The Effectiveness of Emotional Intelligence in the Face of Terrorism Fear and Employees’ Mental Health Strain

Rising terrorist attacks around the globe have seriously deteriorated individual quality of life in general and mental well-being in particular. By considering the negative impacts of terrorism and the resulting fear on employees’ mental health strain, this study has examined the relations among fear of terror (FOT), personal burnout (PB), and emotional intelligence (EI), mainly exploring whether EI moderated the association between FOT and PB. For this purpose, we have collected data from 413 employees’ in the education sector of Pakistan. These employees are working in different cities of the two most vulnerable and terrorism-affected provinces of Balochistan and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KPK), Pakistan. Results of the hierarchical regression analysis revealed a significant positive relationship between FOT and PB, while EI significantly moderated the relationship between FOT and PB. Therefore, the positive association between FOT and PB was stronger for those participants who reported a low level of EI and weaker for those with high EI. The theoretical and practical implications of the study based on the findings were discussed. The key findings of the study show that EI could serve as a protective factor in the path from FOT to PB and improved individuals’ mental health by protecting them from burnout.