The Effect of Emotional Capital on Job Satisfaction and Life Satisfaction: A Research on Basketball Players in Women’s Super League in Turkey

Background. Emotional competencies of individuals are evaluated as a form of capital today. Emotional capital has gained prominence in literature in the last decades. In this regard, qualitative and quantitative studies on emotional capital concept have been conducted. Objectives. The purpose of this study is to analyses the effect of emotional capital on job satisfaction and life satisfaction in terms of women basketball players in Turkey. Methods. The research method of this study is descriptive. The statistical population consisted of 135 women basketball players who were reached via using convenience sampling method. Survey was conducted on athletes between 6th October, 2019 and 30th November, 2019. Emotional Capital Inventory developed by Newman et al. (2015), Job Satisfaction Scale developed by Brayfield and Rothe (1951), shortened by Yoon and Thye (2002), and Life Satisfaction Scale developed by Diener et al. (1985) was used for data collection. SPSS-22 computer program was used in data analysis. The internal consistencies of the questionnaires were obtained by Cronbach’s which were 0.81, 0.81 and 0.83, respectively. After exploratory factor analysis conducted on emotional capital inventory, seven factors were found as social awareness, self-management, self-awareness, self-reliance, relationship management, adaptability, and apathy. Results. The analysis of data revealed that self-reliance factor of emotional capital has significant and positive effect on job satisfaction, and self-management and personal awareness factors of emotional capital have significant and positive effects on life satisfaction. Conclusion. Finally, it can be concluded that emotional capital has partial effect on both job satisfaction and life satisfaction of women basketball players in Turkey’s Super League.