Emotional Intelligence and Anxiety at Workplace: Study on Security Personnel Employed in Educational Institution

Stress and anxiety is inevitable in human life. It affects both personal and professional life, if not managed properly. Workplace is a common site to trigger anxiety. According to Mental Health Foundation's survey report (2014) approximately 1 in every 5 respondents have disclosed that they feel anxious 'nearly all of the time' or 'a lot of the time' The report also highlighted the fact that people are more anxious in the present time than they were five years ago. The change in work patterns due to use of information technology/specialized software packages, increase in self regulated and team work, and changes in employment patterns: downsizing, outsourcing, subcontracting and globalization are creating new challenges for both physical and mental health  2002) Anxiousness related to 'finance, money and debt' are on rise most probably due to recession and austerity taking a heavy toll on public mental health and well being. This leads to various types of psychological problems with many complexities like fatigue, irritability and poor communication. High stress levels also affect the morale and motivation of the employees. Prolonged exposure to stress without effective coping mechanisms can lead to a host of physical and mental problems. Anxiety being one of the most common mental health problems in contemporary times has remained under reported, under diagnosed and under treated. Industrial psychologists have made several attempts to promote well being in the workplace. Research has demonstrated that occupational stress or the amount of stress experienced at work varies with the level of emotional intelligence (El) of the individuals. Studies demonstrate how emotions play an integral part in managing stress and anxiety at workplace. According to Salovey and Mayer (1990) emotional intelligence broadly connotes an innate ability of an individual to monitor one's own and others' feelings and emotions, discriminating among them and using this information to guide one's thinking and actions.In India, many private agencies arrange security guards for offices, schools, academic institutes, banks and many other places. It is known that security guards as a distinct professional group are exposed to unique and powerful stressors. The nature of job responsibilities that security personnel are assigned to them requires continuous vigilance which is very strenuous both physically as well as mentally. Some situations of human nuisance like conflicting encounters put so much of physical strain that it triggers manifestation of stress. In top management institutes and corporate interventions to manage stress at workplace through use of El is prevalent that is backed up by scientific research. In comparison, less affluent working sectors have limited scope and capacity to arrange stress management techniques. For security guards, such provisions are all the more is non existent. This warrants for an investigation to understand the role of emotional intelligence for arresting anxiety at workplace among security personnel. The study also proposes to investigate various coping mechanisms adopted by the security guards to manage their anxiety through face to face interview.Anxiety and occupational stressExperience of anxiety is an inseparable part of human life. It is a biological response mechanism to tackle dangerous situations through "fight or flight" mode. It can even work as an aid for motivating an individual to overcome challenging situations. Anxiety in adequate 'quantity' can help individuals in enhancing performance and stimulate for appropriate action and creativity. On the other hand, persistent anxiety interferes with the physical, psychological and behavioral aspects of a person's life equilibrium and lead to symptomatic burden. Anxiety disorders such as panic attacks, phobias and obsessive behavioral patterns can develop over a period of time due to continuous exposure to anxiety and stress. It has a debilitating and distressing impact over an individual's physical and mental health.