Title

Investigating the efficacy of mind-body therapies and emotional intelligence on worker stress in an organizational setting: An experimental approach

Abstract

Research has determined that organizational stress is negatively related to job satisfaction, organizational commitment, turnover, and productivity. Knowing organizations function appreciably better in environments where stress levels are well-managed, two alternative means of moderating stress were investigated, mindfulness-based stress reduction therapy (MBST) and emotional intelligence (EI). A MBST controlled trial study was conducted with 55 workers employed in a large health-care organization in the Midwest. The findings revealed no significant change on the subject's baseline levels of perceived stress after completion of the 5-week, mind-body therapy program. However, the results did show a significant relationship between measures of EI and levels of perceived stress with higher levels of emotional intelligence significantly related to lower levels of stress. The findings indicate that managers desirous of reducing the stress levels of their employees may be well-advised to include emotional intelligence assessment in their recruitment practices as well as employ efforts to enhance the emotional intelligence levels of their employees.

Department(s)

Marketing

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1-1-2015

Journal Title

Journal of Organizational Culture, Communications and Conflict

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