Previous research has highlighted the connection between emotional intelligence (EI) and work performance. However, the role of job burnout in this context remains relatively unexplored. This study aimed to examine the mediator role of burnout in the relationship between EI and work performance in a multioccupational sample of 1197 Spanish professionals (58.6% women). The participants completed the Wong and Law Emotional Intelligence Scale, the Maslach Burnout Inventory, and the Individual Work Performance Questionnaire. As expected, the results demonstrated a positive relationship between EI and performance, and a negative relationship with burnout, which has a mediator effect in the relationship between EI and work performance. Professionals with high levels of IE and low burnout reported the highest performance. Multiple mediation analyses showed that employees' EI was indirectly connected to work performance via professional efficacy and exhaustion, even when controlling the effects of sociodemographic variables. The same pattern was found when multiple mediations were conducted for each EI dimension. These findings demonstrate the importance of burnout in understanding work performance and emphasize the role of EI as a protective variable which can prevent the development or chronic progression of workers' burnout.
Keywords: burnout; emotional intelligence; exhaustion; multioccupational sample; performance; professional efficacy.