Share:


The impact of emotional intelligence and intercultural competence on work productivity of volunteers in respect to age and length in volunteering

Abstract

The aim of this study is to evaluate the impact of emotional intelligence and intercultural competence on the effectiveness of volunteer work with respect to the age and length of volunteering. 174 volunteers who have volunteered or are volunteering under the Erasmus + European Voluntary Service participated in the survey. The results of the study are presented as answers to the following problematic questions: Does higher emotional intelligence and higher intercultural competence increase the effectiveness of volunteer work? Does intercultural competence increase due to higher emotional intelligence? Do older volunteers have higher intercultural competence and higher emotional intelligence? Do volunteers with greater volunteering experience have higher intercultural competence and emotional intelligence? Do people with longer volunteering experience at the European Voluntary Service (EVS) have a higher level of intercultural competence and emotional intelligence? Based on the results of the study, factors that have a significant impact on the productivity of internationally active volunteers were identified.

Keyword : volunteer, volunteering, emotional intelligence, intercultural competence, work productivity

How to Cite
Vinickytė, I., Bendaravičienė, R., & Vveinhardt, J. (2020). The impact of emotional intelligence and intercultural competence on work productivity of volunteers in respect to age and length in volunteering. Business: Theory and Practice, 21(1), 379-390. https://doi.org/10.3846/btp.2020.11405
Published in Issue
Jun 4, 2020
Abstract Views
1061
PDF Downloads
565
Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

References

Abbe, A. L., Gulick, M. V., & Herman, J. L. (2007). Cross-cultural competence in army leaders: a conceptual and empirical foundation. US Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences, Arlington, VA. https://doi.org/10.21236/ADA475798

Abduh, A., & Rosmaladewi, R. (2018). Promoting intercultural competence in bilingual programs in Indonesia. SAGE Open. https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244018788616

Aguilar, M. (2018). Integrating intercultural competence in ESP and EMI: from theory to practice. ESP Today, 6(1), 25–43. https://doi.org/10.18485/esptoday.2018.6.1.2

Alekseeva, I. V., Frolikova, A. S., Koltsova, H. A., & Tereshchenko, N. A. (2019). Improving the universal competence of intercultural interaction among university students by means of fine arts: case study. European Journal of Contemporary Education, 8(2), 265–279. https://doi.org/10.13187/ejced.2019.2.265

Benenson, J., & Stagg, A. (2015). An asset-based approach to volunteering: exploring for low-income volunteers. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 45(15), 131–149. https://doi.org/10.1177/0899764015604739

Bocsi, V., Fenyes, H., & Markos, V. (2017). Motives of volunteering and values of work among higher education students. Citizenship, Social and Economic Education, 16(2), 117–131. https://doi.org/10.1177/2047173417717061

Brackett, M. A., Rivers, S. E., & Salovey, P. (2011). Emotional intelligence: implications for personal, social, academic, and workplace success. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 5(1), 88–103. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1751-9004.2010.00334.x

Branscum, P., Bhochhibhoya, A., & Sharma, M. (2014). The role of emotional intelligence in mental health and type D personality among young adults. International Quarterly of Community Health Education, 34(4), 351–365. https://doi.org/10.2190/IQ.34.4.e

Briggs, E., Peterson, M., & Gregory, G. (2010). Toward a better understanding of volunteering for nonprofit organizations: explaining volunteers’ pro-social attitudes. Journal of Macromarketing, 30(1), 61–76. https://doi.org/10.1177/0276146709352220

Byram, M. (1991). Young people’s perception of other cultures: the role of foreign language teaching. In D. Buttjes & M. Byram (Eds.), Mediating languages and cultures: towards an intercultural theory of foreign language education (pp. 103–119). Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.

Byram, M. (1997). Teaching and assessing intercultural communicative competence. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.

Cai, D. Y. (2016). A concept analysis of cultural competence. International Journal of Nursing Sciences, 3(3), 268–273. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijnss.2016.08.002

Chen, Y. W., & Nakazawa, M. (2017). Emotions and Pan-Asian organizing in the U.S. Southwest: Analyzing Interview Discourses via Sentiment Analysis. Voluntas, 28(6), 2785–2806. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11266-017-9916-3

Christie, A. M. H., Jordan, P. J., & Troth, A. C. (2015). Trust antecedents: emotional intelligence and perceptions of others. International Journal of Organizational Analysis, 23(1), 89–101. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJOA-07-2013-0695

Cohn, S. F., & Wood, R. E. (1985). Foreign aid at the grass roots: The interaction of Peace Corps volunteers with host country people. Human Organization, 44(2), 167–171. https://doi.org/10.17730/humo.44.2.cwp716736g227605

Dajnoki, K., Mate, D., Fenyves, V., & Kun, A. (2017). Deconstructing attitudes towards immigrant workers among Hungarian employees and higher education students. Sustainability, 9(9), 1639. https://doi.org/10.3390/su9091639

Deardorff, D. K. (2006). Assessing intercultural competence in study abroad students. In M. Byram & A. Feng (Eds.), Living and studying abroad: research and practice (pp. 232–276). Multilingual Matters Ltd. https://doi.org/10.21832/9781853599125-013

Dekker, P., & Halman, L. (2003). The values of volunteering: cross–cultural perspectives. New York, Boston. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-0145-9

Devonish, D. (2016). Emotional intelligence and job performance: the role of psychological wellbeing. International Journal of Workplace Health Management, 9(4), 428–442. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJWHM-04-2016-0031

Dusi, P., Messetti, G., & Steinbach, M. (2014). Skills, attitudes, relational abilities & reflexivity: competences for a multicultural society. Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences, 112, 538–547. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.01.1200

Fantini, A., & Tirmizi, A. (2006). Exploring and assessing intercultural competence. World Learning Publications. Paper 1. http://digitalcollections.sit.edu/worldlearning_publications/1

Fee, A., & Gray, S. J. (2011). Fast–tracking expatriate development: the unique learning environments of international volunteer placements. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 22(3), 530–552. https://doi.org/10.1080/09585192.2011.543631

Gierke, L., Binder, N., Heckmann, M., Odağ, O., Leiser, A., Kedzior, K. K. (2018). Definition of intercultural competence (IC) in undergraduate students at a private university in the USA: A mixed-methods study. PLoS ONE, 13(4), e0196531. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0196531

Goleman, D. (1995). Emotional intelligence. Bantam Books.

Guerra, S. R. C., Demain, S. H., Figueiredo, D. M. P., & De Sousa, L. X. M. (2012). Being a volunteer: motivations, fears, and benefits of volunteering in an intervention program for people with dementia and their families. Activities Adaptation & Aging, 36(1), 55–78. https://doi.org/10.1080/01924788.2011.647538

Handy, F., Cnaan, R. A., Hustinx, L., Kang, C., Brudney, J. L., Haski–Leventhal, D., … Zrinscak, S. (2010). A cross–cultural examination of student volunteering: Is it all about résumé building? Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 39(3), 498–523. https://doi.org/10.1177/0899764009344353

Handy, F., & Srinivasan, N. (2005). The demand for volunteer labor: a study of hospital volunteers. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 34(4), 491–509. https://doi.org/10.1177/0899764005278037

Hemberg, J. A. V., & Vilander, S. (2017). Cultural and communicative competence in the caring relationship with patients from another culture. Scandinavian Journal of Caring Sciences, 31, 822–829. https://doi.org/10.1111/scs.12403

Hudson, S., & Inkson, K. (2006). Volunteer overseas development workers: The hero’s adventure and personal transformation. Career Development International, 11(4), 304–320. https://doi.org/10.1108/13620430610672522

Isham, J., Kolodinsky, J., & Kimberly, G. (2006). The effects of volunteering for nonprofit organizations on social capital formation: evidence from a statewide survey. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 35(3), 367–383. https://doi.org/10.1177/0899764006290838

Jackson, L., & Adarlo, G. (2016). Bridging cultures through unpaid labor: US volunteer teachers’ experiences in China’s Yunnan Province. Voluntas, 27(5), 2330–2352. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11266-014-9519-1

Jackson, S. E., & Joshi, A. (2004). Diversity in social context: a multi–attribute, multilevel analysis of team diversity and sales performance. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 25(6), 675–702. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.265

Johari, J., Tan, F. Y., & Zulkarnain, Z. I. T. (2018). Autonomy, workload, work–life balance and job performance among teachers. International Journal of Educational Management, 32(1), 107–120. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJEM-10-2016-0226

Johnson, J. P., Lenartowicz, T., & Apud, S. (2006). Cross–cultural competence in international business: toward a definition and a model. Journal of International Business Studies, 37(4), 525–543. https://doi.org/10.1057/palgrave.jibs.8400205

Jyoti, J., & Kour, S. (2017). Cultural intelligence and job performance: An empirical investigation of moderating and mediating variables. International Journal of Cross Cultural Management, 17(3), 305–326. https://doi.org/10.1177/1470595817718001

Jyoti, J., & Kour, S. (2015). Assessing the cultural intelligence and task performance equation: Mediating role of cultural adjustment. Cross Cultural Management, 22(2), 236–258. https://doi.org/10.1108/CCM-04-2013-0072

Kamerade, D., & Bennett, M. R. (2017). Rewarding work: cross–national differences in benefits, volunteering during unemployment, well–being and mental–health. Work, Employment and Society, 32(1), 38–56. https://doi.org/10.1177/0950017016686030

Kayes, D. C., Kayes, A. B., & Yamazaki, Y. (2005). Essential competencies for cross–cultural knowledge absorption. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 20(7), 578–589. https://doi.org/10.1108/02683940510623399

Kenesei, Z., & Stier, Z. (2017). Managing communication and cultural barriers in intercultural service encounters: Strategies from both sides of the counter. Journal of Vacation Marketing, 23(4), 307–321. https://doi.org/10.1177/1356766716676299

Koman, E. S., & Wolff, S. B. (2008). Emotional intelligence competencies in the team and team leader: A multi-level examination of the impact of emotional intelligence on team performance. Journal of Management Development, 27(1), 55–75. https://doi.org/10.1108/02621710810840767

Koopman, C., Pelletier, K. R., Murray, J. F., Sharda, C. E., Berger, M. L., Turpin, R. S., Hackleman, P., Gibson, P., Holmes, D. M., & Bendel, T. (2002). Stanford Presenteeism Scale: health status and employee productivity. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 44(1), 14–20. https://doi.org/10.1097/00043764-200201000-00004

Kunnanatt, J. T. (2008). Emotional intelligence: theory and description: A competency model for interpersonal effectiveness. Career Development International, 13(7), 614–629. https://doi.org/10.1108/13620430810911083

Lane, A. M., Meyer, B. B., Devonport, T. J., Davies, K. A., Thelwell, R., & Gill, G. S., et al. (2009). Validity of the emotional intelligence scale for use in sport. Journal of Sports Science and Medicine, 8(2), 289–295.

Lavy, S., & Littman-Ovadia, H. (2017). My better self: using strengths at work and work productivity, organizational citizenship behavior, and satisfaction. Journal of Career Development, 44(2), 95–109. https://doi.org/10.1177/0894845316634056

Lee, Y. J., & Won, D. (2018). Understanding international volunteering: who is most likely to participate? Journal of Nonprofit & Public Sector Marketing, 30(1), 95–110. https://doi.org/10.1080/10495142.2017.1326343

Lloyd, S., & Härtel, C. (2010). Intercultural competencies for culturally diverse work teams. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 25(8), 845–875. https://doi.org/10.1108/02683941011089125

Lokkesmoe, K. J., Kuchinke, K. P., & Ardichvili, A. (2016). Developing cross-cultural awareness through foreign immersion programs: Implications of university study abroad researchfor global competency development. European Journal of Training and Development, 40(3), 155–170. https://doi.org/10.1108/EJTD-07-2014-0048

Louie, J. Y., Wang, S., Fung, .J., & Lau, A. (2015). Children’s emotional expressivity and teacher perceptions of social competence: A cross-cultural comparison. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 39(6), 497–507. https://doi.org/10.1177/0165025414548775

Mandell, B., & Pherwani, S. (2003). Relationship between emotional leadership style: A gender comparison. Journal of Business and Psychology, 17(3), 387–404. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1022816409059

Mangold, K. (2012). Struggling to Do the Right Thing: challenges during international volunteering. Third World Quarterly, 33(8), 1493–1509. https://doi.org/10.1080/01436597.2012.698137

Matveev, A. V., & Milter, R. G. (2004). The value of intercultural competence for performance of multicultural teams. Team Performance Management: An International Journal, 10(5/6), 104–111. https://doi.org/10.1108/13527590410556827

Mayer, J. D., & Salovey, P. (1997). What is emotional intelligence? In P. Salovey & D. Sluyter (Eds.), Emotional development and emotional intelligence: Implications for educations (pp. 3–31). New Basic Books.

McGhee, N. G., & Santos, C. A. (2005). Social change, discourse and volunteer tourism. Annals of Tourism Research, 32(3), 760–779. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annals.2004.12.002

Migliore, L. A. (2011). Relation between big five personality traits and Hofstede’s cultural dimensions: Samples from the USA and India. Cross Cultural Management: An International Journal, 18(1), 38–54. https://doi.org/10.1108/13527601111104287

Mittal, R. (2012). Measuring cross-cultural orientation: development of a new instrument. Journal of Organizational Psychology, 12(3/4), 35–46.

Monthienvichienchai, C., Bhibulbhanuwat, S., Kasemsuk, C., & Speece, M. (2002). Cultural awareness, communication apprehension, and communication competence: a case study of Saint John’s International School. International Journal of Educational Management, 16(6), 288–296. https://doi.org/10.1108/09513540210441245

Munroe, A., & Pearson, C. (2006). The Munroe multicultural attitude scale questionnaire: a new instrument for multicultural studies. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 66(5), 819–834. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013164405285542

Oh, D.-G. (2017). Analysis of the factors affecting volunteering, satisfaction, continuation will, and loyalty for public library volunteers: An integrated structural equation model. Journal of Librarianship and Information Science, 51(4), 894–914. https://doi.org/10.1177/0961000617747338

Okoro, E. A., & Washington, M. C. (2012). Workforce diversity and organizational communication: analysis of human capital performance and productivity. Journal of Diversity Management (JDM), 7(1), 57–62. https://doi.org/10.19030/jdm.v7i1.6936

Palacios, C. M. (2010). Volunteer tourism, development and education in a postcolonial world: conceiving global connections beyond aid. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 18(7), 861–878. https://doi.org/10.1080/09669581003782739

Pantea, M. C. (2012). The changing nature of volunteering and the cross–border mobility: where does learning come from? Studies in Continuing Education, 35(1), 49–64. https://doi.org/10.1080/0158037X.2012.677427

Petkevičiūtė, N., & Budaitė, R. (2005). Vadovų tarpkultūrinė kompetencija Lietuvos organizacijose. Organizacijų vadyba: sisteminiai tyrimai – Management of Organizations: Systematic Research, 36, 133–150.

Petre, A. L., Tomozii, S. E., & Bularca, R. (2011, 16–18 June). Volunteering, a necessity? A. Lesenciuc (Ed.), Redefining Community in Intercultural Context – RCIC ‘11. Brasov. http://www.afahc.ro/ro/rcic/simpozion/SIMPOZION_11/simpozion.html

Plagnol, A. C., Huppert, F. A. (2010). Happy to help? Exploring the factors associated with variations in rates of volunteering across Europe. Social Indicators Research, 97(2), 157–176. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-009-9494-x

Ponterotto, J. G. (2010). Multicultural personality: an evolving theory of optimal functioning in cultural heterogeneous societies. The Counselling Psychologist, 38(5), 714–758. https://doi.org/10.1177/0011000009359203

Samovar, L., & Porter, R. (1997). Intercultural communication: A reader. Sage.

Sándorová, Z. (2019). The importance of intercultural communicative competences for tourism labour market: students’ views and their self-assessment. Journal of Language and Cultural Education, 7(1), 103–117. https://doi.org/10.2478/jolace-2019-0007

Schnabel, D. B. L., Kelava, A., Van de Vijver, F. J. R., & Seifert, L. (2015). Examining psychometric properties, measurement invariance, and construct validity of a short version of the Test to Measure Intercultural Competence (TMIC–S) in Germany and Brazil. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 49, 137–155. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijintrel.2015.08.002

Schutte, N. S., Malouff, J. M., Hall, L. E., Haggerty, D. J., Cooper, J. T., Golden, C. J., & Dornheim, L. (1998). Development and validation of a measure of emotional intelligence. Personality and Individual Differences, 25(2), 167–177. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0191-8869(98)00001-4

Slootjes, J., & Kampen, T. (2017). “Is my volunteer job not real work”? The experiences of migrant women with finding employment through volunteer work. Voluntas, 28(5), 1900–1921. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11266-017-9885-6

Tan, J. A. C., Härtel, C. E. J., Panipucci, D., & Strybosch, V. E. (2005). The effect of emotions in cross-cultural expatriate experiences. Cross Cultural Management: An International Journal, 12(2), 4–15. https://doi.org/10.1108/13527600510797980

Terry, J. (2007). Motivating a multicultural workforce. Industrial and Commercial Training, 39(1), 59–64. https://doi.org/10.1108/00197850710721417

Thomas, D. C., Elron, E., & Stahl, G. (2008). Cultural intelligence. International Journal of Cross Cultural Management, 8(2), 123–143. https://doi.org/10.1177/1470595808091787

Tischler, L., Biberman, J., & McKeage, R. (2002). Linking emotional intelligence, spirituality and workplace performance: Definitions, models and ideas for research. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 17(3), 203–218. https://doi.org/10.1108/02683940210423114

Tucker, M. L., Gullekson, N. L., & Esmond-Kiger, C. (2014). Accounting for EI: Does emotional intelligence predict greater intercultural growth? Journal of International Business and Cultural Studies, 8 (June), 1–11. http://www.aabri.com/manuscripts/141787.pdf

Turpin, R. S., Ozminkowski, R. J., Sharda, C. E., Collins, J. J., Berger, M. L., Billotti, G. M., Baase, C. M., Olson, M. J., & Nicholson, S. (2004). Reliability and validity of the Stanford Presenteeism Scale. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 46(11), 1123–1133. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.jom.0000144999.35675.a0

Vratskikh, I., Masa‘deh, R., Al-Lozi, M., & Maqableh, M. (2016). The impact of emotional intelligence on job performance via the mediating role of job satisfaction. International Journal of Business and Management, 11(2), 69–91. https://doi.org/10.5539/ijbm.v11n2p69

Vveinhardt, J., Bendaraviciene, R., & Vinickyte, I. (2019). Mediating factor of emotional intelligence in intercultural competence and work productivity of volunteers. Sustainability, 11(9), 2625. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11092625

Waikayi, L., Fearon, C., Morris, L., & McLaughlin, H. (2012). Volunteer management: an exploratory case study within the British Red Cross. Management Decision, 50(3), 349–367. https://doi.org/10.1108/00251741211216188

Witt, E. A., Kenworthy, J., Isherwood, G., & Dunlop, W. C. N. (2016). Examining the association between pain severity and quality-of-life, work-productivity loss, and healthcareresource use among European adults diagnosed with pain. Journal of Medical Economics, 19(9), 858–865. https://doi.org/10.1080/13696998.2016.1178127

Yashima, T. (2009). The effects of international volunteer work experiences on intercultural competence of Japanese youth. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 34(3), 268–282. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijintrel.2009.12.003

Zamora, B., Gurupira, M., & Rodes Sanchez, M., et al. (2019). The value of international volunteers experience to the NHS. Globalization and Health, 15(31). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12992-019-0473-y

Zelenková, A., & Hanesová, D. (2019). Intercultural competence of university teachers: a challenge of internationalization. Journal of Language and Cultural Education, 7(1), 1–18. https://doi.org/10.2478/jolace-2019-0001