Decision-making in highly stressful emergencies: The interactive effects of trait emotional intelligence

The purpose of this study was to examine whether, how, and when trait emotional intelligence (EI) influences the relationships between operational stress and decision-making styles for personnel working in highly stressful professions. Data for this study were collected via a cross-sectional and voluntary survey from a sample of 268 professionals (doctors = 60, paramedics = 99, police = 50 and personnel from paramilitary troops = 59) who frequently encounter emergencies as a part of their jobs. Hierarchical regression analysis and PROCESS macro for SPSS was used to test hypotheses. Results indicated that EI significantly moderated the relationships between: i) operational stress and rational decision-making, and ii) operational stress and intuitive decision-making such that the relationship of operational stress with rational and intuitive decision styles was significantly positive when EI was high and significantly negative when EI was low. EI also moderated the relationships between: i) operational stress and dependent style and ii) operational stress and avoidant style such that these relationships were positive when EI was low, and negative when EI was high. Along with its theoretical contributions, this study offers several implications for practice that are discussed at the end.