Effect of Emotional Intelligence on Internal Service Quality: The Mediating Role of Organizational Citizenship Behavior in Banking Sector

The aim of the study is to ascertain the mediating role of organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) on the relationship between emotional intelligence (EI) and internal service quality (ISQ) in the banking sector of Pakistan. Banking sector is selected because of its progressive nature impelling an elevated need for adaptability and pliability of employees. The study is conducted on branches of five different banks listed on Pakistan Stock Exchange. Branches are selected through simple random sampling covering Peshawar.  Data was collected through questionnaire consisting of 67 items to measure emotional intelligence, organizational citizenship behavior and internal service quality. Finding revealed that there is a significant impact of EI on Organizational citizenship behavior and Internal Service Quality. Furthermore, organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) had a significant negative influence on ISQ. However, the study finds out partial mediating role of organizational citizenship behavior on the linkage between EI and ISQ. Significant limitations emerge from the existing researches. Individual studies have focused on the relationship of emotional intelligence with Organizational citizenship behavior and the correlation of service quality and organizational citizenship behavior from employee perspective. There is lack of research that seeks to establish the causal chain of relationship between the three variables.