The Mediating Effect of Emotional Intelligence on the Relationship between Emotional Labor and Psychological Well-being of Clinical Nurses

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to determine the mediator or moderator effect of clinical nurses' emotional intelligence on the relationship between the emotional labor and psychological well-being. Methods: Data was collected from 240 nurses in tertiary hospitals located in B city using structured questionnaires. Data was analyzed with descriptive statistics, Pearson's correlation coefficient and hierarchical multiple regression using the SPSS program. Results: Clinical nurses' emotional intelligence had a significant correlation with emotional labor (r=-.13, p=.039) and psychological well-being (r=.52, p<.001). Also, clinical nurses' emotional intelligence showed mediating effects between the emotional labor and psychological well-being. However, emotional intelligence did not show moderating effects. Conclusion: The results of this study show that the clinical nurses' emotional intelligence has an important influence on nurses' emotional labor and psychological well-being. This finding points to the importance of emotional intelligence to increase psychological well-being and suggests that the hospital should develop education and training programs to enhance nurses' emotional intelligence and promote clinical nurses' psychological well-being.