EFFECTS OF MINDFULNESS ON THE EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE OF PROJECT TEAM MEMBERS

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Author

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Department of Sociology

129 Pages 11,614 Words 1,691 Views PDF Format No. of Chapters: 1 to 5 Chapters

ABSTRACT

This study investigated the relationship between age, gender and emotional

intelligence of project team members, determined the emotional intelligence of

project team members with and without mindfulness practice and examined the

effects of mindfulness practice on the emotional intelligence of project team

members in the construction industry. The survey data was collected from 108

respondents in Malaysian construction industry. Out of these 108 respondents, 47

respondents are currently practicing mindfulness, while 61 respondents are not

practicing mindfulness. Besides that, Wong and Law Emotional Intelligence Scale (WLEIS)

have been applied to examine on the emotional intelligence of these 108

project team members in Malaysian construction industry. The results analyzed using

the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) indicated that mindfulness practice

was associated positively with the emotional intelligence of project team members

based on Wong and Law Emotional Intelligence Scale. The results indicated that

there is a statistically significant relationship between age and emotional intelligence

of project team members (p = 0.000). Apart from that, there is also a statistically

significant relationship between mindfulness practice and emotional intelligence of

project team members (p = 0.046). In contrary, there is no statistically significant

relationship between gender and emotional intelligence of project team members (p =

0.163). This study showed that there is a relationship between age and the emotional

intelligence of project team members. Furthermore, this study also showed that

mindfulness practice was able to improve the emotional intelligence of project team

members and positive impact to the project performance.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

DECLARATION ii

APPROVAL FOR SUBMISSION iii

ABSTRACT vi

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT viii

TABLE OF CONTENTS ix

LIST OF TABLES xiii

LIST OF FIGURES xv

LIST OF SYMBOLS / ABBREVIATIONS xvi

LIST OF APPENDICES xvii

CHAPTER

1 INTRODUCTION 1

11 Background 1

12 Problem Statement 3

13 Research Aim 4

14 Research Objectives 4

15 Research Questions 5

16 Research Hypothesis 5

17 Research Scope 7

18 Significance of Research 7

19 Structure of Dissertation 8

2 LITERATURE REVIEW 10

21 Overview 10

22 Introduction of Mindfulness 11

221 Historical Development of Mindfulness 13

222 Scientific Perspectives on Mindfulness 15

223 Mindfulness Meditation 16

23 Introduction of Emotional Intelligence 19

24 Emotional Intelligence - Intrapersonal Competencies 21

241 Self-Awareness 22

242 Self-Management 24

243 Motivation 25

25 Emotional Intelligence - Interpersonal Competencies 26

251 Social Awareness 27

252 Relationship Management 29

26 Relationship between EI and Gender 31

27 Relationship between EI and Age 32

28 Effects of Mindfulness on EI of Project Team Members 34

281 Improved on Empathy 35

282 Improved on Affective Regulation 36

283 Increased on Focus 36

284 Ethical Decision Making 37

29 Conclusion 38

3 METHODOLOGY 39

31 Overview 39

32 Research Method 40

33 Survey Instrument 42

34 Survey Sample 44

35 Survey Questionnaire 45

351 Individual Survey 45

35 2 Mindfulness Practice Survey 46

353 WLEIS Survey 46

36 Analysis of Data 47

361 Demographics of Respondents 47

362 Cronbach's Alpha Test 48

363 One-way ANOVA Test 48

364 Independent T-Test 49

365 Pearson's Product-Moment Correlation Test 49

37 Conclusion 50

4 RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS 51

41 Overview 51

42 Demographics of Respondents 52

421 Genders of Respondents 53

422 Ages of Respondents 54

423 Academic Qualifications of Respondents 55

424 Professions of Respondents 56

425 Working Experiences of Respondents 57

426 Mindfulness Practices of Respondents 58

427 Frequencies of Mindfulness Practice 59

428 Experiences of Mindfulness Practice 60

429 Durations of Mindfulness Practice 61

43 Cronbach's Alpha Test 62

44 One-way ANOVA Test 64

441 Relationship between Age and EI of Project Team

Members 64

45 Independent T-Test 68

451 Relationship between Gender and EI of Project

Team Members 68

452 Comparison on the EI of Project Team Members

with and without Mindfulness Practice 70

46 Pearson's Product-Moment Correlation Test 73

461 Effects of Mindfulness Practice and the EI of Project

Team Members 73

47 Conclusion 79

5 CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 81

51 Overview 81

52 Conclusions 81

53 Limitations 83

531 Number of Respondents 83

532 Shortage of Knowledge for the Respondent 84

54 Recommendations for Further Research 84

REFERENCES 85

APPENDICES 96

CHAPTER 1

1INTRODUCTION

11 Background

One of the largest industries that aid on the development of a country and the

economic growth is construction industry (Rohaida & Hock, 2013) Due to the

traditional way of management in construction industry, it has been resulted a slow

adaption on the new management techniques compared to other industries in the

globe (Loosemore, et al, 2003) However, some recent researches had showed that a

possible way of facilitating the interest in the improvement of the construction

project performance, planning, judgement and decision making of a project team

member by enchancing the emotional intelligence of a person (Ioannis & Ioannis,

2002) According to research, by enhancing the emotional intelligence of one's can

result the changes and improvements on performance of a project team member

(Mayer, et al, 2003)

Furthermore, some articles published have shown than emotional intelligence

may hold the key to improve the performance of a project team member (Zhang &

Fan, 2013) This argue that the successful collaboration among project participant

can achieve the result of effective interaction and which can help to improve the

project performance Also, this is related to the competencies of emotional awareness

and emotional regulation (Songer & Walker, 2004) For instance, tasks that require

more emotional processing, such as tasks involving interpersonal interactions (eg,

communication) are more likely to be related to emotional intelligence than those

tasks that involve thinking ability (eg, ordering material) or heuristics (eg,

scheduling work)

Charoensukmongkol (2014) found that mindfulness practice can helps to

enhance the emotional intelligence of one's Mindfulness has been defined as paying

attention at the present moment awareness with an observing and non-judging stance

(Reb et al, 2014) The purpose of mindfulness practice is to train the mind to be

calm and start to pay attention to the sensation of the body (Tan, 2012) By practising

mindfulness meditation, it can help to develop a high resolution awareness of project

team members to enhance their focuses such as ability to understand own and other

team member's emotions (Darwin, 2015) Furthermore, Darwin (2015) also found

that mindfulness practice can allows project team members to establish a higher

emotional intelligence by understand other's emotions more accurately Also,

mindfulness practice can associate postively on the clarity of project team member's

feelings and attention to other team member's feeling (Charoensukmongkol, 2014)

In another words, mindfulness practice is associate with the positive impact on the

emotional intelligence of project team members (Tan, 2012)

Last but not least, this research seeks to study on the relationship between age,

gender and emotional intelligence of project team members, to determine the

emotional intelligence of project team members with and without mindfulness

practice in construction industry and to examine the effects of mindfulness practice

on the emotional intelligence of project team members in the construction industry

12 Problem Statement

A project team is formed by a group of professional consultants, contractors,

labourers and etc There are some solid evidences showing that increasing number of

people in the project team of the construction industry can cause conflicts and

disputes Construction work is always related to the work that required proper

planning, professional judgement and wise decision making from the beginning until

the completion of a project Therefore, a project team member's ability on managing

their emotions is vital for the project success If a project team does not manage their

emotions mindfully, it might ruin the project success Also, it might cause the delay

of schedule and loss of profit to the project if the project team members do not make

a wise decision In addition, a low EI project team member will also create

unnecessary trouble to other project team members that involved in the same project

Lastly, EI of a project team member is vital for project success because intrapersonal

and interpersonal skills can cause positive and negative impact to the project

Therefore, this study attempts to study the relationship between age, gender and

emotional intelligence of project team members, to determine and examine the

effects of mindfulness practice on the EI of project team members which might help

to enhance the performance of project team members to achieve a better project

success

13 Research Aim

The main aim of this research paper is to explore the effect of mindfulness practice

on the emotional intelligence of project team members in the construction industry

14 Research Objectives

The objectives of this study are:

a To identify the relationship between age and emotional intelligence of

project team members in the construction industry

b To identify the relationship between gender and emotional intelligence of

project team members in the construction industry

c To determine the emotional intelligence of project team members with

and without mindfulness practice in the construction industry

d To examine the effects of mindfulness practice on the emotional

intelligence of project team members in the construction industry

15 Research Questions

Furthermore, in line with the above aim and objectives, this study seeks to

investigate on the following questions:

a Is there a relationship between age and emotional intelligence of project

team members in the construction industry?

b Is there a relationship between gender and emotional intelligence of

project team members in the construction industry?

c Is there a different in emotional intelligence of project team members

with and without mindfulness practice in construction industry?

d Are there any effects of mindfulness practice on the emotional

intelligence of project team members in the construction industry?

16 Research Hypothesis

Some studies have reported on the positive relationship between mindfulness

practice and emotional intelligence (Baer, 2003) This study aimed to study the

relationship between age, gender and emotional intelligence of project team members

and to determine and examine the effects of mindfulness practice which can

significantly facilitate on the emotional intelligence of project team members

According to some researches, the following hypothesis can be proposed to allow for

further analysis on the relationship between age, gender, mindfulness practice and

emotional intelligence of project team members:

129 Pages 11,614 Words 1,691 Views PDF Format No. of Chapters: 1 to 5 Chapters

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