Social intelligence at work and its implication for organizational identification:

Abstract

Since organizational identification is an important phenomenon for efficiency and productivity of the organization, its relationship with many variables has been examined. However, there is no study in the literature examining the relationship between organizational identification and social intelligence. Grounded in the Strong Ties Approach the object of study is to explore the relationship between social intelligence and organizational identification. Besides, the study aimed to determine whether the level of social intelligence and organizational identification vary or not according to the sector type. The study was designed with a quantitative research pattern and correlational research design. The sample is consisting of 306 public and private sector employees. The survey technique with a convenience sampling method was used to collect the data. The obtained data were investigated through statistical analysis software. Social intelligence has been studied both as a whole and with its dimensions named as social information processing, social skills, and social awareness. According to the regression analysis results; social intelligence as a whole and social skills have a significant and positive contribution to predicting organizational identification. However, the effect of social information processing and social awareness on organizational identification is not significant. Moreover, independent samples t-test suggests that the social intelligence and social skills levels of private-sector employees are higher than the same factor levels of the public sector. However, the level of employees' social information processing, social awareness, and organizational identification does not differ according to the sector type. The research also offers several theoretical and practical implications.