{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,8]],"date-time":"2026-09-08T05:10:35Z","timestamp":1788844235391,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":47,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"9","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,5]],"date-time":"2026-09-05T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1788566400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["J. Intell."],"abstract":"<jats:p>Emotional intelligence is the capacity to understand, regulate, and manage one\u2019s emotions, and it has significant effects on employees\u2019 psychological adjustment, interpersonal relationships, and job performance. However, the specific psychological mechanisms by which emotional intelligence influences employees\u2019 creative performance, and the conditions under which this relationship is strengthened, remain not fully understood. The aim of this study is to examine the mediating role of psychological well-being and the moderating role of cultural intelligence in the relationship between emotional intelligence and creative performance among individuals working in the information and communication technology (ICT) sector. Research data were obtained from 409 participants working in large-scale information and communication technology companies operating in Turkey, and the research hypotheses were tested using the bootstrap method with the Hayes PROCESS Macro. The findings show that emotional intelligence is positively related to psychological well-being and creative performance. Furthermore, psychological well-being significantly mediates the relationship between emotional intelligence and creative performance. The results show that cultural intelligence strengthens this indirect effect, and the contribution of emotional intelligence to creative performance is more pronounced at higher levels of cultural intelligence. The findings indicate that emotional intelligence is associated with creative performance both directly and indirectly through psychological well-being. However, the strength of this indirect association appears to vary across employees\u2019 levels of cultural intelligence, which is considered an individual capability rather than a characteristic of the work environment. In this respect, the study contributes to the literature by examining psychological well-being as an explanatory pathway and cultural intelligence as an individual-level boundary condition in the association between emotional intelligence and creative performance.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/jintelligence14090214","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,7]],"date-time":"2026-09-07T08:07:06Z","timestamp":1788768426000},"page":"214","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Emotional Intelligence and Creative Performance in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Sector: The Mediating Role of Psychological Well-Being and the Moderating Role of Cultural Intelligence"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"14","author":[{"given":"Ibrahim","family":"Yikilmaz","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Management and Organization, Faculty of Business Administration, Kocaeli University, Kocaeli 41380, T\u00fcrkiye"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6286-4184","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Lutfi","family":"Surucu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Business Administration, Faculty of Business and Economics, Altinbas Cyprus University, Mersin 10, Nicosia 99010, T\u00fcrkiye"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1206-690X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Mustafa","family":"Bekmezci","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Defence Studies, Military Academy, National Defence University, Ankara 06420, T\u00fcrkiye"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0890-7806","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Bulent","family":"Cetinkaya","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Business Administration, Faculty of Business, European Leadership University, Mersin 10, Famagusta 99500, T\u00fcrkiye"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Kemal","family":"Erogluer","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Business Administration, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Atlas University, Istanbul 34408, T\u00fcrkiye"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,5]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"738","DOI":"10.1002\/jocb.485","article-title":"Creativity and well-being: A meta-analysis","volume":"55","author":"Acar","year":"2021","journal-title":"The Journal of Creative Behavior"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1179","DOI":"10.33206\/mjss.1107468","article-title":"M\u00fctevaz\u0131 liderli\u011fin yenilik\u00e7i i\u015f davran\u0131\u015f\u0131na etkisinde psikolojik iyi olu\u015fun rol\u00fc","volume":"11","year":"2022","journal-title":"MANAS Sosyal Ara\u015ft\u0131rmalar Dergisi"},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"367","DOI":"10.2189\/asqu.2005.50.3.367","article-title":"Affect and creativity at work","volume":"50","author":"Amabile","year":"2005","journal-title":"Administrative Science Quarterly"},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"335","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1740-8784.2007.00082.x","article-title":"Cultural intelligence: Its measurement and effects on cultural judgment and decision making, cultural adaptation and task performance","volume":"3","author":"Ang","year":"2007","journal-title":"Management and Organization Review"},{"key":"ref_5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Ara\u00fajo, A. 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