Street‐level bureaucrats' emotional intelligence and its relation with their performance
| Published date | 01 September 2023 |
| Author | Jasper Eshuis,Noortje Boer,Erik Hans Klijn |
| Date | 01 September 2023 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/padm.12841 |
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Street-level bureaucrats' emotional intelligence
and its relation with their performance
Jasper Eshuis
1
| Noortje de Boer
2
| Erik Hans Klijn
1
1
Department of Public Administration and
Sociology, Erasmus University Rotterdam,
Rotterdam, The Netherlands
2
Utrecht School of Governance, Utrecht
University, Utrecht, The Netherlands
Correspondence
Jasper Eshuis, Department of Public
Administration and Sociology
Erasmus University Rotterdam, Rotterdam,
The Netherlands.
Email: eshuis@essb.eur.nl
Funding information
The Netherlands Food and Consumer Product
Safety Authority (NVWA)
Abstract
This article analyses whether the emotional intelligence (EI)
of street-level bureaucrats, in this case inspectors, predicts
their individual performance. It explores whether EI predicts
the aggression that inspectors face and whether this
explains the relation between EI and performance. Our sur-
vey among 547 inspectors, measuring their (self) percep-
tions, shows that inspectors' ability to appraise others'
emotions and use their emotions intelligently (i.e., motivat-
ing themselves and maintaining a positive attitude) is signifi-
cantly associated with inspectors' performance. Ability to
appraise others' emotions predicts increases encountered
aggression (as perceived by inspectors), and capacity to reg-
ulate one's emotions correlates with decreased perceived
encountered aggression. The paper contributes to street-
level bureaucracy literature by identifying affective factors
that help explain performance, and to EI literature by theo-
rizing and testing succedents of various dimensions of EI
rather than assuming that EI is unidimensional.
Dit artikel verkent of de emotionele intelligentie (EI) van
inspecteurs hun individuele prestaties voorspelt. Er wordt
onderzocht of EI verklarend is voor de agressie waarmee
inspecteurs te maken krijgen, en of deze ondervonden
agressie vervolgens de prestaties verklaart. Uit dit
onderzoek waarin we de (zelf)perceptie van 547 inspecteurs
hebben gemeten, blijkt dat het vermogen van inspecteurs
Received: 25 June 2021 Revised: 7 February 2022 Accepted: 18 February 2022
DOI: 10.1111/padm.12841
This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which
permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no
modifications or adaptations are made.
© 2022 The Authors. Public Administration published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
804 Public Admin. 2023;101:804–821.
wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/padm
om emoties van anderen in te schatten en hun eigen
emoties intelligent te gebruiken (d.w.z. zichzelf te motiveren
en een positief te blijven) significant samenhangt met de
prestaties van inspecteurs. Het vermogen om emoties van
anderen in te schatten voorspelt een toename van agressie
die inspecteurs ondervinden, en het vermogen om hun
eigen te emoties te reguleren correleert met een afname
van ondervonden agressie. Het artikel draagt bij aan de
literatuur over contactambtenaren (street-level bureau-
cracy) door affectieve factoren te identificeren die pres-
taties helpen verklaren, en aan de EI-literatuur door
verschillende dimensies van EI te theoretiseren en te testen
in plaats van aan te nemen dat EI eendimensionaal is.
1|INTRODUCTION
Being street-level bureaucrats (SLBs), inspectors conduct frontline work and interact face-to-face with people such
as restaurant owners, farmers, and individual citizens. Inspectors supervise and inspect inspectees, often enforcing
and sanctioning citizens' behavior (e.g., Van de Walle & Raaphorst, 2019). Interactions between inspectors and
inspectees are inherently emotional because emotions are inherent in human interaction (Turner & Stets, 2005).
Additionally, enforcement interactions are often nonvoluntary and punitive, potentially triggering stress and negative
emotions among inspectees. SLBs thus regularly face anger, aggression, and violence from citizens. This may influ-
ence SLBs' work and well-being (Barling et al., 2001; Tummers et al., 2016).
Although scholars have increasingly called for research on emotional aspects of street-level bureaucracy (Fin-
eman & Sturdy, 1999; Jensen & Pedersen, 2017; Lavee & Strier, 2019; Schaible & Six, 2016), the literature on such
aspects is limited. The main focus in SLB literature is on institutions, cognition, and (rational) behavioral aspects such
as discretion and coping (Hupe & Bufat, 2014; Lipsky, 1980). Literature on SLB performance, studied in this paper,
often builds on Lipsky's seminal work and views resource constraints as elementary. Although recent SLB literature
broadens the scope of explanations, for example addressing the influence of caseloads on performance
(Thomann, 2015), the affective dimension is still understudied.
As emotions are ubiquitous in enforcement, inspectors must manage those emotions (e.g., Fineman &
Sturdy, 1999). Regulating emotions is crucial “to get the job done”(Guy et al., 2008, p. 97) and critical for the effec-
tiveness of public service work (Newman et al., 2009). Lavee and Strier (2019, p. 4) highlight that this is especially
true for SLBs: “in the interactions of street-level bureaucrats, emotion must be managed in a manner consistent with
the role expectations of the position and to elicit the desired response from recipients.”The literature that does
focus on emotions at the frontline highlights the importance of SLBs acting in emotionally intelligent ways, through
understanding others' emotions and showing emotionally appropriate behavior themselves (Jensen & Peder-
sen, 2017; Rayner & Lawton, 2018; Schaible & Six, 2016). The literature indicates the importance of knowing more
about the relationship between emotional intelligence (EI) and SLB work and performance, but there is not much
solid empirical evidence. Some insightful qualitative research touches upon SLBs' emotional competences (Rayner &
Lawton, 2018; Schaible & Six, 2016), but quantitative research is largely lacking (a rare exception is Jensen &
Pedersen, 2017).
ESHUIS ET AL. 805
Get this document and AI-powered insights with a free trial of vLex and Vincent AI
Get Started for FreeStart Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting