Int. j. econ. manag. soc. sci., Vol(3), No (11), November, 2014. pp.

765-769

TI Journals

International Journal of Economy, Management and Social Sciences

www.tijournals.com

ISSN:
2306-7276

Copyright 2014. All rights reserved for TI Journals.

Explaining the Relationship between Emotional Intelligence and

Organizational Citizenship Behavior
Sanjar Salajeghe
Department of Management, Kerman Branch, Islamic Azad University, Kerman, Iran.

Reza Farahmand*
Department of Management, Kerman Branch, Islamic Azad University, Kerman, Iran.
*Corresponding author: f_shab2007@yahoo.com

Keywords

Abstract

Emotional intelligence
Self-awareness
Self-management
Social awareness
Relationship management
Organizational citizenship behavior

The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between the dimensions of emotional intelligence and
organizational citizenship behavior. The study population included 2610 employees aware of the knowledge
management and the sample size was 335 people based on Morgan and Grjsy table. Bradbery and Graves'
Emotional Intelligence Questionnaires (2007) and Podsakoff's OCB (2000) were used to collect data. The
reliability of the questionnaires with Cronbach's alpha for the two variables were 0.87 and 0.84 respectively. To
analyze the data and to check the normality of the data Kolmogorov - Smirnov test and to test the hypothesis
the Pearson correlation test were used. Results of the data analysis indicated that there is a significant
relationship between emotional intelligence and organizational citizenship behavior and self-awareness, selfmanagement, social awareness and relationship management have significant relationship with OCB.

1.

Introduction

Totally transformed condition of organizations, increased competition and the need for efficiency, make it necessary to have valuable generation
of employees more than ever, generation that is called organizational soldiers. Undoubtedly, these employees distinguish effective organizations
from non-effective organizations, because they consider the organization as their home and do more than their official position to achieve its
goals without increasing the reward [20].
The results of recent studies in this field have shown that such features and functionalities in employees require a kind of superior intelligence
than cognitive intelligence. Despite some research in this area, most studies have focused on cognitive aspects of employees' performance and
they consider emotional dimensions impact less [14], based on this requirement, in this study the effects of emotional domains in creating
behavior beyond the role and job.
Studies show that employees need the volunteer spirit of loyalty, altruism and respect to function properly and strengthen it. One of these new
concepts that is developing and is related to the beyond-role behavior is "organizational citizenship behavior" that has attracted researchers and
managers of organizations as an effective agent in the organization [3].
In issues of organization and management, some individual and voluntary behaviors that are not designed directly by the formal reward system
have been called OCB that improve the effectiveness and efficiency of performance. With this definition of man as an organizational citizen, it is
expected s/he acts over and beyond his/her official duties, to serve the purposes of the organization [8].
Incidence of such behaviors in organizations is dependent on the internal and external factors. Identifying internal variables with lower attention
and its more stable effects and as well as to strengthen and using the organizational policy and institutional measures, are very important. One of
the internal variables that can affect such behavior directly and indirectly is "emotional intelligence". Employees with high emotional
intelligence level are more skillful to regulate and manage emotions in themselves and others to positive interactions. So they have higher OCB
and the higher job performance [22].
In this regard, in the present study, the main question is whether this type of behavior, organizational citizenship behavior, is related to
emotional intelligence of employees or not?

2.

Research Literature

2.1 Emotional Intelligence

The concept of emotional intelligence was first used by Papen (1984) in his thesis that has not been published, and a few years later, Salovy and
Meyer made it conceptualized in the scientific communities [5]. This type of intelligence is actually a non cognitive intelligence rooted in the
concept of social intelligence, and it was introduced for the first time by Srndayk (1920).
In Salovey and Mayeer opinion, emotional intelligence is a person ability to review their own and others' feelings and emotions, distinct
emotions and using the emotion data in order to solve the problem and regulate behavior Mayeer, & Salovey (1997). From the perspective of
Daniel Goleman emotional intelligence is defined as the capacity to quote facts, flexibility, ability to solve problems, the ability to cope with
stress and momentum. So Goleman considers emotional intelligence as the ability of motivation, persistence in the face of adversity, in the face
of impulse control, and postponing success, empathy with others and hopes [1]. Lisa Gardner in the definition of emotional intelligence believes
that, emotional intelligence is the persons' ability to identify and express emotions in person and others [1].
2.2 Dimensions of emotional intelligence
I.
Consciousness: The most essential skills related to emotional intelligence is to be aware of their emotions. Consciousness allows
individuals to understand their strengths and limitations, and trust his value [16].
II.
Self- management: the ability to control emotions, excitement, the ability to keep calm in crisis and stress, the ability to express his
internal requests. In other words, self- management is the ability to control emotions, excitement and honest and true behaviors. People

Sanjar Salajeghe, Reza Farahmand *

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International Journal of Economy, Management and Social Sciences Vol(3), No (11), November, 2014.

with self-management skills do not allow moodiness appears during the day and they know the source of a bad mood and how long it
may take [11].
III.
Social Awareness: Diagnosis feelings of others, which Include having empathy at all levels: individual, group or organization [12].
People with this skill to know exactly their words and deeds affect others and they know if its impact is negative, they must change it.
IV.
Relationship Management: The ability to relate to emotional intelligence, including the ability to communicate a clear and compelling
communication, influence, collaboration, teamwork, settle disputes and establish stronger ties between individuals. These skills can be
used to develop passion and conflict resolution.
Self-awareness and self-management skills are related to the individual domains and social awareness and relationship management skills refer
to individuals and communities and consider greatly the ability to maintain correct relations with other [12].
2.3 Models of Emotional Intelligence
Mayeer, & Salovey (1997) according to the table below mentioned aspects and components of their model of emotional intelligence:
Table 1. Models of Mayeer, & Salovey (1997) emotional intelligence abilities
Identifying Emotions
The ability to recognize emotions in person physical and psychological mood
Ability to identify the emotions of others
The ability to properly express the excitement and related needs
Ability of the distinction between correct and incorrect tool or honest and dishonest feelings
Emotional facilitation of thought or using emotions
The ability to give priority to thought based on the feelings attached to objects, events and people
The ability to make or imitate emotions to facilitate judgment and emotive memories
The ability to take advantage of changes in mood, considering different points of view and synchronization changes
The ability to use emotional states to facilitate the process of problem solving and creativity
Understanding Emotions
The ability to understand how different emotions are related
The ability to understand the causes and consequences of emotions
Ability to explain complex emotions, such as mixed excitement or conflicting emotional states
The ability to understand and predict the possible transitions between the excitements
Arrange and manage emotions
Openness to the pleasant and unpleasant feelings
Ability to control and reflect feelings
Ability to consider, continue or separate an excitement
The ability to manage emotions in oneself and others

Goleman's combined model

Competency-based model that is a combined model of emotional intelligence has been offered by Goleman (2001).
Table 2. Daniel Goleman Suggested components for emotional intelligence [21].
Others / social competence
Social awareness
(Empathy, service orientation, knowledge of the organization)
Social Skills
(Managing relationships, developing relationships, influencing
communication, conflict management, leadership, structural boundaries
changes, teamwork and collaboration)

His / her individual competence

self-awareness
(Emotional self-awareness, self-assessment, self-esteem)
Self-management skills
(Self-control, trustworthiness, conscientiousness, adaptability,
achievement, initiative)

Recognition

adjustment

2.4 Organizational citizenship behavior

Bright man describes Organizational citizenship behavior as a continued and voluntary commitment to the goals, methods and ultimately to
success of the organization and the organization based on its staff participation and good deeds has the advantage [6]. Finkelstein and Banner
defined Organizational citizenship behavior as work activities that are surplus to requirements and contribute to the performance of the
organization. They believe the social organizational behavior is like organizational citizenship behavior [10].
Castro et al (2004) expressed key elements that define the Organizational citizenship behavior as follows[7]:
A kind of behavior goes beyond what is formally defined by the organization.
They are types of no specifiable behaviors.
Behavior that is typically not rewarded particularly
It is very important for the effectiveness and success of organizations.
2.5 Organizational citizenship behavior dimensions
Perhaps the most important segmentation for organizational citizenship behavior dimensions is presented by Oregan. He has provided five
dimensions of Organizational citizenship behavior below:
I.
II.

III.

Conscientiousness: Conscientiousness suggests individual behavior in the execution of a job, more than the minimum functional
requirements and acts [15].
Altruism: This refers to useful and productive behaviors, such as intimacy, empathy and compassion among the partners which helps
employees with problems directly or indirectly. Some experts of citizenship behavior, such as Padsakf, consider altruism and
conscientiousness dimensions in a class and name them as assistance behaviors" [9].
Virtue of citizenship: that the individual is aware of the improvements and organizational change. Organizational meetings not only be
present, but actively participating and that the person to provide a better view of the organization on the outside and inside the
organization, represents virtue of his citizenship [2].

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Explaining the Relationship between Emotional Intelligence and Organizational Citizenship Behavior
International Journal of Economy, Management and Social Sciences Vol(3), No (11), November, 2014.

IV.

Magnanimity: emphasizing the positive aspects of an organization rather than the negative aspects of and it is called magnanimity.
That is the tendency to patience in the face of inevitable harassment and extortion of work to be done without complaining [9].
V.
Respect and reverence: This concept represents how people behave with colleagues, supervisors and clients of the organization [18]
and represent doing things that are not necessary in the organization, but doing them is for the benefit of the organization [7].
The results of studying literature suggest that different dimensions of organizational citizenship is expressed that some of them are mentioned in
the table below.
Table 3. Dimensions of organizational citizenship behavior
row
1

2
3
4
5

6
7

3.

Organizational citizenship behavior dimensions

1. Relief behavior, 2.Magnanimity, 3.organizational commitment,
4.organizational compliance, 5.individual initiative, 6.civic virtue, 7.self
improvement
1. Relief behavior, 2.Magnanimity, 3. Individual initiative, 4. Social Etiquette, 5.
Organizational commitment, 6. Self satisfaction, 7.Personal development
1. Magnanimity, 2. Social Etiquette, 3. Consciousness, 4. altruism
1. Effective and active assistance 2. Avoide behaviors that hurt colleagues,
organizations and individuals
1. Persisting with enthusiasm and extra effort, 2. Volunteering to perform work
activities, 3. Assistance and cooperation with others, 4. Follow the rules and
procedures of the organization, 5. Support, supporting and defending
organizational objectives
1. Social Etiquette, 2. Altruism, 3. Consciousness, 4. Personal correspondence,
5. Protect organizational resources
1. Social Etiquette, 2. Altruism, 3. Consciousness, 4. Magnanimity, 5. Etiquette

reference
Podsakoff, p. et al., 2000

presenter
Podsakoff, p. et al., 2000

Castro et al,2004

Podsakoff,2000

Castro et al,2004
Vigoda,2000

Netemeyer,1997
Livia Markoczy,2004

Borman et al,2001

Borman et al,2001

Markoczy,2004

Fareh et al,1997

Markoczy & Xin,2004

Organ,1983

Research hypotheses

The main hypotheses:

There is a significant relationship between emotional intelligence and organizational citizenship behavior.
The sub-hypotheses:
1. There is a significant relationship between self awareness and organizational citizenship behavior.
2. There is a significant relationship between self-management and organizational citizenship behavior.
3. There is a significant relationship between social awareness and organizational citizenship behavior.
4. There is a significant relationship between relations management and organizational citizenship behavior.

4.

Research Methods

Note that in this study, the phenomena are described as they were so Research Method was descriptive and because it studied the relationship
between the variables it is correlation method. The method of data collection has been survey research approach and in a practical perspective, it
is applicable.
The study sample consisted of all employees in the social security agencies in the province of Kerman. 2610 people are currently employed
formally in these departments. The sample size was 335 patients according to Table Grjsy and Morgan.
Bradbry and Graves (2007) Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire was used to collect data, which included 4 dimensions and 28 questions and to
assess Organizational citizenship behavior Padsakf (2000) questionnaire was used which included 5 dimensions and 20 questions. The overall
reliability of the questionnaire based on Cronbach's alpha for the variables of emotional intelligence and Organizational citizenship behavior
were calculated and approved 0.87 and 0.84 respectively.
Test Kolmogorov - Smirnov test was used to study the data to be normal and Pearson correlation test was used to test the research hypotheses.

5.

Data analysis

According to Kolmogorof-Smirnof test, the significance level calculated for emotional intelligence and Organizational citizenship behavior are
0.112 and 0.153 respectively. So the H1 hypothesis of non-normality of the data in both questionnaires was rejected and H 0 hypothesis
containing data normality was confirmed by the KS test. So in this study, parametric tests can be used.
The main hypotheses
There is a significant relationship between emotional intelligence and employees' organizational citizenship behavior.
H0 : There is no significant relationship between emotional intelligence and employees' organizational citizenship behavior.
H1 : There is a significant relationship between emotional intelligence and employees' organizational citizenship behavior.
Table 4. OCB Correlation coefficient and EI
OCB

Pearson correlation coefficient

Significant level.
number

Emotional intelligence
0.502
.000
335

According to Table (4) correlation between emotional intelligence and Organizational citizenship behavior at the level of p <0.05 is equal to r =
0.502. These coefficients are statistically significant. Therefore, taking into account sig = 0.000 the assumption H 0 was rejected and H1 that there
is a relationship between emotional intelligence and organizational citizenship behavior is confirmed.

Sanjar Salajeghe, Reza Farahmand *

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International Journal of Economy, Management and Social Sciences Vol(3), No (11), November, 2014.

The first sub-hypothesis: there is a significant relationship between self-awareness and organizational citizenship behavior.
H0 : There is no significant relationship between self-awareness and organizational citizenship behavior.
H1 : There is a significant relationship between self-awareness and organizational citizenship behavior.
Table 5. OCB Correlation coefficient and self-awareness
OCB

self-awareness
0.234
.000
334

Pearson correlation coefficient

Significance level
Number

According to Table (5) correlation between self-awareness and Organizational citizenship behavior at the level of p <0.05 is equal to r = 0.234.
These coefficients are statistically significant. Therefore, taking into account sig = .000 the assumption H 0 was rejected and H1 that there is a
relationship between self-awareness and organizational citizenship behavior is confirmed.
The second sub-hypothesis: there is a significant relationship between self management and organizational citizenship behavior.
H0 : There is no significant relationship between self management and organizational citizenship behavior.
H1 : There is a significant relationship between self management and organizational citizenship behavior.
Table 6. OCB Correlation coefficient and self-management
OCB

self-management
0.312
.000
334

Pearson correlation coefficient

Significance level
Number

According to Table (6) correlation between self-management and Organizational citizenship behavior at the level of p <0.05 is equal to r =
0.312. These coefficients are statistically significant. Therefore, taking into account sig = .000 the assumption H0 was rejected and H1 that there
is a relationship between self-management and organizational citizenship behavior is confirmed.
The third sub-hypothesis: there is a significant relationship between social awareness and organizational citizenship behavior.
H0 : There is no significant relationship between social awareness and organizational citizenship behavior.
H1 : There is a significant relationship between social awareness and organizational citizenship behavior.
Table 7. OCB Correlation coefficient and Social Awareness
OCB

Social Awareness
0.407
.000
334

Pearson correlation coefficient

Significance level
Number

According to Table (7) correlation between social awareness and Organizational citizenship behavior at the level of p <0.05 is equal to r = 0.407.
These coefficients are statistically significant. Therefore, taking into account sig = .000 the assumption H 0 was rejected and H1 that there is a
relationship between social awareness and organizational citizenship behavior is confirmed.
The forth sub-hypothesis: there is a significant relationship between relation management and organizational citizenship behavior.
H0 : There is no significant relationship between relation management and organizational citizenship behavior.
H1 : There is a significant relationship between relation management and organizational citizenship behavior.
Table 8. OCB Correlation coefficient relationship management
OCB

Pearson correlation coefficient

Significance level
Number

relationship management
0.511
.000
334

According to Table (8) correlation between relationship management and Organizational citizenship behavior at the level of p <0.05 is equal to r
= 0.511. These coefficients are statistically significant. Therefore, taking into account sig = .000 the assumption H 0 was rejected and H1 that
there is a relationship between relationship management and organizational citizenship behavior is confirmed.

6.

Research results

The main hypothesis

According to Table (4) and by observing correlation coefficient of 0.502 and significance level less than 0.05 it can be concluded that according
to the main hypothesis of this study there is a significant relationship between emotional intelligence and organizational citizenship behavior.
This means that by increasing social-emotional employees' personal capabilities, beyond-role behaviors of employees also increased.
The first sub-hypothesis
According to Table (5) and by observing correlation coefficient of 0.234 and significance level less than 0.05 it can be concluded that according
to the first sub- hypothesis of this study there is a significant relationship between self awareness and organizational citizenship behavior.

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Explaining the Relationship between Emotional Intelligence and Organizational Citizenship Behavior
International Journal of Economy, Management and Social Sciences Vol(3), No (11), November, 2014.

Because staff that are aware have ability to identify their strengths and weaknesses as well as the ability to identify their own feelings This has
led to the development of appropriate communication techniques with others, control their behavior and ultimately increase the OCB.
The second sub-hypothesis
According to Table (6) and by observing correlation coefficient of 0.312 and significance level less than 0.05 it can be concluded that according
to the second sub-hypothesis of this study there is a significant relationship between self management and organizational citizenship behavior. It
is because people with self-management capabilities can harness their emotions and show their loyalty to colleagues and accept responsibility for
their personal performance.
The third sub-hypothesis
According to Table (7) and by observing correlation coefficient of 0.407 and significance level less than 0.05 it can be concluded that according
to the third sub- hypothesis of this study there is a significant relationship between social awareness and organizational citizenship behavior.
Because employees with high social awareness can understand views of their colleagues and therefore in the spirit of communion and serving is
higher in them.
The forth sub-hypothesis
According to Table (7) and by observing correlation coefficient of 0.511 and significance level less than 0.05 it can be concluded that according
to the forth sub- hypothesis of this study there is a significant relationship between relationship management and organizational citizenship
behavior. Because employees who are high in emotional intelligence have the ability to conduct their contributors and can motivate them to
remove disagreement between the parties, and they have ability to teamwork and increase collaboration in the organization.

7.

Suggestions

1- According to the confirmation of the main hypothesis that there is a relationship between emotional intelligence and organizational citizenship
behavior, it is suggested that in the early stages of the recruitment and selection of people they should select people with the mentioned abilities
and dimensions of emotional intelligence. After selecting the right people these dimensions can be institutionalized in them and it can be
expected to enhance organizational citizenship behavior.
2. In order to strengthen the dimensions of emotional intelligence in organization it is recommended to reward and encourage this behavior by
rewarding system appropriately.
3. Due to the confirming impact of the relation management on beyond-role staff behaviors it is recommended to pay more attention to the
establishment of formal and informal groups in an organization and remove obstacles in order to strengthen relationships with our employees.
4. Now most of in-service training of staff are specialized tasks therefore it is recommended that the emotional and behavioral training to be
trained to the staff.

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[16]
[17]
[18]
[19]
[20]
[21]
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