The Role of Work Motivation in Mediating the Effect of Emotional Intelligence on Teacher Performance at State High School 1 Pintu Rime Gayo Bener Meriah Regency
Keywords:
Emotional Intelligence, Work Motivation, Teacher PerformanceAbstract
This study aims to analyze the role of work motivation in mediating the influence of emotional intelligence on teacher performance at SMA Negeri 1 Pintu Rime Gayo, Bener Meriah Regency. This study was motivated by the continuing variations in work enthusiasm, discipline, teaching creativity, lesson preparation, and teachers’ ability to cope with work-related stress. These differences are suspected to be influenced by teachers’ levels of emotional intelligence and work motivation. The study employed a quantitative approach using a census method. The study population consisted of all 60 teachers at SMA Negeri 1 Pintu Rime Gayo, and the entire population was used as the research sample. Data were collected through the distribution of questionnaires using a Likert scale and analyzed using the Partial Least Squares–Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) method with SmartPLS. The results showed that all indicators met the criteria for validity and reliability. The R² value indicates that emotional intelligence explains 11.6% of the variation in work motivation, while emotional intelligence and work motivation together explain 56.6% of the variation in teacher performance. The results of the hypothesis testing indicate that emotional intelligence has a positive and significant effect on teacher performance (β = 0.169; p = 0.048), emotional intelligence has a positive and significant effect on work motivation (β = 0.340; p = 0.000), and work motivation has a positive and significant effect on teacher performance (β = 0.678; p = 0.000). Furthermore, work motivation was found to positively and significantly mediate the effect of emotional intelligence on teacher performance (β = 0.231; p = 0.001). The conclusion of this study is that high emotional intelligence can enhance teachers’ work motivation, which in turn leads to improved teacher performance. Thus, work motivation plays a crucial role as a mediating variable in the relationship between emotional intelligence and teacher performance. This study offers practical implications that schools need to develop teachers’ emotional intelligence through training and coaching, as well as create policies capable of enhancing work motivation to support the sustainable improvement of teacher performance.
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