Emotional intelligence and childbearing affective reward expectation among female healthcare workers: the chain mediating roles of family emotional labor strategies and emotional exhaustion-evidence from Anhui Province, China.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relationship between emotional intelligence and childbearing affective reward expectation, and analyze the potential roles of family emotional labor strategies and emotional exhaustion in this relationship. METHODS: A two-stage questionnaire survey using the emotional intelligence scale, family emotional labor scale, and emotional exhaustion scale was conducted among 450 female healthcare workers from three affiliated hospitals of a medical college in Anhui Province, located in Hefei, Suzhou, and Fuyang. CONCLUSION: This study confirms a positive correlation between emotional intelligence and childbearing affective reward expectation among female healthcare workers of childbearing age and reveals the mediating roles of family emotional labor strategies and emotional exhaustion in this relationship. The findings have theoretical value and practical significance for deepening the understanding of the psychological roots of low fertility intentions and designing fertility support policies that go beyond economic incentives to address emotional needs.