Gender, EI and Organizational Commitment: Does EI Mean Loyal Employees?

Abstract- The purpose of this study was to analyze the role of gender on employees ’ emotional intelligence and the relationship between the levels of emotional intelligence (EI) and the degree of organizational commitment (OC). The recruitment and selection of employees is both a time consuming and expensive process. Knowing the characteristics that are most relevant to test in order to select employees who are likely to have high organizational commitment may reduce turnover as well as the expense of ongoing recruitment. Data collected was based on a sample of 105 currently employed adults residing in the United States, out of which 74 were females and 31 males. Of these participants, the average age for women was of 34.82 and 37.73 for men, while the predominant ethnic backgrounds in the sample was Hispanic and White/Caucasian. Participants were selected using convenient sample and data was collected using two alternative means, a paper and pencil copy of the survey and an online copy of the survey. According to the data collected for the following study, no significant difference was found between males and females ’ levels of EI. The average level of EI for females was of 161.32 while the average level of EI for males was of 158.61. However, data did support the second hypothesis of a positive correlation between emotional intelligence and organizational commitment (r = 0.50, df=103, alpha level=0.05, one-tailed test, rcritical=0.164)