in the questions. Because of the lack of confidence in the confidentiality of the survey, they might not reveal their actual behaviours in the questionnaires. To increase the faith of participants and the confidential level of the research, it is suggested to provide the questionnaires as well as self-addressed and stamped envelops for participants. They can send the questionnaires by mail once they finish the questionnaires, avoiding the leakage of the information to the participants who are being rated. Furthermore, there is no agreement on the definition of EI until now. There are two models of 21

24 Emotional Intelligence suggested: the ability model and the trait, or the mix model. The former model defines EI as a set of different abilities while the others define emotional intelligence as a set of non-cognitive personal traits which affect the ways of responding to situations (Goleman 1995). Thus, there is no agreement on the measurement of EI based on the diversified opinion (Schulze, Roberts, 2005). This can result in the inconsistence between different EI evaluation tools Future Research Based on the results found in the research, some suggestions are given for the further research related to this area. Firstly, the relationships between the perceived sources of negative emotions and the types of CWB are suggested. It is advised to investigate the linkages between the sources of negative emotions and the types of CWB engaged. According to social exchange theory, people react based on the given situation and stressors. It is possible that the sources of negative emotions indicate the types of CWB engaged. If employees identify the negative emotions coming from the organizations, they will revenge on the organizations. It is widely known that CWB is erected by negative emotions generated, but not many researches have proved the hypothesizing relationships between contextual factors, such as perceived justices and organizational culture and targeted at organizations (CWB-O). In 2004, researchers Vardi and Weitz proposed that all factors, including individual, group and organizational reasons generally contribute to all kinds of CWB (Vardi & Weitz, 2004). But, the others confirm their specific linkages (Suzy et al, 2001). So, further researches about the relationships between the perceived sources of negative emotions and the types of CWB engaged are suggested. Secondly, the other internal factors affecting the engagement of CWB are recommended as well. The researches before put too much focus on identifying the external factors of the CWB, like the perceived justice and the working environment which can influence the negative emotions of employees. Not many of them have looked at the internal factors which can explain the different 22

25 levels of CWB engaged by employees in the same working environment. This research has successfully proved that EI served as the moderator the relationship and some researches before also identify the roles of personality in the role of CWB (Yang & Diefendorff, 2009). Other than the external situations, these results suggest that internal side of people also contributes to the CWB. More factors can be proved, more actions can be taken to reduce the CWB. VI. CONCLUSION The project has attempted to look at the relationship between negative emotions and (CWB). The moderating effect of Emotional Intelligence (EI) on the relationship between negative emotions and CWB has also been examined. From the result of the study, it is shown that there is a significant positive relationship between the negative emotions and CWB. Moreover, the result has also suggested that EI is the moderator in the two relationships between the independent variable negative emotions and the dependent variable, CWB, suggesting that given the same level of negative emotions, people with high EI are less likely to engage in CWB compared to the people with low EI. 23

26 VII. REFERENCES Ashkanasy, N. M., Hartel, C. E. J., & Zerbe, W. J. (Eds.). (2000). Emotions in the workplace, research, theory, and practice. London: Quorum Books. Baker, B.A. (2005). The Good, The Bad And The Ugly: The Mediating Role of Attributional Style In The Relationship Between Personality and Performance. North Carolina State University Burke, W. Scott (2006). Exploratory study of organizational loyalty: Comparison between senior executives and employee views. Ed.D. dissertation, Pepperdine University, United States -- California. Retrieved April 26, 2010, from ABI/INFORM Global.(Publication No. AAT ). Carmeli, A., & Josman, Z. E. (2006). The Relationship Among Emotional Intelligence, Task Performance, and Organizational Citizenship Behaviors. HUMAN PERFORMANCE, 19(4), Deshpande, Et AL. (2005). The Impact of Emotional Intelligence on Counterproductive Behaviour in China. Management Research News, Vol. 28, No. 5. Eagly, A. & Chrvala, C. (1986). Sex differences in conformity: Status and gender role interpretations. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 10(3), Eagly, A. H. (1987). Sex differences in social behavior: a social-role interpretation. Hillsdale, N.J., L.Erlbaum Associates. Fox, S., Spector, P. E., & Miles, D. (2001). Counterproductive work behaviour (CWB) in response to job stressors and organizational justice: Some mediator and moderator tests for autonomy and emotions. Journal of Vocational Behaviour, 59, Glenn, G., (Eds.). (2004). Measuring Emotional Intelligence: Common Ground and Conroversy. New York: Nova Science Publisher, Inc. Goleman, D.(1995). Emotional Intelligence. New York: Bantam Book Haaland, S. A. (2002). Understanding organizational citizenship and counterproductive work behaviours: examing interactions utilizing an organizational versus interpersonal categorization strategy. The paper of Doctor of Philosophy, Department of Psychology, Central Michigan University, Retrieved October 15, 2009, from ProQuest Information and Learning Company (ProQuest). Heneman HG III, (1985), Pay satisfaction. In Rowland KW, Ferris G (Eds.) Research in personnel and human resource management Vol. III, pp , Greenwich, CN: JAI Press. Herzberg, F.,Mausner, B. & Snyderman, B. (1959). The motivation to work. New York: Wiley. Jonathan, H. Turner., & Jan, E. Stets. (2005). The Sociology of Emotions. United States of America: Cambridge University Press. Khalid, S. A., Kassim, K. M., Ismail, M., Noor, A. N. M., Rahman, N. A. & Zain, R. S. (2009). Emotional Intelligence and Organizational Citizenship Behaviour as Antecedents of Students Deviance. The International Journal of Business and Mangament, 4, 7 Tjiong, Linda A. (2000). The relationship between emotional intelligence, hardiness and job stress among registered nurses. D.B.A. dissertation, University of Sarasota, United States -- Florida. Retrieved November 15, 2009, from ABI/INFORM Global.(Publication No. AAT ). Martinko MJ, Gundlach MJ, Douglas SC. (2002). Toward an integrative theory of counterproductive workplace behaviour: A causal reasoning perspective. International Journal of Selection and Assessment, 10, Mayer, J. D. & Salovey & D. Sluyter (Eds.) (1997). What is emotional intelligence? : Implications 24

27 for educators. In, Emotional development, emotional literacy, and emotional intelligence: New York: Basic Books. Mayer, J. D., DiPaolo, M. T., & Salovey, P. (1990). Perceiving affective content in ambiguous visual stimuli: A component of emotional intelligence. Journal of Personality Assessment, 54, Oginska-Bulik, Nina. (2005). Emotional Intelligence in the Workplace: Exploring its Effects on Occupational Stress and Health Outcomes in Human Service Workers. International Journal of Occupational Medicine & Environmental Health, 28(2), Retrieved from PsychoINFO Patton, P., (1997), EQ in the workplace. Singapore: SNP Publishing Pte Ltd. Robinson, S. L., & Bennett, R. J. (1995). A typology of deviant workplace behaviours: A multidimenonal scaling study. Academy of Management Journal, 38, Schulze, R., & Roberts, R. D. (Eds.). (2005). Emotional intelligence: an international handbook, Washington: Hogrefe. Schutte, N. and Malouff, J., Hall, L., Haggerty, D., Cooper, J., Golden, C., and Dornheim, L. (1998). Development and validation of a measure of emotional intelligence. Personality and Individual Difference, 25, Spector, P. E. & Fox, S. (2002). An emotional-centred model of counterproductive work behaviour and organizational citizenship behaviour. Human Resources Management Review, 12, Spector, P. E. & Fox, S. (2005). A stressor-emotion model counterproductive work behavior. In Fox S, Spector PE (Eds.), Counterproductive work behavior: Investigations of actors and targets (pp ). Washington, DC: APA Suzy, F., Paul, E. S., and Don, M. (2001). Counterproductive Work Behavior (CWB) in Response to Job Stressors and Organizational Justice: Some Mediator and Moderator Tests for Autonomy and Emotions. Journal of Vocational Behavior 59, Tjiong, Linda A. (2000). The relationship between emotional intelligence, hardiness and job stress among registered nurses. D.B.A. dissertation, University of Sarasota, United States -- Florida. Retrieved November 8, 2009, from ABI/INFORM Global.(Publication No. AAT ). Van, Katwyk. P. T., Fox, S., Spector, P. E. & Kelloway, E. K. (2000). Using the job-related affective well-being scale (JAWS) to investigate affective response to work stressors. Jounral of Occupational Health Psychology, 5, Vardi, Y., & Weitz, E. (2004). Misbehaviour in organizations: Theory, research, and management. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum. Weiss, H. M., & Cropanzano, R. (1996). Affective events theory: A theoretical discussion of the structure, causes and consequences of affective experiences at work. Research In Organizational Behaviours, 18, 1-74 Yang, J., & Diefendorff, J. (2009). THE RELATIONS OF DAILY COUNTERPRODUCTIVE WORKPLACE BEHAVIOR WITH EMOTIONS, SITUATIONAL ANTECEDENTS, AND PERSONALITY MODERATORS: A DIARY STUDY IN HONG KONG. Personnel Psychology, 62(2), Retrieved October 23, 2009, from ABI/INFORM Global. (Document ID: ) 25

28 TABLES: Variables Items Percentage (%) 1. Gender Male Male Female Age or above.6 3. Marital Status Single Single Divorced 1.8 Married 31.8 Widowed Number of Children or above.6 5. Educational Level Secondary School Secondary School Associate s degree 6.5 Bachelor s degree 38.8 Postgraduate 0.0 Doctoral degree 5.9 Other Tenure in the Organization > Tenure in the Position > Monthly Salary <10,000 <10, ,001-20, ,001-30, ,001-40, ,001-50, ,001 or above Job Level Supervisory Supervisory Non-supervisory Working Class Blue collar Blue collar White collar 85.9 Table 3: A Table of Demographic information of the respondents (N=170) 26

29 Variables Q 114 I seek out activities that make me happy Q 109 I am aware of my emotions as I experienced them Q 104 Other people find it easy to confide me Q 103 I expect that I will do well on most things I try Q 112 When I experience a positive emotions, I know how to make it last Q 102 When I am faced with obstacles, I remember times that I faced similar obstacles and overcame them Q 110 I expect good things to happen Q 106 Some of the major events of my life have led me to re-evaluate what is important and not important Q 107 When my mood changes, I see new possibilities Q 111 I like to share my emotions with others Q 113 I arrange events others enjoy Q 101 I know when to speak about my personal problems to others Negative Emotions Counterproductive Work Behaviours Emotional Intelligence Q 206 Task problems Q 209 Company policies Q 203 Lack of goal achievement Q 212 Workload Q 204 Lack of receiving recognition Q 211 Physical situations Q 208 Lack of Influence or control Q 202 Acts of management Q 201 Acts of colleagues Q 210 External environment Q 207 Making mistakes Q 321 Did something to make co-workers look bad Q 306 Put little effort into your work Q 307 Intentionally worked slower than you could have Q 323 Ignored a co-worker Q 320 Delayed actions on matters that were important to others Q 324 Showed favouritism Q 309 Worked on personal matter instead of working for your employer Q 322 Refused to help a co-worker Q 305 Tried to be looked busy while doing nothing Q 311 Took supplies or tools home without permission Q 318 Withheld needed information from someone at work Q 303 Left work earlier than you were allowed to take Q 304 Took an additional or longer break than you were allowed to take Q 319 Avoided returning a phone call or other communications to someone you should at work Q 317 Insulted or made fun of a co-worker personal life Q 308 Daydreamed rather than you could have worked Q 316 Gossiped about someone at work Q 313 Verbally abused someone at work Q 301 Called in sick when you were not Q 310 Called or ed to family or friends during work time Q 315 Acted rudely toward someone at work Table 4: A Table of Factor Analysis for Emotional Intelligence, Negative Emotions and (N=170) 27

30 Scale Cronbach Alpha Reliability Coefficient Negative emotions Emotional Intelligence.85 Table 5: A Table of the Cronbach Alpha Reliability Coefficient of the Scale (N=170) 28

31 Variables Mean S.D Gender a Age b Marital Status c ** - 4. Number of Children ** Education Level d Tenure in Organization (year) **.40**.34** Tenure in this Position (year) **.30**.30** ** - 8. Monthly Salary **.44**.36** -.22**.52**.27** - 9. Job Level e ** -.37** -.34** ** ** Working Class f Emotional Intelligence (EI) Negative Emotions (CWB) ** -.32**.38** Table 6: A Table of Mean, Standard Deviation and Zero-Order Correlation (N =170) Note: *p<.05; **p<.01 a Male= 1; Female= 2. b 16 to 25 years old= 1; 26 to 35 years old= 2; 36 to 45 years old= 3; 46 to 55 years old= 4; 56 years old or above= 5. c Single= 1; Divorced= 2; Married= 3; Widowed= 4. d Secondary School= 1; Associate s degree= 2; Bachelor s degree= 3; Postgraduate= 4; Doctoral degree= 5; Other= 6. e <10,000= 1; 10,001-20,000= 2; 20,001-30,000= 3; 30,001-40,000= 4; 40,001-50,000= 5; <50,001= 6. f Blue collar= 1; White collar=