Are Civil Servants Involved in Their Work? An Investigation of Emotional Intelligence and Gender

Abstract

The study examined emotional intelligence and gender as predictors of job involvement among civil servants in Anambra State. A total of 267 participants comprising of 140 males and 127 females aged 25-58 years with the mean age of 40.14 years and a standard deviation of 8.05 were used in the study. Two sets of instrument were used for the study: self-rated emotional intelligence questionnaire (SREIS) and job involvement scale (JIS). Two hypotheses were tested in the study, the first hypothesis which stated that emotional intelligence will significantly predict employee job involvement was accepted at r = (0.143) at p < 0.05. The second hypothesis which stated that gender will significantly predict job involvement among civil servants was also accepted at r (-.279) at p < 0.05. This means that males and females differed significantly, hence being a male or female determines how involved a worker will be in his or her job among civil servants in Awka, Anambra State. The study recommends that employers should consider employees who have high emotional intelligence to ensure effectiveness.