Exploring Perceptions toward Emotional Intelligence in Chilean Construction Using a Qualitative Approach

Abstract

This study aims to analyze the perceptions of construction experts in the Chilean construction industry regarding emotional intelligence. This exploratory and qualitative study is based on data collected through semi-structured interviews with construction professionals. The collected data were analyzed using a qualitative content analysis (QCA) technique to leverage how emotional intelligence (EI) is perceived by professionals in Chilean construction projects. A review, coding, and categorization were carried out within each transcribed interview, which allowed the elaboration of coding dictionaries and corresponding frequency tables to identify emerging topics. Our main results indicate that interviewees perceived EI as a tool to help them face the problems in Chilean construction projects. According to the interviewees, the benefits of implementing EI training are mainly the socio-emotional development and the transfer of critical skills to confront the challenges related to workers’ interactions. The main barriers are related to the work culture, lack of awareness of EI among construction workers, economic interests, and gender factors. The literature points to limited studies on understanding emotional intelligence in the construction sector, particularly in South America. This study contributes to responding to the need to explore and provide knowledge on emotional intelligence in the construction sector in the context of a South American country. This study contributes to exploring and understanding how EI is understood among workers in Chilean construction projects. In practicality, construction managers may use our findings to design training programs that leverage EI to improve the management of construction projects.

Research on the Propagation Model of Unsafe Behaviors among Construction Workers Based on a Two-Layer NAN-SIRS Network

“…To further explore the interaction between changes in safety attitudes and the spread of unsafe behaviors among construction workers, this paper proposes a two-layer net work NAN-SIRS model and conducts numerical simulations. In comparison with existing research [46,47], this paper not only analyzes the impact of safety attitudes of construction workers on unsafe behaviors but also delves into the mechanisms of their interaction. Fur thermore, it considers the influence of factors such as conformity psychology and hetero geneity among construction workers on the spread of unsafe behaviors.…”