Purpose - This study is to investigate the relationship among emotional intelligence, self-efficacy and job stress of foreign life insurance consultants focusing on the mediating effect of self-efficacy. Regarding job security, in general foreign life insurance companies in Korea have more severe working conditions in terms of required contract performance. For foreign life insurance consultants, they are assumed to need higher level of emotional intelligence and self efficacy to meet the conditions. In this study, focus is cast on these aspects.
Research design, data, and methodology – Basically the research is conducted upon questionnaires responded by foreign life insurance consultants. That is, data are collected from 255 sample of insurance consultants who work for a foreign owned life insurance company. The Questionnaire measure the level of emotional intelligence, self-efficacy and job stress of insurance consultants. The data are analyzed using pearson's correlation coefficient and hierarchical multiple regression, descriptive statistics, t-test, ANOVA, Durbin-Watson test.
Results – The general characteristics of respondents are gender, age, marital status, education level, income monthly, career length, change jobs no, working day per week, call no. per week, meeting no. with client per week, contract regularity, contract no. per month and cancellation contract per year. The mean of emotional intelligence is 2.63, self-efficacy is 3.44 and job stress is 2.20. Emotional intelligence is composed with mean value of self emotion appraisal(3.93), other’s emotion appraisal(3.78), regulation of emotion(3.29) and use of emotion(3.52). The mean of self efficacy is composed with mean value of self-confidence(3.41), self-regulated efficacy(3.59) and preference task difficulty(3.30). The job stress is composed with mean value of job requirement(2.61), lack of job autonomy(1.99), conflict of personal relations(1.99), job instability(2.38), organizational system(2.19) and inappropriate compensation(2.07). There is a significant positive correlation between emotional intelligence and self-efficacy. The emotional intelligence and self-efficacy are significantly negative correlation with job stress. The self-efficacy is showed a mediating variable between emotional intelligence and job stress.
Conclusions - To decrease job stress level, foreign life insurance company should find the factors to improve the emotional intelligence and self-efficacy of life insurance consultants, and develop appropriate plans using a mediating role of self– efficacy between emotional intelligence and job stress.