The Influenced of Work-life Balance on Emotional Intelligence, Depression, Anxiety, and Stress

Abstract

Self-management psychology is an important element in self-identity development, especially when balancing job obligations and personal life, in which work-life balance is influenced by various interacting factors. Nowadays, researchers in organizational behavior, human resource management, and psychology are interested in the study of work-life balance. Work-life balance is typically thought of as a notion that applies to each individual and is defined as the lack of conflict or incompatibility between a role in their home and their responsibilities at work. This study aims to examine how military personnel’s work-life balance is influenced by emotional intelligence, depression, anxiety, and stress. The study recruited 995 military personnel to respond to a set of questionnaires disseminated across the entire Malaysian military encampments. The study results discovered a significant positive association between overall emotional intelligence (EI) and work-life balance, although an EI dimension, namely self-emotion appraisal (SEA), was insignificantly correlated to work-life balance. Meanwhile, depression, anxiety, and stress possessed significant negative associations with work-life balance. Summarily, emotional intelligence, depression, anxiety, and stress could produce significant impacts, either positive or negative, on Malaysian military personnel’s work-life balance. Practically, Malaysian military leaders could apply the findings as guidance in developing pertinent psychological self-control improvement activities for military personnel.