Job Stress and Job Performance Among Employees in Public Sector in Istanbul: Examining the Moderating Role of Emotional Intelligence

Abstract

This study was conducted among 424 public sector employees to examine the relationship between job stress and job performance considering emotional intelligence as a moderating variable. It was also intended to be a replication of a previous study on job stress and job performance which was conducted in the Taiwanese Finance industry. The result pattern across both samples was similar. While a negative relationship was found between job stress and job performance, it was reported that emotional intelligence had a positive impact on job performance and moderated this relationship.

Full text

Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 75 ( 2013 ) 518 – 524
1877-0428 © 2013 Published by Elsevier Ltd.
Selection and peer-review under responsibility of The Second International Conference on Leadership, Technology and Innovation
Management
doi: 10.1016/j.sbspro.2013.04.056
2nd International Conference on Leadership, Technology and Innovation Management
Job stress and job performance among employees in public sector in
Istanbul: examining the moderating role of emotional intelligence
a, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Serra Yurtkorub, c
a,b,cMarmaraUniversity, Istanbul, 34180, Turkey
Abstract
This study was conducted among 424 public sector employees to examine the relationship between job stress and job performance
considering emotional intelligence as a moderating variable. It was also intended to be a replication of a previous study on job
stress and job performance which was conducted in the Taiwanese Finance industry. The result pattern across both samples was
similar. While a negative relationship was found between job stress and job performance, it was reported that emotional intelligence
had a positive impact on job performance and moderated this relationship.
Keywords: Job stress, Job performance, Emotional Intelligence
2012 Published by Elsevier Ltd. Selection and/or peer-review under responsibility of 2nd International Conference
on Leadership, Technology and Innovation Management
1. Introduction
Job stress is one of the common problems that employees confront with increasing frequency. Recently job stress is
becoming an epidemic in the work environment. Therefore a large number of researches have focused on job stress
and its effects on the various aspects of the organizational output. Due to the fact that job stress has become a common
negative growing number of people complain about stress as a result of work
overload, job insecurity and increasing pace of life. Beehr and Newman (1978) declare that job stress is generally
rs to a situation wherein job-related factors interact with a worker to change (i.e.,
disrupt or enhance) his or her psychological and/or physiological condition such that the person (i.e., mind-body) is
Researches support the idea that the higher the imbalance between
will be (Jamal, 2005).
Job performance, which can be affected by job stress as well as other numerous factors, can be viewed as an
activity in which an individual is able to accomplish successfully the task assigned to him or her, subject to the normal
constraints of the reasonable utilization of available resources (Jamal, 1984). In order to be competitive in a rapidly
changing economic and work environment, increasing the job performance of the employees and consequently the
performance of the companies has become more crucial. Therefore it is necessary for the companies to analyze the
issues that are related with job performance. In recent researches, it has been found out that there are four types of
relationship between the measures of job stress and job performance: a negative linear relationship, a positive linear
Corresponding author. Tel. + 90-212-507-9925 fax. +90-212-505-9332
E-mail address: uguryozgat@marmara.edu.tr
Available online at www.sciencedirect.com
© 2013 Published by Elsevier Ltd.
Selection and peer-review under responsibility of The Second International Conference on Leadership, Technology
and Innovation Management

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U ğur Yozgat et al. / Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 75 ( 2013 ) 518 – 524
relationship, a curvilinear/U-shaped relationship, and no relationship between the two at the conceptual level (Jamal,
1984). The findings obtained from the previous researches regarding this relationship are considered as inconsistent. In
order to clarify the theoretical issues related to stress and performance relationship, this study aims to find out the
possible existence of a moderator such as emotional intelligence.
2. Literature Review and Hypotheses
2.1. Job Stress
Sager (1991) defined job stress as a psychological state perceived by individuals when faced with demands,
constraints, and opportunities that have important but uncertain outcomes. Job stress is very much an individual
reaction, and differs from general stress as it is also organization, and job related (Chen & Silverthorne, 2008) Based
on these definitions job stress can produce adverse consequences for both the individual and the company since it has
the effect of lowering motivation levels and performance, and increases turnover intentions (Montgomery, Blodgett &
Barnes, 1996). With the below stared hypothesis this study will be examining the relationship between job stress and
job performance.
H1: There is a negative relationship between job stress and job performance in public sector.
2.2. Job Performance
Murphy and Kroker (1988) defines job performanc
tasks that comprise standard job descriptions, and declares that it is also affected by variables such as maintaining
good interpersonal relations, absenteeism, and withdrawal behaviors, substance abuse and other behaviors that
increase hazards at the workplace (Murphy, 1989). Befort and Hattrup (2003) indicate that the essence of job
performance relies on the demands of the job, the goals and the mission of the organization and the beliefs of the
organization about which behavior are mostly valued. Carmeli (2003) emphasized that employees with a high level of
intelligence can manage their emotions in terms of retaining a positive mental state which can lead to improved job
performance. Based on these we researches would like to propose the following hypothesis
H2: There is a positive relationship between emotional intelligence and job performance in public sector.
2.3. Emotional Intelligence
Mayer and Salovey view emotional intelligence (EI) as ability, that is, a set of skills for processing emotion-
relevant information. This model is the only one for which an objective, ability measure has been developed (Mayer,
Salovey, & Caruso, 2004; Mayer, Salovey, Caruso, & Sitarenios, 2003). Other models assess self-perceived EI.
Research on the relation between objective EI and stress as feelings of control is scarce (Ciarrochi, Dean, & Anderson,
2002). Here we would like to propose the following hypothesis:
H3: Emotional intelligence moderates the relationship between job stress and job performance.
3. Method
like his study we
used the same model and hypothesizes intended to find out the relationship between job stress and job performance
and the moderating role of emotional intelligence on this relationship. Different from the original study we have
chosen a branch of the public sector in Istanbul for conducting our study. Employees in the public sector have tasks
with deadlines and high stress owing to time pressure.

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3.1. Sampling Design
A branch of the public sector in Istanbul was chosen for conducting this study. Among its 9460 employees, 500
questionnaires were distributed to several departments and 424 were returned. Out of the 424 responses that were
obtained, 35 were found to be unusable due to either incomplete questionnaires or having sections with non-response
items. The sample consists of 184 female and 205 male employees with a mean age of 38.12 (Standard Deviation:
8.49) and with an average tenure of 11.96 years (Standard Deviation: 9.88) in the current position or sector. The
sample included both managers and non-managers.
3.2. Measures
A multi-
Job Stress: Job Stress is measured using the questionnaire developed by Parker and DeCotiis (1983). Participants
are asked to rate each of the 13 items using a 5-point Likert scale so that they can select a numerical score ranging
from 1 to 5 for each statement to indicate the degree of agreement or otherwise, where 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 denote
respectively.
Emotional Intelligence: Emotional Intelligence is measured by the widely used The Self-Report Emotional
Intelligence Test (SREIT) developed by Schutte et al. (1998) Participants are asked to rate each of the 33 items using a
5-point Likert scale (1=strongly disagree, 5= strongly agree) Although the original scale of Schutte has one factor, in
different studies three and sometimes four aspects of the scale were explored (Schutte et al. 2009) like emotion
perception, utilizing emotions, managing self- In this study original
one factor model is used.
Job Performance: Job performance is measured by the scale developed by Dubinsky and Mattson (1979), and was
modified by Singh, Verbeke and Rhoads (1996). Participants were asked to rate each of the 6 items using a 5-point
Likert scale (1=poor performance, 5= excellent performance).
Control Variable: Job tenure which is measured by the number of years an employee has worked for his/her
company, is controlled due to its positive effects on job performance in many studies. The findings of our study have
also shown that job tenure may impact job performance. Just like the study of Wu, we have explained this for the
positive impact of job tenure within an organization on job performance, because employees learn and enhance their
skills as they gain experience.
4. Findings
As can be seen from the Cronbach Alpha values reported in Table.1, variables of our study are found to be reliable.
Bivariate correlations between the variables involved in this research are reported in Table.1, job stress has a
significant negative correlation with job performance (r = -0.122, p < 0.05), while the EI has a significant positive
correlation (r = 0.446, p < 0.001).
Table 1. Means, standard deviations, alpha coefficients, and correlations among study variables
Variables
M
SD
1
2
3
Job Performance
3.83
.71
(.87)
Job Stress
2.61
.87
-.122*
(.88)
Emotional Intelligence
3.67
.63
.446***
0.090
(.92)
Note: Values on the diagonal represent alpha coefficients.
* p <0.05, ** p <0.01, *** p <0.001 (two-tailed tests); N=389.
In order to test the first two hypothesizes the hierarchical regression analysis is conducted. The control variable job
tenure was added in Model 1. As shown in Table.2 two variables regressed job performance linearly. Job stress has
low, negative significant effect on job performance and EI has moderate positive effect supporting the Hypothesis 1
and 2.

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U ğur Yozgat et al. / Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 75 ( 2013 ) 518 – 524
The interaction term was created by multiplying the two main effects and added in Model 2 to test the moderating
effect (Hypothesis 3) (Aiken and West, 1991). The results of Model 2 show a significant change in R-squared
of Wu.
Table 2. Hierarchical regression results
Variables
Job Performance
Model 1
Model 2
Control variable
Job tenure
118***
0.132**
Main effect variables
Job stress (JS)
-0.170**
-0.629**
Emotional Intelligence (EI)
0.459***
0.248*
Interaction variables
JS*EI
0.532*
R2
0.240
0.250
0.240***
0.010***
Notes: *p<0.05, ** p <0.01, *** p <0.001
Figure 1. Moderating effect of emotional intelligence on job stress job performance relation
The moderating effect of emotional intelligence on the relationship between job stress and job performance is
depicted in Figure.1. As can be seen from the figure low stressed employees has higher job performance levels
compared to high job stressed employees whether they have high or low EI (latter having higher performance values).
However employees with high EI shows higher performance levels in high job stressed conditions.
5. Conclusion
Just like the study of Wu, in our study we also have established that job stress was negatively related to job
performance. Our results support an impact of emotional intelligence on job performance but it is not as strong as the
one in the original study. A plausible reason for that finding may be that we have limited our study only on the people
employed in the public sector and bureaucracy is hard to be considered with emotions.

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The reason we have surveyed this branch of the public sector as our archetype is because the employees have to
meet the citizens who are accepted to be their customers from time to time and have a lot of stress due to the strict
deadlines to complete their tasks and the bad habit of the Turkish people to do things on the very last day. Their work
environment is much formalized and structured and the branch is very production oriented. Having a hierarchical
organizational culture and being governed by the bureaucratic procedures are other contributing factors for their stress.
As a result of the global financial crisis in the world where t
profit making organizations, but also the countries that compete with each other. Job stress is a major problem both for
the employees and for the organizations. In order to increase organizational efficiency and organizational effectiveness
in the governmental organizations, it is suggested to help the employees to cope with their stress which is an
uncomfortable and undesirable to the individual. To make a governmental budget plan for the coaching and training of
the employees on stress management can be regarded as a necessary action to help them reduce the stressors without
delay or help them be successful in coping with them so that they can reach their full potentials.
Considering the positive impact of job tenure on job performance it is suggested that the government should not
make policies on early retirement of the old employees, but support them to work for longer. In evaluation of the
employees senior ones should have an advantage to the junior ones regarding their higher job performance or the
government can create important incentives on job tenure in order to increase their intent to remain in the organization.
6. Limitation and Future Research
This study was limited and only focused on the role of the job stress among employees of a branch in the public
sector in Istanbul. Further research is suggested to collect data over a wider range like the employees of the same
branch of the public sector overall in Turkey or all branches of the public sector in general or the employees of the
private sector to make sure if the findings of this study can be generalized. A further research can also be conducted on
the effect of organizational support, which is found to be effective on job performance in many researches.
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APPENDIX - Questionnaire
Job Stress
Working here makes it hard to spend enough time my
family.
I spend so much time at work;
the trees.
Working here leaves little time for other activities.
I frequently get the feeling I am married to the company.
I have too much work and too little time to do it in.
I sometimes dread the telephone ringing at home because
the call might be job-related (d).
I feel like I never have a day off (d).
Too many people at my level in the company get burned
out by job demands.
I have felt fidgety or nervous as a result of my job.
My job gets me more than it should.
There are lots of times when my job drives me right up
the wall.
Sometimes when I think about my job I get a tight feeling
in my chest.
I feel guilty when I take time off from job.
Emotional Intelligence
I know when to speak about my personal problems to
others.(d.)
When I am faced with obstacles, I remember times I
faced similar obstacles and overcame them.
I expect that I will do well on must things I try.
Other people find it easy to confide in me.
I find it hard to understand the non-verbal messages of
other people. (r,d)
Some of the major events of my life have led me to re-
evaluate what is important and not important.
When my mood changes, I see new possibilities.
Emotions are one of the things that make my life worth
living.
I am aware of my emotions as I experience them.
I expect good thing to happen.
I like to share my emotions with others.
When I experience a positive emotion, I know how to
make it last.
I arrange events others enjoy.
I seek out activities that make me happy.
I am aware of non-verbal messages I send to others.
I present myself in a way that makes a good impression
on others.
When I am in a positive mood, solving problems is easy
for me.
By looking at their facial expressions, I recognize the
emotions people are experiencing.
I know why my emotions change.
When I am in a positive mood, I am able to come up with
new ideas.
I have control over my emotions.(d)
I easily recognize my emotions as I experience them.
I motivate myself by imaging a good outcome to tasks I
take on.
I compliment others when they have done somethin
g
well.
I am aware of non-verbal messages other people send.
When another person tells me about an importance even
t
in his or her life, I almost feel as though I have
experienced this event myself.
When I feel a change in emotions, I tend to come up with
new ideas.(d)
When I am faced with a challenge, I give up because I
believe I will fail. (r,d)
I know what other people are feeling just by looking a
t
them.
I help other people feel better when they are down.
I use good moods to help myself keep trying in the
faceoff obstacles. (d)
I can tell how people are feeling by listening to the tone
of their voice.
It is difficult for me to understand why people feel the
way they do. (r)
Job Performance
How would you rate yourself in terms of the quantity o
f
work (e.g., sales) you achieve?
How do you rate yourself in terms of your ability to reach
your goals?
How do you rate yourself in terms of your performance
potential among coworkers in your company?
How do you rate yourself in terms of quality of you
r
performance in regard to customer relations?
How do you rate yourself in terms of quality of you
r
performance in regard to management of time, plannin
g
ability, and management of expenses?
How do you rate yourself in terms of quality of you
r
performance in regard to knowledge of your products,
company, competitors' products, and customer needs?
(r): Reverse
(d): Deleted due to the low factor loading