INFLUENCE OF POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGICAL CAPACITIES ON EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE AND SUBJECTIVE WELL-BEING OF NURSES IN HEALTHCARE SECTOR.

Abstract

The aim of this research is to address the insufficient empirical investigation of positive psychological variables among the nurses in the healthcare sector in India. Here we explore positive psychological capacities proposed by Luthan and team (2007),comprising of self-efficacy, hope, optimism and resilience their influence on emotional intelligence; a concept of empirical interest among the nursing population (Freshwater & Stickley 2004) and subjective well-being. Gill (2011) has mentioned that the health worker determines the quality and nature of services offered in any healthcare system. Adhering to the conceptual framework of positive psychology, psychological capital, conservation of resource and broaden-and-build theory, this study is an exploration of (a) the positive psychological capacities, (b) its influence on emotional intelligence, and (c) subjective well-being of nurses (n=302) across government, private and trust hospitals in Bangalore. The hospitals were chosen based on stratified sampling with the nursing respondents identified through random sampling and judgemental sampling. A pilot study was carried out (n=100) to validate the standardized scales used for measuring the variables. An explanatory sequential mixed method design was proposed through which the quantitative analysis using a detailed descriptive statistics and regression analysis suggested that efficacy, hope, optimism and resilience influenced emotional intelligence. While resilience and optimism influenced subjective well-being of nurses there was no influence of emotional intelligence, self-efficacy and hope. A qualitative follow-up interview was executed (n=15) to understand the reason for no influence. The findings substantiated that most of the nurses viewed themselves as happy individuals despite their work-related dissatisfactions as almost all saw their profession as service to mankind. The implications of these findings are traced along with the suggestions for future research.