نوع مقاله : مقاله پژوهشی
عنوان مقاله English
نویسنده English
Purpose: Interpersonal relationships are among the most influential factors affecting employees' quality of work life. These relationships include interactions between employees and clients, among colleagues, and between employees and their supervisors. When interpersonal relationships become dysfunctional, employees' mental health gradually deteriorates, creating conditions for the emergence and progression of psychological problems. Stress is an inseparable part of life in the 21st century, and depending on its intensity as well as individuals' coping strategies, it may either contribute to psychological distress or facilitate personal growth. Emotional intelligence is defined as the ability to monitor one's own and others' emotions, distinguish among them, and use this information to guide thinking and behavior. As an acquired competence, emotional intelligence encompasses skills such as self-awareness, self-regulation, empathy, motivation, and social skills. Another key construct in organizational behavior is mentalization, which refers to an individual's capacity to understand and interpret both their own and others' mental states. Given the importance of interpersonal relationships in the workplace, the present study sought to determine whether mentalization training could improve employees' emotional intelligence and reduce perceived occupational stress.
Design/Methodology/Approach: In terms of purpose, this is an applied study; regarding research methodology, it is quantitative; in terms of time horizon, it is cross-sectional; regarding research design, it falls under the category of quasi-experimental research (specifically a pre-test/post-test design with a control group); and concerning data collection, it utilizes a questionnaire. The study population consisted of all male and female employees of the Madiran Company in the year 1403. From this population, 30 volunteers were selected and randomly assigned to either an experimental group or a control group, with 15 members in each.
Findings: The results indicated that for emotional intelligence, the experimental group had a pre-test mean score of 25.53, while the control group obtained a mean score of 24.93. At post-test, the experimental group's mean increased to 89.50, whereas the control group's mean remained at 24.86, indicating the effectiveness of the intervention. Regarding perceived occupational stress, the experimental group had a pre-test mean score of 116.06, compared with 82.46 for the control group. At post-test, the experimental group's mean decreased to 105.33, while the control group's mean remained unchanged (82.46). Both emotional intelligence and rceived occupational stress met the assumptions of normality (p > .05) and homogeneity of error variances (p > .05). Furthermore, the assumption of homogeneity of regression slopes was satisfied for emotional intelligence at both pre-test (F = 0.47, p = .39) and post-test (F = 1.04, p = .25), as well as for perceived occupational stress at pre-test (F = 0.71, p = .68) and post-test (F = 1.44, p = .56). After controlling for pre-test scores, the difference in post-test emotional intelligence between the experimental and control groups was statistically significant (p < .01), with an effect size of 0.41. Likewise, after adjusting for baseline scores, the difference in post-test perceived occupational stress was statistically significant (p < .01), with an effect size of 0.51.
Discussion and Conclusion: The present study examined the effectiveness of mentalization training in enhancing emotional intelligence and reducing perceived occupational stress among employees. The first hypothesis proposed that mentalization training would improve employees' emotional intelligence. The findings supported this hypothesis and were consistent with previous studies (Đorđević & Đorđević, 2019; Masuda & Sannomiya, 2020), which reported positive effects of mentalization training on emotional intelligence. This finding may be explained by the fact that mentalization enhances individuals' ability to understand and regulate both their own and others' mental states. Emotional intelligence comprises four core dimensions—self-awareness, self-regulation, social awareness (empathy), and relationship management. Therefore, mentalization training facilitates improvements in these competencies through specific psychological processes.
کلیدواژهها English
