Paper Example on Emotional Intelligence and Toxic Leadership

A variable is an essential aspect of research. According to Wallace (2013), a variable is anything that has a changeable quantity or quality. In a study, the variables can either be dependent or independent. Wallace (2013) defines a dependent variable as the representative of the output whose variant is being measured and the independent variable as the cause of the variation. This means that in a study, the researcher manipulates the independent variable and observes its impact on the dependent variable. In the provided research document entitled The Relationship between Emotional Intelligence and Toxic Leadership in the Low Density Military Occupational Specialties in the Military Organization, there are several independent and dependent variables. Nevertheless, the researcher is mainly interested in the dependent variables since they are the ones being measured against the independent variables in the process of testing the hypothesis.

If this sample essay on"Paper Example on Emotional Intelligence and Toxic Leadership" doesn’t help,
our writers will!

Trust an expert

On the basis of the research questions, there are two most important independent variables in the research direction document. One of them is emotional intelligence. Sakiru (2013) defines emotional intelligence as the ability of an individual to recognize different emotions and feelings then label them accordingly and afterward, use the information to guide their behavior and thinking. Another independent variable is toxic leadership, which is defined by Sakiru (2013) as a situation in which a leader neglects the leader-follower rapport, undermines and destroys organizational structures, leaving an organization worse off than they found it. Besides the two, other independent variables include creativity and innovation, employee personality, unsafe working conditions and procedural injustice. It is these variables that the researcher would manipulate and observe the influence of each on the dependent variables. The dependent variables in the document as per the research questions include toxic leadership, employee performance and job satisfaction, administration processes, employee morale and perception of inequality.

The independent variables are manipulated so as to determine their effect on the dependent variables. The observations help in bringing out reliable results so that valid conclusions can be made. Emotional intelligence is expected to influence leadership styles. Emotional intelligence entails empathy, self-regulation, motivation, social skills, and self-awareness. According to a study conducted by Sakiru (2013), leaders who have low emotional intelligence levels often end up becoming toxic leaders. This implies that in this study, if emotional intelligence, as the independent variable, will be controlled as appropriate, it will have an influence on the dependent variable, toxic leadership. The influence will be objectively tested so as to produce reliable results.

Leadership influences the behavior of employees. One of the hypothesis tests will test whether the independent variable, toxic leadership, has an effect on the dependent variables, employee performance, and job satisfaction. Toxic leadership is expected to negatively affect the job satisfaction and performance of employees. In his study, Sakiru (2013) observes that toxic leaders are abusive as they micromanage employees. They do not seek to empower the staff and rarely delegate work. The employees, on the other hand, feel less satisfied, are less committed, and defiant towards the achievement of the organizational goals. This information implies that the toxic leadership has an effect on the satisfaction and performance of employees. It is therefore expected that with the manipulation of the independent variable, toxic leadership, there will be an effect on the dependent variables, performance and job satisfaction.

The other independent variables that include unsafe working conditions, procedural injustice, personality, creativity, and innovation, are not expected to have a major effect on dependent variables such as administration processes, employee morale and perception of inequality at the workplace. This is because, according to a survey conducted by Sakiru (2013), leadership is the most prominent factor contributing to the success or failure of business. Most of the other factors stem from the type of leadership within an organization. Therefore, although these other variables may have an effect on each other, the influence may not be as elaborate as the one by emotional intelligence and toxic leadership. However, each of the variables will be tested in a bid to answer the research questions.

Before drawing a conclusion, the relationships between the different variables must be critically scrutinized and analyzed. In some cases, the parameters may or may not have a direct relationship. This means that it may be challenging to deduce the causation since the change in one variable may not necessarily cause an alteration in another. Therefore, rather than a causal relationship, a correlation, which does not automatically imply causation, is deduced. Correlation can be either positive or negative (Prasad, Rao & Rehani, 2001). In a positive correlation, an increase in one quantity leads to an increase in the other while negative correlation implies that an increase in one variable leads to a decrease in the other. It is imperative for a researcher to clearly comprehend the connection between the variables so as to draw an objective conclusion.

In the process of developing the hypothesis for the study, the null and alternative hypotheses were identified. From the two, the alternative hypothesis is found to be applicable to the given research direction. The alternative hypothesis is that a leaders level of emotional intelligence influences the leadership style employed in an organization. The alternative hypothesis is practical because there is a relationship between emotional intelligence and toxic leadership in any organization. The hypothesis is related to the research questions in that emotional intelligence determines the kind of leaders an organization has, their leadership style and behavior (Sakiru, 2013). Consequently, the leadership style influences administrative processes in an organization, performance and job satisfaction among employees, their motivation levels and perception of inequality. Other aspects such as personality, creativity and innovation, procedural injustice and unsafe working conditions are tied to emotional intelligence. On the other hand, the null hypothesis is that there is no relationship between the level of a leaders emotional intelligence and their leadership style. This hypothesis may not be workable for this document since, according to previous research, emotional intelligence influences leadership styles.

References

Prasad, S., Rao, A., & Rehani, E. (2001). Developing Hypothesis and Research Questions. Retrieved from http://www.public.asu.edu/~kroel/www500/hypothesis.pdfSakiru, O. (2013). Relationship between Employee Performance, Leadership Styles and Emotional Intelligence in an Organization. IOSR Journal of Humanities and Social Science, 8(2), 53-57. http://dx.doi.org/10.9790/0837-0825357

Wallace, R. (2013). Research Questions, Hypothesis, and Variables. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_BmjujlZExQ