THE LINK OF EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE TOWARDS AGRICULTURE EXTENSION AGENTS’ JOB PERFORMANCE IN MALAYSIA: A STUDY IN AGRO-BASED INDUSTRIES.

Abstract

Recent times the agriculture sector have play a significant role in addressing the global crises. This study explores the links of emotional intelligence (EI) towards job performance of agricultural extension agents in Malaysia Agro-based industries. Throughout this study, four (4) elements of EI (self-awareness, self-motivation, self-regulation, and relationship management) were tested. The method of the study is through a descriptive quantitative analysis research by using the Wong Law Emotional Intelligence Scale (WLEIS), which was constructed using the ability EI model. 448 of respondents from various agencies in Malaysia were involved and resulted a significant correlation between the EI elements and the agricultural extension agents’ job performance through Pearson’s Correlation analysis. In addition, self-regulation reported as the most influential elements affected job performance among the respondents through regression analysis. Future research should be done aggressively on how to integrate the development of EI into the various agricultural education instructional initiatives.

Keywords: Emotional intelligence; job performance; Agro-based industries; agriculture extension agent; food security.