Psychology Research and Behavior Management (Nov 2021)
Work–Family Conflict, Emotional Intelligence, and General Self-Efficacy Among Medical Practitioners During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Abstract
Sadaf Zeb,1 Ahsan Akbar,2,3 Azeem Gul,4 Syed Arslan Haider,5 Petra Poulova,3 Fakhra Yasmin6 1Department of Professional Psychology, Bahria University, Islamabad, Pakistan; 2International Business School, Guangzhou City University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510080, People’s Republic of China; 3Department of Informatics and Quantitative Methods, Faculty of Informatics and Management, University of Hradec Kralove, Hradec Kralove, 500 03, Czech Republic; 4Department of International Relations, National University of Modern Languages, Islamabad, 45320, Pakistan; 5Department of Management, Sunway University, Selangor Darul Ehsan, 47500, Malaysia; 6School of Education, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510631, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Ahsan Akbar; Fakhra Yasmin Tel +86 13802400964Email [email protected]; [email protected]: In Pakistan, medical professionals face multiple challenges comprising long, fixed working hours and workload overburdening, which leads to emotional fatigue. These conflicts in work–life scenarios, brought about by high work demands causing emotional exhaustion, can create a state of distress among the medical professionals. The present study investigates the association between work–family conflict (WFC), emotional intelligence (EI), and self-efficacy (SE) among medical practitioners during COVID-19 in Pakistan.Patients and Methods: The study sample included 140 medical professionals from Rawalpindi and Islamabad. Cross-section correlational research design was used, and information was gathered employing online surveys through a purposive sampling technique. The scales utilized were the WFC, EI, and SE Scale.Results: The current study hypothesized a significant relationship between work–family conflict, general self-efficacy (GSE) and emotional intelligence among medical practitioners during COVID-19 in Pakistan. The results showed that those with more family-to-work conflict had less EI and GSE. Furthermore, findings uncovered that there is a significant positive relationship between EI and GSE.Conclusion: The findings propose that it is important for medical professionals to have a high level of EI and GSE to navigate through the WFC more healthily. In future, awareness seminars could be arranged related to EI and its significance to stimulate the psychological well-being of medical professionals. Future studies could also consider other healthcare workers, including nurses and internees doing house jobs and other medical staff, as they are also exposed to several stresses due to the workload and family demands.Keywords: emotional fatigue, purposive sampling, medical professionals, work–life balance
