Leadership support, emotional intelligence, and self-efficacy as determinants of job satisfaction: a structural equation modeling (sem) study in punjab’s public sector

Abstract

This study investigates the impact of leadership support, emotional intelligence, and self-efficacy on job satisfaction, with a focus on the mediating role of job performance, within the public sector school education department of Punjab, Pakistan. Public sector organizations in Punjab face numerous challenges, including inadequate resources, high student-teacher ratios, bureaucratic constraints, and poor working conditions, which significantly impact employee satisfaction and performance. With quantitative research method, data was gathered from 502 employees through questionnaire developed and completed by the respondents themselves. Structural Equaltion Modeling (SEM) analyses has been performed via Smart PLS. Based on the findings, the outcomes reveal that leadership processes, emotional skills, and self-attitude do not only enhance satisfaction personally but also enhance performance at work which reflects and increases satisfaction. Implications of this research for theory are, firstly, confirmation of existing theoretical constructs in the context of the public sector in Punjab, Pakistan and, secondly, identification of job performance as a key mediating construct. Consequently, the study identifies novel research insights that concern leader support, emotional intelligence, self-efficacy, job performance, and job satisfaction within the under-researched setting of Punjab’s public sector.

Keywords: Leadership Support, Emotional Intelligence, Job satisfaction, self-efficacy, Job performance, Public sector organizations , Punjab Pakistan.