The effect of trait emotional intelligence on working memory across athletic expertise

The recognition of affective states associated with players' non-verbal behavior in volleyball

The visible non-verbal behavior of volleyball players after a point might indicate their affective state. The purpose of the present study was to investigate whether the point outcome (i.e., win vs. loss) and the importance of the situation (i.e., first vs. fifth set) influence how well the affective states (indexed through non-verbal behavior) can be recognized. For this purpose, 111 participants were presented 60 video excerpts showing the non-verbal behavior of volleyball teams immediately after a rally and asked whether the shown team had just won or lost a point. The results indicated that the recognition rate was significantly higher for won (80.09%) than for lost points (65.56%) as well as for points of the fifth set (77.84%) than for points of the first set (68.51%). Furthermore, an explorative analysis showed that the recognition rate was significantly higher for won points of the fifth set (89.19%) than for those of the first set (72.13%).

Convergent Validity Analysis between the Profile of Emotional Competences Full-Form and the Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire Full-Form

Emotional dispositions have been found to influence outcomes and have applications in many areas, such as in the clinical, health, social, educational, and organizational domains. Specifically, they may influence individuals’ addictive behaviour tendencies. The aim of this study was to investigate the convergent validity between two questionnaires measuring individual differences linked to emotional dispositions, the Profile of Emotional Competences (PEC) full-form, and the Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire (TEIQue) full-form. Examining the convergent validity will identify the similarities and the unique aspects of each questionnaire. Our hypotheses were based on relationships displaying large effect sizes (r > .50). A sample of 1026 participants took part in this study (Mage = 21.35 years old, age range = 18–30). Participants completed both the PEC and the TEIQue in a counterbalanced order. Results indicated large overlaps between the two questionnaires; however, two main differences emerged: first, the PEC allows capturing precisely the emotional dispositions at the intrapersonal and interpersonal levels, while the TEIQue mixes both levels; second, the competence “using emotions”, both for one’s own emotions and for others’ emotions, is not comprehensively reflected in the TEIQue. Overall, the PEC may help to capture more specifically the distinction between intrapersonal and interpersonal emotional competences. Future research should investigate comparatively the criterion validity of both questionnaires with specific outcome variables. Future research and applied work with addiction aiming at clarifying the implication of both intrapersonal and interpersonal emotional competences may consider to rather use the PEC than the TEIQue.

Lessons From Special Forces Operators for Elite Team Sports Training: How to Make the Whole Greater Than the Sum of the Parts

This methodology paper describes the design of a holistic and multidisciplinary human performance program within the Belgian Special Forces Group, the Tier 1 Special Operations unit of the Belgian Defense. Performance management approaches in the military draw heavily on sports science. The key component of the program design described here is its integrative nature, which team sports training might benefit from. The basic rationale behind the program was to bridge several gaps: the gap between physical and mental training; the gap between the curative or preventive medical approach and the performance enhancement approach; and the gap between individual and team training. To achieve this goal, the methodology of Intervention Mapping was applied, and a multidisciplinary team of training and care professionals was constituted with operational stakeholders. This was the first step in the program design. The second step took a year, and consisted of formal and informal consultations, participant observations and task analyses. These two first stages and their conclusions are described in the Method section. The Results section covers the next two stages (three and four) of the process, which aimed at defining the content of the program; and to test a pilot project implementation. The third stage encompassed the choice of the most relevant assessment and intervention tools for the target population, within each area of expertise. This is described extensively, to allow for replication. The fourth and last stage was to "test drive" the real-life integration and implementation of the whole program at the scale of a single team (8 individuals). For obvious confidentiality reasons, the content data will not be reported extensively here. Implications for wider-scale implementation and tie-back to sports team training are presented.

Emotional Intelligence Training: Influence of a Brief Slow-Paced Breathing Exercise on Psychophysiological Variables Linked to Emotion Regulation

Designing emotional intelligence training programs requires first testing the effectiveness of techniques targeting its main dimensions. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of a brief slow-paced breathing (SPB) exercise on psychophysiological variables linked to emotion regulation, namely cardiac vagal activity (CVA), as well as perceived stress intensity, emotional arousal, and emotional valence. A total of 61 participants completed a 5-min SPB exercise and a control condition of a 5-min rest measurement. CVA was indexed with the root mean square of successive differences (RMSSD). Participants were also asked to rate their perceived stress intensity, emotional arousal, and emotional valence. Results showed that CVA was higher during SPB in comparison to the control condition. Contrary to our hypothesis, perceived stress intensity and emotional arousal increased after SPB, and perceived emotional valence was less positive after SPB. This could be explained by experiencing dyspnea (i.e., breathing discomfort), and the need to get acclimatized to SPB. Consequently, we may conclude that although physiological benefits of SPB on CVA are immediate, training may be required in order to perceive psychological benefits.