Abstract:
Job satisfaction is a crucial variable that positively influences
personal and organisational outcomes. The influence of emotional intelligence
on employee satisfaction has been well documented in the literature, but lack of
studies found such research among repatriates. This study aims to investigate
the influence of repatriates’ emotional intelligence on job satisfaction through
repatriation adjustment. The study was conducted with 96 repatriates who have
at least two years of expatriation experiences. The proposed relationship was
assessed through structural equation modelling with SmartPLS. This study
found that emotional intelligence enables repatriates to adjust their repatriation
transition better and better adjustment enhances their job satisfaction.
Unexpectedly the proposed relationship between emotional intelligence and
satisfaction was not significant as expected. However, this study found that the
relationship between emotional intelligence and satisfaction absorbed by
repatriation adjustment. This study contributes to the literature by empirically
investigating the relationship between emotional intelligence and satisfaction
among repatriates and by introducing adjustment as a mediator on this
relationship. The implication for organisation and individual, limitations of the
study and avenue for future research has been discussed.
