Date of Conferral

2016

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Management

Advisor

Janice Spengenburg

Abstract

Managers in direct contact with employees in operational and organizational settings have a profound effect on employee satisfaction and performance. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) indicated distinctly different levels of occupational stress between blue- and white-collar workers. A quasi-experimental design tested if the levels of emotional intelligence and transformational leadership style of managers had different effects on employee job satisfaction between blue- and white-collar workers. The theories of emotional intelligence, transformational leadership, and employee job satisfaction grounded the framework of the study. Data was collected using the Multifactor Factor Leadership (MLQ) questionnaire, the Job Satisfaction Survey (JSS), and the Emotional Judgement Inventory (EJI) from 35 managers and 120 workers from a single organization located in the State of Texas. Chi-square tests measured the association between the independent variables of blue- and white-collar workers' job satisfaction and the independent variables of the level of managers' emotional intelligence and their transformational leadership style. Data from the EJI and JSS revealed that the managers' level of emotional intelligence had a moderate influence on the blue- and white-collar employees' job satisfaction. Findings also indicated no associations between managerial leaders' transformational leadership style measured by the MLQ and job satisfaction of blue- and white-collar employees measured by the JSS. These findings may indicate that managers should focus on emotional intelligence to improve the level of job satisfaction among blue- and white-collar employees.

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