Emotional intelligence as mediator between burnout and organisational outcomes

Burnout is a syndrome caused by prolonged responses to chronic stressors derived from interpersonal relationships in the workplace. Burnout has been associated with important negative organisational outcomes: job dissatisfaction, absenteeism, neglect, intention to leave the job. Numerous studies have tested the inverse relationship between emotional intelligence and burnout. The aim of this study is to verify the mediation role of emotional intelligence in the relationship between burnout and some organisational outcomes (turnover intention, exit and neglect, performance and absenteeism). Research participants are 354 helping professions' workers aged between 29 and 66 years. The scales used are: link burnout questionnaire; self report emotional intelligence test; turnover intentions scale; exit and neglect scales; performance scale; absenteeism was detected through the number of days of absence in the last 12 months. The results have highlighted that emotional intelligence mediates the relationship between burnout and organisational outcomes, providing interesting suggestions for intervention in organisations.