The relationship between emotional intelligence and sport performance and stress in athletes

Stress is an important factor in athletes' performance and research has shown that emotional intelligence is an important variable in relation to performance; therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the relationship between emotional intelligence and sport performance and stress in volleyball players.

The research method was descriptive-correlational. The statistical population of the present study consisted of all male and female volleyball players in Lahijan in 2020, from which 78 people were selected as a sample by random sampling. Research instruments included Schering (1996) Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire, Cohen et al. (1983) Perceived Stress Scale and Charbonio Sports Performance questionnaire (2001). Pearson correlation coefficient and regression analysis were used to analyze the data.

Findings showed that there is a positive and significant relationship between emotional intelligence and sports performance and a negative and significant relationship with stress in volleyball players in Lahijan (P≤0.001).

It seems that emotional intelligence can have an optimal effect on stress and performance and it is suggested that sports coaches to increase athletes 'performance and reduce stress to strengthen athletes' emotional intelligence.