Work

Association between emotional intelligence and organizational commitment among clinical nurses: workplace social capital as a potential mediator in a cross-sectional study

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: Background Workplace social capital has been shown to alleviate occupational stress and enhance job wellbeing and satisfaction. However, limited research has examined the mediational pattern involving workplace social capital between EI and organizational commitment among clinical nurses. This study aims to investigate the indirect effect of EI on organizational commitment through workplace social capital, providing empirical evidence for nursing managers to develop strategies that may enhance nurses' organizational commitment. Methods A cross-sectional study design was adopted. A total of 648 clinical nurses from two tertiary and two secondary hospitals in Sichuan Province were recruited between June and November 2024 using a convenience cluster sampling approach. The research instruments included a general information questionnaire, the EI Scale, the Workplace Social Capital Scale, and the Organizational Commitment Scale. Descriptive statistics were performed using SPSS version 27.0, and structural equation modeling was conducted with AMOS version 24.0. Results EI showed a significant direct positive association with organizational commitment after controlling for workplace social capital (effect = 0.229, p < 0.001; bias-corrected 95% CI [0.126, 0.342]), accounting for 38.62% of the total effect. In addition, the indirect association between EI and organizational commitment through workplace social capital was statistically significant (effect = 0.364, p < 0.001; bias-corrected 95% CI [0.295, 0.444]), accounting for 61.38% of the total effect. These findings are consistent with a partial mediation model. Conclusion The findings of this cross-sectional study suggest that workplace social capital is an important intervening variable in the relationship between EI and organizational commitment among clinical nurses, with the indirect effect accounting for a larger proportion of the total effect than the direct effect. These results provide empirical support for the hypothesized mediating model, though causal conclusions require longitudinal or experimental validation.

Source: Frontiers in Psychology

DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2026.1871400