The Comparison of Emotional Intelligence and Psychological Skills between Elite and Non-Elite Individual and Team Athletes in Iranian Superior League and Relationship with Athlete's Experience

The Main purpose of this research was to compare emotional intelligence and psychological skills between elite and non-elite individual and team athletes in Iranian superior league and relationship with athletes’ experience. 160 individual and team athletes from Golestan province in Iranian super league (volleyball, sitting volleyball, kabadi (males and females), footsal, basketball, track and field, wrestling, archery, karate and wushu) were selected for the statistical population and totally 143athletes were randomly selected as the sample. Thomas strategic performance scale (TOPS) and the emotional intelligence scale (EIS) were used to evaluate the psychological skills and emotional intelligence. K_S (p>0.05) was used to check data normality and then in order to analyze the data, descriptive statistics (mean, standard deviation), t test and Pearson correlation coefficient (p≤0.05). The findings of research showed a significant difference in self-talk (t=2.785, p<0.05), mental imagery (t=3.64, p<0.05) and negative thinking (t=4.25, p<0.05) between elite and non-elite athletes. Also, there was a significant difference in self-management (t=2.99, p<0.05), self-motivation (t=3.14, p<0.05) and social skills (t=3.16, p<0.05), but there was no significant difference in self-awareness and empathy between elite and nonelite athletes (p≥0.05).