Introduction:
Nurses are exposed to a lot of tension due to their sensitive job, which can lead to aggressive and violent behavior among them. Anger is a complex emotion in human being, which is considered a normal response to unwanted situation or behavior. However, it could turn to destructive aggression if it gets out of control. Moral intelligence can be considered as a fundamental criterion for human behavior to guide him what is right or wrong. The present study aims to investigate the relationship between moral intelligence and anger in nurses.
Methods and Materials:
This is a descriptive correlational research that is carried out through a sampling of 140 nurses in the Social Security Organization hospitals in Gonbad and Gorgan. Two questionnaires including Lennick & Kiel Moral Intelligence Test and AGQ aggression Test were used for data collection. The data analysis was performed using statistical software SPSS16, implementing descriptive statistics (tables, mean, and standard deviation) and inferential statistics (Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient, independent T-test and analysis of variance).
Results:
The measures of 148/1 ± 18/7 for the moral intelligence and 68/5 ± 13/3 for the aggression indicated a statistically meaningful relationship in a way that the increase in one (moral intelligence) caused a decrease in another (aggression) rate. There was no meaningful relationship between moral intelligence and aggression with demographic characteristics.
Conclusion:
The results showed that by improving and enhancing ethical intelligence, the level of anger in nurses can be reduced. Hence, through planning and holding courses and workshops on ethical and communication issues, hospital authorities and supervisors can increase the intelligence and ethical attitude of nurses and prevent conflict between nurses and patients and colleagues.