The Mediating Role of Emotion Regulation in the Relationship between Social Competence and Perceived Social Support with the Quality of Work Life of Employees

The aim of the present study was to determine the mediating role of emotion regulation (suppression and reappraisal) in the relationship between social competence and perceived social support with the quality of work life of employees. The research method is correlational in the form of structural equation modeling analysis. The statistical population of this study included all employees of Qadisiyyah Oil Company, Iraq in the summer of 2023. From the mentioned statistical population, 280 people were selected through available sampling and responded to the questionnaires of quality of work life (Walton, 1973), social competence (Fillner et al., 1990), perceived social support (Zimt et al., 1988), and emotion regulation (Gross and John, 2003). The data were analyzed using the statistical analysis methods of Pearson correlation coefficient and structural equation modeling. The research findings showed that the direct relationship between perceived social support and the suppression component (0.144) and social competence with quality of work life (0.067) was not significant (p<0.05). However, the relationship between social competence and the suppression component (-0.364), social competence with the reappraisal component (0.66), perceived social support with the reappraisal component (0.293), the suppression component with quality of work life (-0.173), the reappraisal component with quality of work life (0.408), and perceived social support with quality of work life (0.369) was significant (p<0.05). Also, based on the bootstrap test, the indirect relationship between social competence and perceived social support with quality of work life through the mediating role of emotion regulation was significant. Based on the findings of the present study, in order to improve the quality of work life among oil company employees, it is necessary to provide the necessary conditions to improve and increase social competence, perceived social support, and emotion regulation, which should be considered by managers and policymakers of oil companies in Iraq.