The development of emotional intelligence, self‐efficacy, and locus of control in Master of Business Administration students

Abstract

Successful managers must develop strong interpersonal skills alongside their ability to achieve personal and organizational goals. For educational institutions to stay relevant, courses must equip students with necessary psychological competencies in addition to technical knowledge, skills and abilities for the constantly evolving business climate. We explored whether Master of Business Administration (MBA) programs aid in the development of psychological competencies, given that MBAs are a popular management development tool. Specifically, we investigated changes in MBA candidates' emotional intelligence (EI) ability, self‐efficacy (SE), and locus of control (LoC) in a pre‐post survey design over the course of a 1‐year MBA educational program and explored the relationship of candidate's baseline psychological status to their academic success in the MBA educational program. Participants were recruited from newly enrolled students at an international university in Asia. The study participants (53 MBA students, plus 26 psychology students, and 34 nonstudents as comparison groups) completed self‐report measures of EI, SE, and LoC at the beginning and end of a 1‐year MBA period. The MBA candidates showed significant improvement in EI, SE, and LoC‐internality, as well as an increase in LoC‐powerful others during the program. LoC‐powerful others at the beginning of the program also predicted MBA students' academic performance. The findings provide evidence that psychological competencies that may positively affect work performance are key benefits of MBA education.

Abusive leadership and employee commitment nexus: Conservation of resources theory perspective

“…EI stops adopting uncivil behavior and fosters trust and enhances commitment (Giao et al, 2020;Thompson et al, 2020). Beauvais et al (2017) argued EI allows treating others the way people want to be treated themselves.…”

“…Other researchers viewed emotional self-efficacy as having the confidence that the activities at the workplace can be controlled by an individual working at any level. This is more effective when employees develop emotional self-efficacy and have a positive impact on the overall organizational environment (Thompson et al, 2020). Kelly and Kaminskienė (2016) argued that EI reduces the disputes and the people having emotional controls wisely resolve the conflicts via negotiation and mediation processes.…”

The Influence of Self-Efficacy and Locus of Control on Body Image: A Path-Analysis in Aspiring Fashion Models, Athletes and Students

“…The relationship between self-efficacy and locus of control is widely investigated [ 14 , 15 , 16 ], confirming that they both are interrelated and affect the ability of the person to adjust in a given situation. Some research [ 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 ] has shown a positive relationship between self-efficacy and internal locus of control, describing how people who believe they have control over future events are more likely to use that control to achieve a positive result and experience enhanced wellbeing [ 21 ].…”

Improved Leadership Skills and Aptitudes in an Excellence EMBA Program: Creating Synergies With Dialogic Leadership to Achieve Social Impact

“…Some of the most relevant scientific contributions analyze the effects of leadership on the improvement of interpersonal skills and the ability to reach personal and organizational objectives. In higher education studies, the research includes how to provide students with the necessary psychological competencies, skills, and abilities required to deal with a constantly evolving business climate (Thompson et al, 2019). Thus, a growing number of studies are focusing on the competencies required to generate an impact on business organizations, such as self-efficacy, leadership, and locus of control.…”

“…Thus, a growing number of studies are focusing on the competencies required to generate an impact on business organizations, such as self-efficacy, leadership, and locus of control. In fact, leadership plays a key role in these studies in terms of the actions developed through leadership, their reception among organizational groups, and the impact generated on business organizations (Mumford et al, 2007;Thompson et al, 2019).…”