Predictors of psychological well-being among academic staff in malaysian higher education: the role of emotional intelligence, self-compassion, psychological capital, and mindfulness

As higher education institutions respond to both internal and external expectations for sustainable higher education performance, mental health concerns among academic staff with demanding workloads have been given scholarly focus. Therefore, this study aims to examine the effect of self-compassion, emotional intelligence, psychological capital, mindfulness, and psychological well-being among academic staff in Malaysian public research universities. A total of 234 sets of data were collected from academic staff in five Malaysian public research universities using stratified and simple random sampling. The hypotheses were analyzed using Partial Least Squares-Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM). The findings evidenced that self-compassion and emotional intelligence positively affect psychological capital. Similarly, psychological capital positively affects psychological well-being. Further, psychological capital mediates the relationship between self-compassion, emotional intelligence, and psychological well-being has been confirmed. However, mindfulness does not significantly moderate the relationship between psychological capital and psychological well-being. The findings contribute to a better understanding of psychological well-being by highlighting the importance of personal resources in the context of higher education settings. Furthermore, this study offers several implications for higher education institutions, the government, and policymakers, who can implement multiple psychological resources development programmes and coping strategies to cultivate their personal resources, thereby contributing to a more inclusive higher education landscape.