The effect of leadership emotional intelligence on employees positive moods and work motivation - A study of hospitality industry in Ho Chi Minh city

Abstract

Currently, worldwide hospitality and tourism sector has been facing a very severe and intense period due to the worldwide pandemic. Several strategies have been implemented with the purpose of recovering the business including motivating and supporting service providers. Despite the availability of study on leadership styles affecting employees, emotional intelligence generating employees’ positive moods and work motivation is seemingly a new concept among researchers in Ho Chi Minh hospitality industry. Therefore, the research is conducted to narrow such gap by investigating the impact of five factors of leadership emotional intelligence, which are self-emotion appraisals, others’ emotion appraisals, regulation of emotion, empathy and relationship management, on employees’ positive moods and work motivation. The investigation also clarify the mediating effect of positive moods in the relationship between leadership emotional intelligence and employees’ work motivation. The literature review would go through the concept of emotional intelligence, previous study on how emotional intelligence arousing leadership effectiveness as well as provide evidences for stated relationship before coming up with the measurement scale and date collection process. There are total 246 responses collected through quantitative method, processed and analyzed using SmartPLS. The research finds that among five factors of leadership emotional intelligence three factors contribute to employees’ positive moods (other’s emotion appraisal, empathy and relationship management), three factors generate employees’ work motivation (others’ emotion appraisals, regulation of emotion and empathy). Findings also support the positive relationship between leadership emotional intelligence and work motivation through positive moods. Finally, research implication and limitation are presented.