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Decision-making in highly stressful emergencies: The interactive effects of trait emotional intelligence

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Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine whether, how, and when trait emotional intelligence (EI) influences the relationships between operational stress and decision-making styles for personnel working in highly stressful professions. Data for this study were collected via a cross-sectional and voluntary survey from a sample of 268 professionals (doctors = 60, paramedics = 99, police = 50 and personnel from paramilitary troops = 59) who frequently encounter emergencies as a part of their jobs. Hierarchical regression analysis and PROCESS macro for SPSS was used to test hypotheses. Results indicated that EI significantly moderated the relationships between: i) operational stress and rational decision-making, and ii) operational stress and intuitive decision-making such that the relationship of operational stress with rational and intuitive decision styles was significantly positive when EI was high and significantly negative when EI was low. EI also moderated the relationships between: i) operational stress and dependent style and ii) operational stress and avoidant style such that these relationships were positive when EI was low, and negative when EI was high. Along with its theoretical contributions, this study offers several implications for practice that are discussed at the end.

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  1. School of Economy and Management, Harbin Institute of Technology, Yi Kuang Street, Science Park Campus, 2H Building, Lab 322, Harbin, 150001, China

    Syeda Maryam Dilawar

  2. Department of Commerce, University of Balochistan, Saryab Road, Quetta, Pakistan

    Dilawar Khan Durrani

  3. School of Economy and Management, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, China

    Dilawar Khan Durrani

  4. School of Economy and Management, Harbin Institute of Technology, Main Campus, 92 West Da-Zhi Street, School of Management Building, Room G603, Harbin, 150001, China

    Li Xiangyang

  5. School of Economy and Management, Harbin Institute of Technology, Main Campus, 92 West Da-Zhi Street, School of Management Building, Lab 601, Harbin, 150001, China

    Muhammad Adeel Anjum

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  1. Syeda Maryam Dilawar
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Dilawar, S.M., Durrani, D.K., Li, X. et al. Decision-making in highly stressful emergencies: The interactive effects of trait emotional intelligence. Curr Psychol 40, 2988–3005 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-019-00231-y

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