Abstract:
Emotional awareness, emotional regulation, empathy, and resilience are
key components of emotional intelligence. Twenty-first-century leaders
require such competencies, and prior research establishes a positive impact
of emotional intelligence on leadership and well-being. The mechanisms
through which leaders develop these competencies remain unclear. Mentoring,
a developmental tool linked with well-being, has not been extensively
studied for its role in emotional intelligence development. The current study
investigates this relationship within the context of vocational education and
training in South Africa. The mentoring framework includes individual, peer
group, and key performance area mentoring. In previous research on this
mentoring framework, leaders perceived emotional well-being as the most
important outcome of mentoring and development, constituting another
vital factor. Data were collected from a treatment group of leaders who have
participated in the mentoring framework and a control group of leaders and
lecturers (N = 139). The present study used exploratory and confirmatory factor
analysis to validate the Schutte Self-Report Emotional Intelligence Test within
this context. In the next step, we employed descriptive analysis to answer
which mentoring type was best perceived to support emotional intelligence.
Using the Mann–Whitney U test, we tested for significant differences in
the identified factors between treatment and control group. Mediated and
moderated mediation analyses explored variables such as gender, occupational
role, organization, and work sector. Results indicate a six-factor structure of
emotional intelligence, with significant differences observed between groups
in the factor empathy difficulty. Peer group mentoring emerged as an effective
method for emotional intelligence development among leaders. The perceived
importance of emotional intelligence for one’s job position, the organization,
and the work sector mediated five of the six factors. The moderated mediation
analyses showed an indirect effect of gender, where being male was associated
with more trustworthy visionary and empathy. The findings underscore the
significance of peer mentoring practices and organizational factors in nurturing
emotional intelligence, highlighting its value for personal and organizational
well-being. Overall, the study sheds light on developing emotional intelligence
at all organizational levels to support individual and collective well-being.
