An Empirical Study on the Role of Work Ethics and Emotional Intelligence on Software Engineers’ Work Performance and Job Satisfaction

Advancement in Information and Communication Technology have led to society utilizing software in every sector including healthcare, and transport. As software engineers impact society significantly, they have a duty to behave ethically in their work. Otherwise, it could cause great harm, such as the Facebook-Cambridge Analytica scandal. Although calls for reform are made after such incidents, sufficient action is not being taken in research, education and industries. Hence, this study aims to investigate the relationship between the work ethics of software engineers and their emotional intelligence (EQ), work performance and job satisfaction. Using the survey method, we collected data from 170 software engineers. Significant findings of the study are: there is a strong significant positive correlation between work ethics and work performance; a moderate positive correlation between work ethics and job satisfaction, however, EQ does not significantly moderate the relationship between work ethics and job satisfaction.