MEDIATION EFFECT OF EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CONSCIOUSNESS AND JOB SATISFACTION AMONG ACADEMIC STAFF OF MALAYSIAN UNIVERSITIES

1332 | P a g e A p r i l 2 9 , 2 0 1 5 MEDIATION EFFECT OF EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CONSCIOUSNESS AND JOB SATISFACTION AMONG ACADEMIC STAFF OF MALAYSIAN UNIVERSITIES Aida Mehrad, Hanina Halimatussadiah Binti Hamsan, Ma’rof Bin Redzuan, Haslinda Abdullah Faculty of Human Ecology, University Putra Malaysia (UPM) E-mail:aida_238@yahoo.com Faculty of Human Ecology, University Putra Malaysia (UPM) hanina3282@gmail.com Faculty of Human Ecology, University Putra Malaysia (UPM) marof@putra.upm.edu.my Faculty of Human Ecology, University Putra Malaysia (UPM) lynn@upm.edu.my ABSTRACT Consciousness as one of the main factor of personality influences on job satisfaction of academic staff and both of these factors assumed as important factors in university. Indeed, level of job satisfaction depends on personality characteristic of academic staff at work. The centralpurpose of current study was to investigating role of emotional intelligence as mediator factor between consciousness and job satisfaction among 440 academic staff in public research universities.Instruments used to collect data were Job Descriptive Index, Big Five Inventory and Emotional Intelligence Inventory. Descriptive and inferential statistic was used to analyze the data and also SEM applied for illustrated role of mediator factor between consciousness and job satisfaction. The results of present study shown that among factors of emotional intelligence, utilization mediates relationship between consciousness and job satisfaction. Certainly, these results have significant implication on the policies universities specially universities in Malaysia.


INTRODUCTION
Jon satisfaction assumed as an important organizational feeling that covered physiological and psychological factors among staff at university. This inner organizational feeling associated with various factors such as internal and external factors that by their influence changed its levels, brilliantly (Aziri, 2011).Job satisfaction is a combination of internal and external factors that staff contact with them in during of their work and change their attitudes and feeling toward job based on this factors (Olorunsola, 2012). According to the key role of job satisfaction in most of educational organization, considering to this basic human need in university is very imperative. Because university assumed as one of the principle part in educational organization and its outcomes have direct relation with society development (Dhanapal, Alwie, Subramaniam, & Vashu, 2013). This view supported by Gebremicheal and Rao (2013) who explain that job satisfaction has great contribution in health of university and helps to increasing the amount of university's outcomes. On the contrary, lack of consideration to this inner feeling lead to uncommon behavior such as low level of responsibility, aggression and anxiety, cancel the work, exhaustion, insufficient behavior with co-workers etc. (Ahmad, Ahmad & Ali Shah, 2010; Eslami &Gharakhani, 2012).
Regarding to the essential role of job satisfaction at university and effect of various factors on it, presence of internal factors is very considerable. These factors have great contribution on appearing some behavior and reactions such as various levels of performance, activity, burnout, conflict among staff and lead to different insufficient results at university (Ali & Aktar, 2009).
Based on effect of various factors on job satisfaction personality factors are one of these impressive factors. Indeed, personality combined a set of emotions, behavior, approaches etc. that by them individual seem in society and contact with others. Consciousness is one of these internal factors that determined in set of personality factors (Eley et al., 2013;Hazrati,Zabihi, & Mehdizadeh,2013). This internal factor defined as a kind of self-discipline in managing affairs in private and social life and the keypurpose for this characteristic is this factor combined a set of accuracy and responsibilities toward work (Reid-Cunningham, 2008). In 2012, Barkhuizen, Swanepoel, & Ermakova reported there is positive relationship between consciousness and job satisfaction among staff at work environment. Indeed, this internal factor assumed as one of the main predictors that has close relationship with job satisfaction (Naz, Rehman, & Sagib,2013).
According to the relationship between consciousness and job satisfaction, presence some emotions can mediate their relationship better or worse. Moreover, emotional intelligence assumed as one of these factors that has great role in this relation and recognizing its factor and realizing effective factor is very important (Alam, 2009). Kalyanasundaram & Lakshmi(2013) focused on role of emotional intelligence factors as internal motivators that motivate skills and social relations among staff and improve the level of job satisfaction. Emotional intelligence involved four central factors such as utilization, perception, managing own emotion, and managing other emotion. Each of these factors has powerful effective on the amount of job satisfaction. Perception defined as realizing emotions that related to facial and voice cause of others. Based on Coetzer (2013) there is positive relationship between perception and job satisfaction and staff show appropriate behavior at workplace. In continue, utilization known as harnessing the influences of emotions in various situation and improve the level of job satisfaction among staff. As well, managing other emotions focuses on different behavioral dimensions such as empathy, communication, organizational awareness, collaboration etc. and conducts them in increasing job satisfaction level (Mousavi, Yarmohammadi, Bani Nosrat, & Tarasi,2012). And finally managing own emotion covers some behaviors such as adaptability, creativity, and self-control that prepared acceptable field for improving job satisfaction (Darabi, 2012).
Regarding to the role of emotional intelligence as internal factor and its factor definition, this inner motivator has mediator role between personality factors and job satisfaction. Definitely, emotional intelligence has two characteristics, it is affected by other factors and can impacts on another factors. In present study characteristics of emotional intelligence is considerable because it'saffected by consciousness factor in one side and the other side influence on job satisfaction. Regarding to the impact of emotional intelligence on job satisfaction some researchers investigated these relationships. In a study conducted by Alam (2009) illustrated that emotional intelligence has positive relation with job satisfaction and lead to highlevel of job satisfaction. Similarly, Emdady and Bagheri (2013) explained that emotional intelligence has key role in staff performance and encourage them in better decision-making and regulating affairs; presence of these situations organized acceptable feeling toward job. On the other hand, examining relationships between personality factors and emotional intelligence is very important, thereby in this study focused on the mediation effect of emotional intelligence on the relationship between consciousness and job satisfaction among academic staff of university.

METHODS
In present study was used quantitative approach for answer to the aim and research question of the study and also for collecting data and analyzing them applied cross-sectional method. The main reasons for applying the cross-sectional method included budget and time that limit the researcher's area working. The cross-sectional design focuses on collect data based on current attitudes, feelings and believes that applied in social science studies (

Job Satisfaction
There are three standardized questionnaires that used to measure the data of present study. These questionnaires are Job Descriptive Index, Big Five Inventory and Emotional Intelligence Inventory. The JDI has 72 items and measures work, promotion, supervision, pay and co-worker. Theseitemsare rated based on three parts: Yes = 3, No = 0 and I am not sure/ no idea = 1. In the current study, job satisfaction measurement show good internal consistency:work (α= 0.62), pay (α= 0.88), promotion (α= 0.88), supervision (α= 0.86), coworkers (α= 0.77) and overall job satisfaction (α= 0.88).

Emotional Intelligence
Another inventory in current study was the emotional intelligence inventory that has 33 items and measures perception, managing own emotion, managing others emotion and utilization of emotion.This scale measured based on 5-point Likert and indicated standard internal consistency: perception (0.78), managing own emotion (0.79), managing others emotion (0.69) and utilization of emotion (0.70).

b) Data analysis
Descriptive statistics and Cronbach's alpha coefficients between variables were analyzed by SPSS version 20 statistical software and also Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was accomplished to examine the mediation model of the study. The overall model fit was examined using chi-square test (χ2), comparative fix index (CFI), the root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) and Goodness-of-Fit Index(GFI). Also, in this study bootstrapping method was used to test statistical significance of mediation with mediator.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
This section of the study provides details of destribution of variables and describs the decriptive statistic of all variables (consciousness, emotional intelligence factors, and job satisfaction) that used in current study. Table 1 shows the central tendency such as Mean and Standard Deviation and also illustrates the results of correlation between variables.  Figure 1 illustrates the structural equations model used to test the direct model between consciousness and job satisfaction. Testing the direct model made a good fit to the data of the study (χ2 = 3.513, p<.05, RMSEA= 0.076, GFI= 0.981, CFI= 0.928). Factor loadings on the construct of job satisfaction range from 0.42-0.55. Based on the processes linking between consciousness and job satisfaction, present study suggested that there is significantly association between consciousness and job satisfaction; furthermore, for this relationship between these two factors, the stage of mediating continues.  Abbreviations: SE, standard error; CR, critical ratio. Table 2showsthe mediation effect of utilization between consciousness and job satisfaction. The results illustrates there is no association between conscientiousnessand job satisfaction (CR =1.50; p= 0.13) while, the results displays that there is significant relationship between utilization and job satisfaction (CR = 2.35; p<.05). In addition, the total effect of conscientiousnesson job satisfaction, which covers both mediating and direct effects, is significant (β=0.14; p<.05). The mediated effect of conscientiousness, through utilization, on job satisfaction is found to be 4%. This indicates that slightly more than one-third of the total effect of conscientiousnesson job satisfaction is mediated through utilization. In continue,the next step of analysis for this section, a bootstrapping method was used to make conclusions toward the significance of indirect effects of conscientiousnessthrough utilization, support towards job satisfaction. The results of the bootstrapping analysis exposed that utilization meaningfully mediated effect of consciousness on job satisfaction (p<.05).

Figure 1:Direct model of consciousness and job satisfaction
The present study proposes that utilization as one of the emotional intelligence factors mediates the relationship between consciousness and job satisfaction among academic staff in universities, Malaysia. In fact, in this study tried to show role of emotional intelligence factors as positive motivators that mediate relationship between personality characteristic of academic staff and job satisfactionand also shown the effect of consciousness as one of the personality factors on job satisfaction among staff at university. Consequently, these results are dependable with some previous investigates that concentrated on these variables and their relationships among staff. In fact, these results are in agreement with Chiva and Alegre (2008) that explained factors of emotional intelligence effect on job satisfaction and have great contribution in increasing of its amount at workplace. Indeed, factors of emotions that cover private and social effected by another factors (internal and external) and carries their outcome to behavior and reaction at work. Also, in 2011, Jordon and Troth mentioned that factors of emotional intelligence provide operative changes that impacted via various factors on job satisfaction at workplace. In line with, Kafetsios and Zampetakis (2008)found that each factors of emotional intelligence have positive association with job satisfaction and mediate the influence of various motivators (internal and external) on job satisfaction at work.

CONCLUSION
The conclusion of this study derives from the results. Theseresultsdesignated job satisfaction of academic staffimpacted by consciousness and utilization. In current study usedsome methods to discover distribution, correlationbetween key variables, and role of utilization as mediator variable between dependent variable (consciousness) and independent variable(job satisfaction). The results of this study obviouslydetermined the mainrole of job satisfaction among academic staff that impacted by different factors at universities. Certainly, the results showed that internal factors motivate job satisfaction of academic staff at workplace.
Regarding to the background of universities in Malaysia which have principally contribution in mounting of information, presence of job satisfaction as positive organizational behavior among academic staff is veryimperative. So, it can be decided influence of difference factors appearseverallevels of job satisfaction at university. Furthermore, in present study exposed that presence of utilization as mediator between consciousness and job satisfaction covers social and personal dimensions of staff's life.Truly, thestaffwho apply their emotional intelligence or motivated by them have better feeling toward their job and its environmentand also they cope with problems based on their personality. As well, utilization conducts consciousness and mediates its effectin fully forms. In accordance with utilization role, this factor plays key role between consciousness and job satisfaction among academic staff.