Bloom to Gloom-Emotional Intelligence and Employee Silence: An Empirical Study from Pakistan

The objective of the current research study is to examine those elements/factors that can reduce silence so that organizations can become more efficient, innovative, and adaptable by sharing knowledge and work-related problems. The purpose behind conducting this research was to explore the effects of emotional intelligence on silent behavior. The study also focuses on other individual negative aspects that can increase counterproductive behavior like silence and examines the effects of emotional intelligence on silence through moral disengagement. Data was collected from 400 employees using stratified sampling to ensure adequate representation of males and females. Data was collected from nurses and young doctors using the adopted measurement scale through a self-administered questionnaire. Since the sample included nursing staff and they usually are not well versed in English, the instrument was translated into Urdu. Data were analyzed using SEM to assess the direct and indirect effects of EI on employee silence. The result indicates that emotional intelligence has a positive impact on employee silence and moral disengagement. In contradiction to theory, the findings suggest that people with high emotional intelligence tend to get morally disengaged. As a result, they will remain silent and withhold information regarding work-related issues and problems.