Emotional Intelligence, Flourishing and Satisfaction with Life among Government Employees in South Africa

Abstract

Employees’ subjective well-being should be a significant concern for organisations and must be prioritised to ascertain organisational efficiency. As such, emotional intelligence, flourishing and satisfaction with life within South African government organisations play a vital role in ensuring that employees perform efficaciously. This study examined the relationship between emotional intelligence, flourishing, and satisfaction with life among government employees in the Sedibeng region of South Africa. The sample comprised male and female employees between the ages of 18 and 64 years. The study employed a quantitative research approach and a structured questionnaire comprising the Wong and Law Emotional Intelligence Scale, the Flourishing Scale and the Satisfaction with Life Scale was distributed. The results revealed that the three dimensions of emotional intelligence —regulation of emotion, self-emotion appraisal and use of emotion— positively predicted flourishing and satisfaction with life. Predictive relationships were also found between flourishing and satisfaction with life. Recommendations and limitations are discussed.