The Role of Emotional Intelligence in Nurses’ Job Satisfaction: Exploring the Mediating Effects of Self-Efficacy and Fear of Negative Evaluation

Job satisfaction among nurses is a critical determinant of healthcare system stability and effectiveness. Among the psychological forces that shape nurses’ professional attitudes and well-being, emotional intelligence (EI), self-efficacy, and fear of negative evaluation (FNE) stand out. The present study tests how emotional intelligence influences job satisfaction and, in particular, whether self-efficacy and fear of negative evaluation carry that influence as mediators. Working within a descriptive-correlational framework, we surveyed 220 nurses and nursing students drawn by convenience sampling from Imam Reza Hospital and Tabriz University of Medical Sciences. Responses were gathered through validated self-report questionnaires and analyzed with structural equation modeling (SEM), estimated via the Partial Least Squares (PLS) approach in SmartPLS. Emotional intelligence was a positive predictor of both self-efficacy and fear of negative evaluation. Self-efficacy, in turn, raised job satisfaction significantly, while fear of negative evaluation produced no significant direct effect on it. The data further showed that self-efficacy carried the link between emotional intelligence and job satisfaction, whereas no comparable mediating role emerged for FNE. By testing two psychological pathways side by side, this study offers fresh evidence on how emotional intelligence reaches job satisfaction. Self-efficacy emerges as the dominant mediating channel, while FNE contributes no meaningful indirect effect. The results point to the value of strengthening emotional intelligence and self-efficacy in nurses as a way to lift motivation, ease psychological strain, and improve organizational outcomes.