The Impact of Supervisor Emotional Intelligence and Supervisor Personality on Employee Job Anxiety: Job Resources Perspective

The current study investigates the role of supervisor emotional intelligence and supervisor personality in employee job anxiety with a mediator effect of job resources in Sri Lankan garment manufacturing. Based on a cross-sectional survey of 220 machine operators and a structural equation modeling analysis, the study finds that supervisor emotional intelligence and personality both have significant effects on employee job anxiety with job resources playing an important mediating role. The findings show that emotionally intelligent and positive-personality supervisors build higher job resources such as support, feedback, and autonomy, which reduce employees' job anxiety. The research contributes to the literature by filling a gap on the overall impact of supervisor traits on employees' mental health in organizational settings. The practical suggestions detail the necessity of organizational efforts to develop supervisor emotional intelligence and personality skills to create job resources and buffer job worry, enhancing workers' well-being and productivity.