Study of emotional intelligence and sports performance

Abstract

There is a growing interest in emotional intelligence in sport (Meyer and Zizzi, 2007). Recent research found emotional intelligence related to emotions experienced before successful and unsuccessful performance (Lane et al., 2009). Lane et al., 2009 found that emotions correlating with successful performance vigor, happiness, and calmness, whereas emotions associating with poor performance include confusion, depression and fatigue. Emotional intelligence correlated positively with pleasant emotions and negatively with unpleasant emotions. Further, Lane et al., 2009 found emotional intelligence scores correlated with frequent use of psychological skills. Athletes reporting frequent use of psychological skills (Thomas et al., 1999) [5] also appear to report high scores on the self-report emotional intelligence scale (Schutte et al., 1998). Emotional intelligence (EI) has been reported to be more realistic than other measures in evaluating performances in many fields of human activities. However, research evidences reveal that its application to amateur athletes and its possible effectiveness in enhancing sports performances is yet unknown. This study therefore investigated the difference of emotional intelligence level among the university level high and low performing soccer players.