Emotional Intelligence as a Predictor of Work - Family Conflict among School Teachers in North Central Province in Sri Lanka

Quality teachers are the valuable assets of any country in the process of developing human capital for a knowledge-based economy. The level of Emotional Intelligence and balancing work and family responsibilities are much more important especially for teachers in improving their quality. Based on the Sri Lankan research literature, there was no investigation which had focused the impact of Emotional Intelligence on Work - Family Conflict among school teachers in North Central province in Sri Lanka. This study investigated the impact of Emotional Intelligence on Work - Family Conflict among the school teachers in North Central province in Sri Lanka. A total of 325 school teachers were selected from Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa districts using the convenience sampling technique. The structured questionnaires were used to measure the Emotional Intelligence and Work - Family Conflict. Data collected were analysed using correlation coefficient and regression analysis. The results showed that the level of Emotional Intelligence had a significant negative relationship with Work-Family Conflict. It was also indicated significant negative effects for Emotional Intelligence on work to family conflict and family to work conflict. It is concluded that the possession of high Emotional Intelligence is more important when balancing work family responsibilities