📄 other

Exploring the Impact of Emotional Intelligence on Career Growth Among Nurses in Saudi Arabia: A Cross-Sectional Study

This cross-sectional study of 295 nurses in Saudi Arabia's Jazan Health Cluster reveals that emotional intelligence significantly predicts career growth, with social skills and emotion utilization identified as the most critical dimensions for professional advancement.

Original authors: Essa Al Muharraq, Sultan Alallah, Fatimah Hobani, Farida Abdali, Abdulrahman Makakam, Mohammed Alshabi, Sultan Alasiri, Ali Abu jamilah, Fatimah Otudi

Published 2026-07-27

📖 5 min read🧠 Deep dive

CC BY 4.0

Original authors: Essa Al Muharraq, Sultan Alallah, Fatimah Hobani, Farida Abdali, Abdulrahman Makakam, Mohammed Alshabi, Sultan Alasiri, Ali Abu jamilah, Fatimah Otudi

Original paper licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). ✨ This is an AI-generated explanation of the paper below. It is not written or endorsed by the authors. For technical accuracy, refer to the original paper. Read full disclaimer

Imagine the workplace as a giant, bustling ecosystem, like a coral reef or a busy beehive. In this world, everyone needs to get along, solve problems, and keep moving forward. Scientists who study how people get along at work often look at a superpower called Emotional Intelligence (EI). Think of EI not as being "nice," but as having a high-tech dashboard for your feelings. It's the ability to notice what you and others are feeling, manage those feelings so they don't crash your system, and use that emotional energy to help you get things done.

On the other side of the story is Career Growth. This isn't just about getting a promotion or a bigger title; it's the whole journey of getting better at your job, learning new skills, reaching your goals, and feeling like you are moving up the ladder. For a long time, people wondered: Does having a great emotional dashboard actually help you climb that ladder? While we know being good at math or surgery helps, does being good with feelings help too? This question is especially important in places where the rules of the game might be a bit different, like in the healthcare systems of Saudi Arabia, where the goal is to build a strong, local team of nurses for the future.

The Study: A Look Inside the Jazan Health Cluster

This research paper is like a snapshot taken of 295 nurses working in the Jazan Health Cluster in Saudi Arabia. The researchers wanted to see if there was a real connection between a nurse's Emotional Intelligence and how much they felt they were growing in their careers. They didn't just guess; they asked the nurses to fill out two specific surveys. One measured their "Emotional Intelligence" using a tool called the Schutte Self-Report Emotional Intelligence Test (SSEIT), and the other measured their "Career Growth" using a Career Growth Scale (CGS).

The group of nurses they studied was mostly female (78.0%) and mostly Saudi nationals (67.1%). Most of them had a Bachelor's degree in nursing (74.9%) and had been working for an average of about 14 years. The average age of the nurses was 36.28 years.

What They Found: The "Social" and "Utilization" Keys

The results were clear and exciting. The study found that nurses with higher Emotional Intelligence did report more career growth. It wasn't a tiny, invisible link; it was a solid, measurable connection. When the researchers crunched the numbers, they found a correlation of 0.325, which is a moderate but meaningful relationship. In simple terms, as a nurse's emotional skills went up, their sense of career progress went up with them.

But here is where the story gets really interesting. The researchers broke down Emotional Intelligence into four different parts to see which one was the real hero. They found that not all emotional skills were equally important for climbing the career ladder.

Two specific skills stood out as the "magic keys":

Social Skills: This is the ability to read the room, talk to people with empathy, and manage relationships.
Emotion Utilization: This is the ability to take your feelings and use them as fuel to get things done, like turning a stressful moment into a chance to learn or a challenge to overcome.

These two skills were the only ones that independently predicted career growth. The other two parts of emotional intelligence—simply noticing emotions (Perception) and managing your own feelings (Managing Own Emotions)—were important for staying happy and healthy, but they didn't directly predict getting ahead in the career ladder on their own. It's like having a car: noticing the road and keeping the engine cool are vital, but you need the gas pedal (Social Skills) and the steering wheel (Emotion Utilization) to actually drive forward.

Interestingly, the study found that EI was most strongly linked to building Career Capacity (skills and abilities) and Goal Progress, rather than speeding up the timeline for promotions. The data showed that while emotional intelligence helps nurses feel more capable and aligned with their goals, it does not necessarily mean they will get promoted faster than their peers.

The Big Twist: The Salary Wall

However, the study also uncovered a surprising and somewhat frustrating wall. While Emotional Intelligence helped nurses feel they were growing in their skills and reaching their goals, it had no significant effect on one thing: Salary Increase.

The data showed a correlation of -0.008 between Emotional Intelligence and salary growth. That number is so close to zero it might as well be nothing. The researchers explain that this isn't because emotional intelligence is useless; it's because of how the pay system works in Saudi Arabia. In this system, a nurse's salary is mostly determined by their job title, their education level, and how many years they have worked, not by how good they are at handling emotions or leading a team. Unless a nurse gets a specific supervisory title (like Head Nurse), their paycheck stays the same regardless of how emotionally intelligent they are.

What This Means for the Future

So, what's the takeaway? The study suggests that for nurses in Saudi Arabia, being emotionally smart is a powerful tool for building a better career experience. It helps them become better leaders, build stronger teams, and feel like they are progressing in their skills and goals. It's a key to unlocking the "Career Capacity" and "Goal Progress" parts of their jobs.

But, the study also points out a structural problem. The current pay system doesn't reward these emotional superpowers with more money. The authors suggest that if the healthcare system wants to keep its best nurses and help them grow, they might need to change the rules so that being emotionally intelligent and skilled actually leads to a bigger paycheck, not just a better reputation. Until then, Emotional Intelligence remains a powerful engine for professional growth, even if it doesn't yet fill the wallet.

Technical Summary: Exploring the Impact of Emotional Intelligence on Career Growth Among Nurses in Saudi Arabia

Problem Statement
Despite the critical role of nurses in healthcare systems, the profession faces a global shortage projected to reach 4.5 million by 2030, with the Eastern Mediterranean region being particularly affected. In Saudi Arabia, this challenge is compounded by a heavy reliance on expatriate labor and a lack of structured career advancement pathways for domestically trained nurses. Cultural perceptions of nursing as a low-status occupation further constrain the entry and progression of Saudi nationals. While Emotional Intelligence (EI) is recognized as a predictor of job performance, well-being, and reduced turnover, its specific relationship with career growth—defined as advancement in goal attainment, skill development, promotion, and remuneration—remains underexplored in the Saudi context. This study addresses the gap in quantitative evidence linking EI to multidimensional career growth among Saudi nurses, a critical need for achieving the workforce goals of Saudi Vision 2030.

Methodology
The study employed a cross-sectional correlational design across the Jazan Health Cluster in Saudi Arabia, encompassing general, specialized, and tertiary care facilities.

Participants: A convenience sample of 295 registered nurses with at least two years of experience was recruited. The final analytic sample was predominantly female (78.0%), Saudi nationals (67.1%), and Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) qualified (74.9%), with a mean age of 36.28 years and mean experience of 13.92 years.
Instruments:
- Emotional Intelligence: Measured using the Schutte Self-Report Emotional Intelligence Test (SSEIT), a 33-item Likert scale assessing four dimensions: Perception of Emotions, Managing Own Emotions, Social Skills, and Emotion Utilization. The Arabic version demonstrated acceptable internal consistency ( $\alpha = 0.884$ ).
- Career Growth: Measured using the Career Growth Scale (CGS), adapted for nursing, comprising 14 items across four subscales: Career Goal Progress, Career Capacity, Promotion Speed, and Salary Increase. Internal consistency was acceptable ( $\alpha = 0.785$ ).
Analysis: Data were analyzed using Pearson product-moment correlations and multiple linear regression (two nested OLS models). Normality was confirmed via Shapiro–Wilk tests. Statistical significance was set at $\alpha = .05$ .

Key Results

Descriptive Statistics: The mean EI total score was 127.91 ($SD = 9.81$), and the mean Career Growth score was 53.64 ($SD = 6.68$). Social Skills was the highest-scoring EI subscale, while Salary Increase was the lowest-scoring Career Growth subscale.
Correlation Analysis: A significant positive correlation was found between total EI and total Career Growth ( $r = .325, p < .001$ ). Among EI subscales, Social Skills showed the strongest correlation with career growth ( $r = .346$ ). Notably, EI scores showed no significant association with the Salary Increase subscale ( $r = -.008, p = .896$ ).
Regression Analysis:
- Model 1: Total EI significantly predicted career growth, explaining 10.6% of the variance ( $R^2 = .106, \beta = 0.221, p < .001$ ).
- Model 2: When decomposed into subscales, only Social Skills ( $\beta = 0.531, p < .001$ ) and Emotion Utilization ( $\beta = 0.535, p = .006$ ) made significant independent contributions to career growth. Perception of Emotions and Managing Own Emotions were not significant predictors after adjustment. The full model explained 14.8% of the variance ( $R^2 = .148$ ).
Subscale Specifics: EI was most strongly associated with Career Capacity ( $r = .410$ ) and Career Goal Progress ( $r = .282$ ), but not with Promotion Speed or Salary Increase.

Key Contributions

Empirical Evidence in a New Context: This is the first study to directly and quantitatively examine the association between EI and career growth as a composite multidimensional construct among nurses in Saudi Arabia.
Granular Mechanism Identification: By moving beyond total EI scores, the study identifies that Social Skills and Emotion Utilization are the specific active mechanisms driving career advancement, whereas self-perception and self-management of emotions operate indirectly or do not independently predict advancement at the career level.
Structural Insight into Compensation: The study provides robust evidence that EI does not predict salary progression in the Saudi public healthcare system. This highlights a structural disconnect where remuneration is fixed by grade and tenure rather than individual competency or performance, a finding that challenges the assumption that competency development automatically leads to financial reward.
Theoretical Application: The findings support the Conservation of Resources (COR) theory, framing EI as a personal resource that nurses invest to build professional relationships and capacities (Career Capacity), even when structural barriers limit financial returns.

Significance and Claims
The authors claim that EI functions as a significant, independent predictor of career growth for Saudi nurses, primarily through the development of interpersonal relationships and the strategic application of emotions to professional goals. The study posits that while EI training is essential for professional development, its efficacy in driving financial career growth is currently limited by the rigid, tenure-based compensation architecture of the Saudi public healthcare system.

The paper argues that for Saudi Vision 2030 to succeed in Saudizing the nursing workforce and retaining talent, professional development programs must target Social Skills and Emotion Utilization. However, the authors caution that training alone is insufficient without parallel structural reforms. They assert that to fully leverage EI as a retention and growth tool, healthcare organizations and policymakers must create visible pathways linking competency development to financial recognition, such as merit-based increments or expanded leadership allowances, rather than relying solely on the current fixed pay scales. The study concludes that investing in emotionally intelligent nurses is a strategic imperative, but its long-term sustainability depends on aligning individual competency growth with organizational reward structures.

The Study: A Look Inside the Jazan Health Cluster

What They Found: The "Social" and "Utilization" Keys

The Big Twist: The Salary Wall

What This Means for the Future

Technical Summary: Exploring the Impact of Emotional Intelligence on Career Growth Among Nurses in Saudi Arabia

More like this