Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2019 Nov 29;16(23):4809.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph16234809.

The Contribution of Emotional Intelligence to Career Success: Beyond Personality Traits

Itziar Urquijo  1 , Natalio Extremera  2 , Garazi Azanza  3
Affiliations

The Contribution of Emotional Intelligence to Career Success: Beyond Personality Traits

Itziar Urquijo et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

This study sought to investigate the role of emotional intelligence in both extrinsic and intrinsic career success in early and later career stages. Specifically, we examined the predictive and incremental validity of emotional intelligence in career success after controlling for personality factors in a sample of 271 graduates. When analyzing extrinsic career success, regression analyses revealed that demographic variables, such as gender, age, area of study and career stage, and the variable of proactive personality, were related to salary. When the dependent variable was job satisfaction, emotional intelligence acted as a strong predictor, even when personality traits and proactive personality were controlled. These findings provide preliminary evidence that emotional intelligence is a relevant addition to guide the achievement of career success. Finally, limitations of the results and implications of these findings are discussed.

Keywords: big five personality traits; career success; early and later career; emotional intelligence; proactive personality; sociodemographic factors.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

References

    1. Sirgy M.J., Lee D.-J. Work-life balance: An integrative review. Appl. Res. Qual. Life. 2018;13:229–254. doi: 10.1007/s11482-017-9509-8. - DOI
    1. Parkes L.P., Langford P.H. Work–life bal ance or work–life alignment? A test of the importance of work-life balance for employee engagement and intention to stay in organisations. J. Manag. Organ. 2008;14:267–284. doi: 10.1017/S1833367200003278. - DOI
    1. Abdel-Aziz A.A., Abdel-Salam H., El-Sayad Z. The role of ICTs in creating the new social public place of the digital era. Alex. Eng. J. 2016;55:487–493. doi: 10.1016/j.aej.2015.12.019. - DOI
    1. EUROSTAT Quality of Life. [(accessed on 15 March 2019)]; Available online: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/cache/infographs/qol/index_en.html.
    1. Cha J., Kim S.J., Beck J., Knutson B.J. Predictors of career success among lodging revenue managers: Investigating roles of proactive work behaviors. Int. J. Hosp. Tour. Adm. 2017;18:474–490. doi: 10.1080/15256480.2017.1305307. - DOI

LinkOut - more resources