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korean management review - Vol. 54, No. 4

[ Article ]
korean management review - Vol. 54, No. 4, pp. 949-976
Abbreviation: kmr
ISSN: 1226-1874 (Print)
Print publication date 31 Aug 2025
Received 04 Feb 2025 Revised 06 May 2025 Accepted 03 Jun 2025
DOI: https://doi.org/10.17287/kmr.2025.54.4.949

An Empirical Study on the Relationships among Perception on the Work-Life Balance, Compassion at Work, and Organizational Commitment: The Moderating Role of Emotional Intelligence
Sang-Eon Park ; Joosang Kim
(First Author) Chungbuk National University, College of Business (separk@chungbuk.ac.kr)
(Corresponding Author) KFIC (jskimv@naver.com)

일-생활 균형 인식, 직장 내 공감 그리고 조직몰입 간의 관계에 관한 실증연구: 감성지능의 조절효과
박상언 ; 김주상
(주저자) 충북대학교 경영대학
(교신저자) 충북대학교 경영학박사

Copyright 2025 THE KOREAN ACADEMIC SOCIETY OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0, which permits unrestricted, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

For most organizational members, the workplace presents a coexistence of both positive and negative emotional experiences. However, through the compassion of colleagues, the workplace can transform into a site for high-quality relationships and human healing. From this perspective, this study empirically investigates the antecedents and consequences of compassion at work. Specifically, we propose that members' perception of their work-life balance functions as a psychological resource and an antecedent of their compassion at work. We also examine the mediating role of compassion at work in the relationship between members' perception of their work-life balance and organizational commitment. Additionally, we verify the moderating role of members' emotional intelligence in the activation of compassion at work. We collected survey data from 339 employees at a manufacturing company. Our major findings are as follows: First, a positive relationship exists between organizational members' perception of their work-life balance and compassion at work. Second, we observed the mediating role of compassion at work in the relationship between members' perception of work-life balance and their organizational commitment. Furthermore, an organizational member's emotional intelligence moderated the positive relationship between the perception of work-life balance and compassion at work, and it also moderated the mediating effects of compassion at work. Based on these findings, we discuss the managerial implications of this research and future research directions.

초록

대부분의 조직 구성원들에게 있어서 직장은 희로애락이 교차하는 곳일 수 있다. 그렇지만 이들이 자신의 일터에서 비록 고통과 실의를 경험하게 되더라도, 동료들에 의해 진정성 있는 공감 행동이 이루어진다면 그 직장은 구성원들에게 따뜻한 치유의 장소가 될 수도 있다. 이러한 취지에서 본 연구는 직장 내 공감의 선행 영향요인과 효과성에 대해 실증해 보고자 하였다. 구체적으로, 본 연구에서는 구성원들이 평소 지각해 온 자신의 일-생활 균형과 관련된 긍정적인 평가와 인식은 이들의 공감행위를 진작시키는 일종의 심리적 여유자원으로 기능하여, 직장 내 공감에 긍정적 영향을 미칠 수 있는 선행 촉진 조건으로 작용할 수 있다고 보았다. 또한 일-생활 균형에 대한 자기평가와 인식이 소속 조직에 대한 몰입에 미치는 영향관계에서 직장 내 공감 경험이 구체적으로 어떠한 심리적 매개역할을 하는 지에 대해서도 살펴보고자 하였다. 아울러, 본 연구는 직장 내 공감이 활성화되는 과정에서 구성원의 감성지능이 수행하는 긍정적 조절역할에 대해서도 함께 실증해 보았다. 국내 제조기업 사원 339명을 대상으로 한 설문조사 결과, 본 연구가 예상한 가설은 대부분 지지되었다. 이러한 분석결과가 시사해 주는 경영관리적 함의와 함께, 본 연구의 한계점을 보완할 수 있는 대안적 연구설계 방안에 대한 토론이 제시되었다.


Keywords: compassion at work, perception on the work-life balance, emotional intelligence, organizational commitment
키워드: 직장 내 공감, 일-생활 균형 인식, 감성지능, 조직몰입

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∙저자 박상언은 현재 충북대학교 경영대학 겅엉학부 교수로 재직 중이다. 연세대에서 박사학위를 받은 후, 그간 조직문화, 성과주의, 감정노동, 일-생활 균형 등에 관한 논문을 게재해 왔으며, 최근에는 직장 내 사회적 관계의 질, 공감과 번영감 등 조직 구성원의 정서에 관한 연구관심을 추구해 왔다.

∙저자 김주상은 (주)LG화학에서 생산, 노무관리 및 경영기획 업무를 수행하였다. 한양대학교 공과대학을 졸업하였으며, 충북대학교 대학원에서 경영학 석사 및 박사 학위를 취득하였다. 주요 연구분야는 사회적 관계의 질, 직장 내 공감, 활력감, 조직몰입 및 일-생활 균형 등이다.