The Relationship between Emotional Intelligence and Decision-making Quality in Hospital Managers

Background and Objectives: Evidence increasingly highlights the impact of emotional intelligence in managers on the productivity and performance of their organizations. Given the importance of decision-making in the management process, this study explored the relationship between emotional intelligence and decision-making quality in hospital managers. Methods: A cross-sectional questionnaire-based survey was conducted on 30 senior and junior hospital managers. The results were summarized using descriptive statistical methods. Pearson correlation coefficient and multivariate regression analysis were employed to examine the influence of emotional intelligence on quality of decision making. Findings: A significant correlation between managers’ emotional intelligence and their quality of decision-making was identified (r = 0.40, P < 0.001). In addition, multivariate regression analysis indicated that solution finding by the hospital managers is influenced by their emotional intelligence (β = 0.72, P < 0.001). Conclusions: This study provided further evidence for the impact of emotional intelligence on quality of decision-making. Given that emotional intelligence is an acquirable skill, our results encourage hospital administrators to improve managers’ emotional intelligence to achieve a higher organizational performance in health settings.