Abstract
Understanding one's own and others' emotions can help practitioners form positive relationships with clients. The contributions of emotions and emotional intelligence (EI) to working relationships were studied in the context of Malaysian culture. The current research applied the ethnographic approach to the research design; however, it was not conducted as a full ethnography, but was underpinned and framed by ethnographic ideas. The social workers' perceptions of emotions and EI in the workplace were investigated through semi-structured interviews. A total of 25 semi-structured interviews with child social workers in Sabah, Petaling Jaya, and Kuala Lumpur were conducted. Individual interviews were executed to learn about the contributions of emotions and EI to their professional practices in terms of working relationships and decision-making processes. Information from the direct observation was also used to further contextualize emotions and EI in the eyes of social workers. Three main themes (i.e., aspects of EI) have been identified concerning EI in the social work profession in Malaysia, particularly in working relationships: 1) the skill of empathizing, and 2) the expression and regulation of one’s own and others’ emotional experiences. Regarding gender differences, the present research findings seemed to show a resemblance in the way both male and female participants reported using emotions in their work.