Bibliometric analysis reveals a strong link between trait emotional intelligence and employee engagement in Gulf countries, suggesting implications for leadership strategies.
Employee engagement is a crucial factor in organizational success, as it significantly impacts productivity, job satisfaction, and overall performance. This bibliometric study examines the relationship between trait emotional intelligence (TEI) and employee engagement within the Gulf countries from 2015 to 2025. Using data extracted from the Scopus database, which consists of 530 documents. The study maps research trends, identifies influential authors and journals, and highlights key thematic clusters. Findings indicate a growing scholarly interest in the impact of trait EI on workplace performance, with significant contributions from leadership and psychological empowerment research. The analysis reveals that facets of trait EI, such as happiness, self-motivation, and emotion regulation, are strong predictors of employee engagement. Moreover, well-being exhibits a positive relationship with engagement, whereas emotionality demonstrates a negative correlation. Leadership emerges as a critical factor, as emotionally intelligent leaders enhance engagement through improved motivation and communication. This study provides valuable insights for organizations in the Gulf countries to develop EI-based interventions for workforce optimization. Future research should investigate sector-specific applications and the impact of digital transformation on trait Emotional Intelligence (EI) and employee engagement. While Scopus offers broad coverage, the reliance on a single database may omit relevant regional insights. Future studies are encouraged to use additional databases such as Web of Science or Google Scholar for triangulation.
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Alshehhia et al. (2025) studied this question.