Emotional Intelligence and Its Relationship to Basic Psychological Needs: A Structural Equation Model for Student Athletes

Contributions of one hypothetical model of predictive relationships between psychological skills and emotional intelligence in university student-athletes: A cross-sectional study

Psychological skills are considered in sport psychology as indispensable capabilities to analyze the athlete's own vision of his or her own personality. These skills encompass self-confidence, positive and negative coping control, attentional control, visual-imaginative control, motivational level, and attitudinal control. The significance of this research lies in demonstrating the relationship established between each of the dimensions of emotional intelligence and the constituent skills of the personality. As such, this study aims to investigate the relationship between the seven factors related to psychological skills and emotional intelligence (attention, clarity, and emotional regulation). The sample comprises 163 university students pursuing degrees in Physical Activity and Sports Sciences, [70,9% (N = 117) men and 27.9% (N = 46) women] with a mean age of 20.33 years. As assessment instruments, we used two validated and standardized scales, the IPED and the TMMS-24. The main findings of this work allow us to affirm the existence of a relationship between the three dimensions of emotional intelligence and the control of both positive and negative coping, attentional control, visual-imaginative control, motivational level, and attitudinal control. In conclusion, this study underscores the necessity of cognitive and emotional training, in addition to physical training, to enhance these skills among both male and female athletes.

Intrinsic Motivation: Knowledge, Achievement, and Experimentation in Sports Science Students-Relations with Emotional Intelligence

In this paper, we have focused on the Self-Determination Theory, paying special attention to intrinsic motivation, which is understood as the motivation that leads the subject to perform a task without the expectation of obtaining an external reward. In the field of sport, motivation is one of the most studied variables and one of the most researched, since it is closely related to the reasons that lead the athletes to start, maintain, and abandon sports practice. The main objective of this study is to analyze the relationship between intrinsic motivation (IM) and emotional intelligence from the theoretical contributions of the Self-Determination Theory. The specific objectives are to analyze attention, clarity, and emotional regulation, as well as intrinsic motivation to acquire knowledge. Additionally, we aim to explore the relationship between attention, clarity, and emotional regulation and the intrinsic motivation to achieve something. Lastly, we investigate the correspondence between attention, clarity, and emotional regulation and the intrinsic motivation to experience stimuli. The sample consists of 163 undergraduate and master's students related to Physical Activity and Sports Sciences, studying at a Spanish public university, located in the southeast region of Andalusia-specifically, in the city of Almería. The participants had a mean age of 20.33 years. In terms of gender, 70.9% (n = 117) were men and 27.9% (n = 46) women. In terms of degree, 76.7% (n = 147) were undergraduate students and 23.3% (n = 18) were postgraduate students. The Sports Motivation Scale (SMS/EMD) was used to assess intrinsic motivation, and the TMMS-24 was used to assess emotional intelligence. The main findings of this research demonstrate the existence of a relationship between the three dimensions of emotional intelligence (emotional attention, emotional clarity, and emotional regulation) and intrinsic motivation (intrinsic motivation to know something, intrinsic motivation to achieve something, and intrinsic motivation to experience stimulation). These findings emphasize the importance of emotional intelligence for intrinsic motivation.

Relationship between emotional intelligence and learning motivation among college students during the COVID-19 pandemic: A serial mediation model

The vital influence of emotional intelligence on college students' learning motivation has received considerable attention. This study analyzed not only the relationship between emotional intelligence and college students' learning motivation during the COVID-19 pandemic, but also the serial mediating roles that self-efficacy and social support play in this relationship. Using a cross-sectional survey design, we collected data from 336 college students across 30 provinces in China, using four well-established scales measuring emotional intelligence, learning motivation, self-efficacy, and social support. We analyzed the mediating effects using the Bootstrap method. The results showed that emotional intelligence positively predicted learning motivation, and that self-efficacy and social support played serial mediating roles between emotional intelligence and learning motivation. This finding suggests the need for interventions to help college students develop emotional intelligence during the COVID-19 pandemic, and that fostering college students' self-efficacy and providing multiple social supports would help improve their motivation and academic performance.

The Importance of Emotional Intelligence in University Athletes: Analysis of Its Relationship with Anxiety

In the field of sport psychology, research on emotional intelligence and its relationship with other psychological variables to determine how it affects the athlete's performance is becoming more frequent and prevalent. Among these psychological variables, research in this field has focused on the evaluation of the influence of aspects such as motivation, leadership, self-concept, and anxiety. The main objective of this research is to analyze the levels of each of the dimensions of emotional intelligence (attention, clarity, and emotional regulation) and their relationship with each of the SCAT items to measure pre-competitive anxiety. To do so, we analyzed the influence that one psychological construct has on the other, in order to establish the type of relationships that are established between them. The design of this research corresponds to be transversal, observational, quantitative, and descriptive. The sample consisted of 165 students belonging to university degrees (bachelor's and master's) related to physical activity and sport sciences. The main finding of this study allows us to affirm the relationship between emotional intelligence and anxiety. This confirms the hypothesis that anxiety is an indispensable component of any competitive situation, and that neither the total absence of anxiety nor high levels of it leads to better sports performance. Therefore, sport psychology should focus on the emotional preparation of athletes so that they can manage and control their anxiety at intermediate levels, which in addition to being typical of a competitive situation, is also synonymous with good sporting performance.